STATELINE, Nev. (AP) — A nonprofit group formed five years ago to help to diversify Lake Tahoe's economy says the area's working class neighborhoods are suffering during an uneven economic recovery.
The Tahoe Prosperity Center says the primary problems are under-paying jobs, out-of-reach housing costs and aging infrastructure.
Center director Heidi Hill Drum says more than 3 million visitors annually pump an estimated $2 billion into the Tahoe area's economy. But she says most tourists rarely see the blight off the beaten path where seasonal workers live in rundown apartments and old motel rooms.
Drum told the Tahoe Daily Tribune that Tahoe is a "tough place to make a living."
She says the mountain lake is always going to be a great place to visit. She says the challenge is to make it a great place to live.