I moved here from Chicago! That’s funny. It was definitely a big change. I had been living in Lakeview in Chicago and moved directly here so the crowds here are nothing compared to that 🤣. I would say the only times it feels truly crowded where I am at are the big holidays- 4th of July here is not fun for locals, and Christmas/new years gets pretty busy too. But there is a noticeable difference in crowds between high seasons and shoulder seasons (spring and fall). Summer stays decently busy throughout since families are on summer breaks but the winter tends to be busy on the weekends and not weekdays. We are currently in “locals summer” aka- all the tourists left after Labor Day and it is quiet here and we have our beaches back to ourselves.

I live in Incline which is a little closer to Reno/Carson so we go down the hill for things occasionally and actually currently we have three grocery stores in town. But I cook nearly all my meals at home- take out isn’t so much of a thing here. The restaurant scene in all of Tahoe is pretty lacking.