As was the case in the 13 original colonies, the five "colonies" in our Truckee-Palisades Tahoe-North Tahoe-Kings Beach-Incline Village area are divided and subject to being conquered by outside forces. By 2025, what are mostly annoying problems today will be completely beyond control by locals. Our region runs the risk of becoming overrun.

Developments on August 30 (2005) in Kings Beach point the direction in which things need to go. The occasion was an attempt to pull major organizations together to "fight crime and improve Kings Beach." Why? Because the situation there is deteriorating.

Who attended and spoke? Local leaders of the North Tahoe Business Association, Family Resource Center, Sheriff's Department, Boys & Girls Club, Tahoe Women's Services, PUD, and the Placer County Building Department. What problems did they enumerate? Here is their list:

• Violent behavior of elementary and middle school students.
• Graffiti on public buildings.
• Gang activity.
• Domestic abuse.
• Weak enforcement of county codes.
• Parking management.
• Staff turnover (30%) in sheriff's department

So the colony of Kings Beach is trying to circle its wagons. They are seeking "collaboration," and the primary, potential collaborators are tiny nonprofits in the area.

One hundred fifty miles away the cry is for "regionalism." Four months ago, 16 cities in Contra Costa County-Walnut Creek, Concord, Lafayette, Danville, etc.-gathered together to see if they could collaborate, too. Their challenge: 250,000 more people are expected to move into Contra Costa between now and 2025. There are already a million there. The quarter of a million in Contra Costa is part of 8 to 10 million people projected to be added to California by 2025. The same kind of growth rate is in process 35 miles away in Nevada.

So where does that leave us resourceful, independent, wise mountain people sandwiched between the two states?

We do have solid figures on the North Tahoe-Truckee-Incline Village triangle from the U.S. Census taken in 2000. Here are highlights:

• Our combined population grew 39% between 1990 and 2000, to a total of 36,602.
• Our number of homes grew by over 4,000, to a total of 29,668. This is a 17% rate of growth for that decade.
• The percent of homes occupied by permanent residents jumped from 41% to 49% of the total, an important trend to note.
• In terms of education, the percent of our population with 4-year college degrees moved from 30 to 37%.

The employment situation in 2000 looked like this:

• 21,337 people in the triangle were employed, 58% of the population.
• 3,028 were in construction, up 52% (1,032) from the year 1990.
• 2,201 were in retailing, a figure that actually decreased by 16% from the 1990 level.
• 1,517 were in finance, insurance, and real estate, a 22% increase over the previous decade.
• 4,892 were in professional services, a whopping 81% increase over the decade.

What is the situation today, in 2005? No one knows for sure, and neither Placer nor Nevada County officials make much of on effort to find out. Growth above 6000 feet in altitude is good for the county seats in Auburn and Nevada City (think $). Reliable statistics in the hands of locals could be bad. Mountain people often take action when they know the facts. Meanwhile, livability issues in our five local colonies mount. We are divided, parochial, and slowly losing ground on a number of fronts.

Solution? We need regionalism. We need to hang together. Mere collaboration within our five colonies will result, most likely, in too little, too late. Truckee's fate is joined at the hip and shoulder to that of the North Shore's. And vice versa. We all drink from the same pond.

You will note in the statistics above that there is an increasing percentage of homes being occupied by permanent residents. This means, among other things, that there is a bounty of new resources-talents, monies, ideas, and, hopefully, enthusiasm-flowing into the larger community that is Truckee/North Shore. With new blood come new possibilities. Given a proper orientation to what is going on here in the colonies, some of the recent arrivals should be ripe to enlist in a renewed effort to keep Here, at 6000 feet, from getting to be like There.

Sound the alarm. Lend a hand.