Lake George

This weekend I stayed at a "camp" on Lake George and the vibe was very different from many of places we had visited during our field trip. The water was very populated by launches and piers and houses lined the shores to a bursting point. My experiences peaked my curiosity about the area so I decided to take a more in depth look.
Lake George is a long and quite narrow lake that is locate in the southeast Adirondacks. It extends about 32 miles on its north/south axis and varies from 1-3 miles in width. Though not many choose to live in the area year round, during the summer months the residents can exceed 50,000 and the lake used to attract many of its visitors due to its location on a rail line between New York City and Montreal. As with any body of water recreation in the form of boating draws many of the visitors to Lake George. A survey in 2005 estimated 44,177 motorboat launches and 75,835 public beach users for the year. They also found that over the course of an entire weekend day during the summer there were 4,700 motorboats on the Lake, and 2,500 motorboats on a weekday. With that many boats on the water invasive species such as Zebra Mussels become concerns and another study exploring recreation in the lake with be completed in 2015. 
Many of the local businesses that we passed on our way to the "camp" were based around boating and considering the extreme weather shifts it is no surprise that there are very few year round residents. The cold and eventually freezing water of the lake isn't conducive to tourism. I wonder whether these business owners work at other businesses in the area when theirs' are closed in the winter or if they travel to other jobs in fairer weather? Humans have found ways to combat seasonal cycles but in the Adirondacks nature still heavily dictates the possibilities for economic gain and survival in most areas. 
I know this post has been all over the place but generally is seems as though more people settle on bodies of water as opposed to near the mountains. I would assume that this is due to available space or possibly the effort it takes to paddle or drive a boat on a lake versus climbing a mountain. But it also seems as though owning a boat and a lake house are much more expensive than taking day hikes and camping. I would be interested in discussing the contrasts between the mountains and lakes in the Adirondacks in terms of who uses them and how they are used. 

Sources: http://www.adirondackalmanack.com/2014/10/major-lake-george-recreation-study-planned-for-2015.html