Many rural residents (Regional District of Central Kootenays, Area "D") feel that the benefits of government funding initiatives are concentrated in Kaslo. Within Kaslo, there has been controversy over many issues pertaining to community development, which has served to divide the community.

Roads and Highways - Road enhancement is an issue as serious hazards on some of the highways exist. These include deteriorating narrow, winding, unbanked access roads into the region as well as rockslide and avalanche problems. In Kaslo, the concern is for roadway beautification and enhancement for tourism.

Water Delivery Systems - Approximately 57 percent of the water-users in the area are served by either shared or private surface systems. Most of these systems do not meet standards set by the Ministry of Health. In Kaslo, many of the existing septic systems are becoming dysfunctional and few meet Ministry of Environment standards. There is also concern about the amount of untreated effluence which may leach out from subsoils directly into the foreshore of Kootenay Lake.

Telephone & Hydro Utilities - Kaslo and Area "D" is the last area in North America to remain on the old style trunk connector system. All power into the area is delivered from the south. The disadvantage of this is an extremely long extension which results in swings, fluctuations and frequent brown-outs. This presents an obstacle to remain current with rapidly developing computer communications.

Seniors - The most pressing problem for seniors in the community is the lack of an intermediate care facility. Many seniors are obliged to move away from their home community to be close to adequately equipped hospitals and specialist services.

Youth - Few local stable career opportunities for young people make it difficult to keep young people in the community.

Newspapers - A long-standing problem for the area has been the lack of consistent, reliable objective media reporting at a local level.

Audio-Visual Communications - Local radio service for Kaslo is limited to the Kootenay Broadcasting System which serves the entire region. Reception from other parts of the province is often subject to the vagaries of weather conditions.

Film Industry - Locals are generally enthusiastic about encouraging film industry activity in the area as it is one opportunity to assist in diversifying the economy.

Tourism - The pride today's Kasloites feel for the heritage of their community is reflected in the loving attention which has been devoted to the ongoing restoration and beautification projects undertaken in the past two decades. The area lists 14 fully developed historical and heritage attractions. As well, Front Street proprietors have taken great pains to restore the 19th Century milieu of the downtown core, and owners of many heritage homes continue to nurture the Victorian image of the community. Kaslo is also known as a mecca for artists, artisans and practitioners of fine crafts. Camping has become a primary feature of summer tourism in the area as there are an abundance of natural attractions and outdoor recreation opportunities. There is also a wide array of tourist accommodations.

Forestry - The forest industry has sustained the employment base of the area throughout its history, taking over as the primary industry after the decline of mining. It is still a vital component of the area's economy - local retail and service businesses and their employees depend on forest sector employees as consumers, particularly during the long tourism off-season. The recent significant reduction in the Annual Allowable Cut will ultimately result in significant job losses in forestry.

Mining - Large scale mining of precious metals is a thing of the past. Small scale opportunities such as exploration of non-metallic mineral resources such as lapidary specimens and semi-precious stones, potential development of molybdenum deposits at Trout Lake and trade in rock for building, jewelry, carving and sculpture still exist for the mining sector.

Agriculture - Agriculture is dominated by hobby farms and subsistence gardening. Markets are limited, primarily restricted to local residents and tourists.

Retail & Wholesale - In terms of availability of retail products, residents complain about the limited selection and high prices associated with dependence on importing from outside the area. Locals regularly travel to Nelson, or as far away as Kelowna, for bulk items. It is a generally held sentiment that resumption of water-based transport service would mitigate the cost problem associated with import dependence.