Palm Springs, CA (San Francisco, Indio, Cathedral City: gated, retired, rating)

[FunkyMonk]

Originally Posted by Twinkle Toes

Hmmmm ... funny how some people offer up commentary on what the Palm Springs area is like when they've never set foot here - ever. Some of these posters may be funky and all, but they just have no clue.

I've been to Palm Springs four times. I had a friend there I would visit occasionally.

Downtown is Old People Land just like I described. Which i'm sure would be great if you are old.

There is also a big gay community. And these two types of people truely do dominate the downtown area.

Then on the other side of town are all the working class people, and on that side of town it is much uglier and lacking in entertainment. All of the interesting and historic things are in the old people section. The other side is suburbia.

It is segregated, it is strange. I scoped it out for a possible move and by the time I left I was totally, 100% against it. But that was just my opinion as a straight guy in my 20's. And honestly, I caught a lot of really bad attitude there. Probably because my clothes and car weren't expensive enough.

Make no mistake about it. Palm Spprings is all about money.

Palm Springs is a magnificent city geographically, the fact that there is a mountain right beside the city is awesome, it is very paradise-like.

But it's a very old, very gay place. Perfect if you are old and gay!

[Twinkle Toes]

Four times? Wow! You're an expert! What was I thinking???

I am a long time resident of the Coachella Valley, but hey, don't listen to me. I don't have the expertise that Mr. Funky has!

[FunkyMonk]

Originally Posted by Twinkle Toes

Four times? Wow! You're an expert! What was I thinking???

I am a long time resident of the Coachella Valley, but hey, don't listen to me. I don't have the expertise that Mr. Funky has!

So then enlighten me and the rest of us about what was incorrect about my post. I know about 10 Palm Springs natives who would tell you the exact same thing I just said.

[Twinkle Toes]

This is what you said:

"Palm Springs is full of old people who wear loud, gawdy outfits and jewelry trying to compete with each other on who looks the richest. Some words that some to my mind are.....snobby, socialite, old, cheesy, tacky, gold jewelry, obnoxious, rude, bad attitude, wrinkles, preperation-H, little mustaches, hawaiian shirts, blowdried hair, luxery cars.

It's a great place, beautiful geography. But that element of people there would drive me crazy to be around all the time."


Palm Springs is not primarily comprised of old people and gays and people with gawdy clothing. There are all kinds of people in Palm Springs and in our valley as a whole. There are a lot of families and working professionals. I very rarely ever see anybody dressed "gawdy". The people in our valley don't dress any differently than anybody in Riverside or Ontario or Los Angeles or San Francisco or anywhere, for that matter. Sure, we don't have to wear winter parkas.

I haven't run into the snobbery you claim is rampant here, nor the cheesy or the tacky, nor the rude, nor the bad attitudes. I don't know what crowd you've been rolling with, but maybe you need to expand your horizons. Most of us who live here have chosen to live here, so why would we have a bad attitude? Life is good here and we enjoy it! No bad attitudes here!

[Bluesbabe]

Bette,

If you like the desert then you will find an area somewhere in that region to love. It's a different desert-scape from Arizona but all these little cities clustered together have their individual charm (although I don't care for Desert Hot Springs). Palm Springs is in an oasis well-supplied with water even when the rest of California suffered drought years back.

I imagine the air-conditioning bills can run high but a lot of that depends on your needs. Me, I don't need air-conditioning until it hits the mid-90's,so I know I wouldn't run it as often as most people if I lived there. In winter you'd hardly need to run heat, so I imagine the bills are a lot lower. And, yes, summers are awfully hot. But you could always vacation somewhere else guilt-free during that time (AND save on some AC consumption).

There is terrific produce from the farms a little farther south, always accessible at local outdoor markets. Interesting shopping, some great hiking areas, and all those BLUE SKIES! Windy sand-storms do occur. Very first time I entered Palm Springs was the day after such a storm and I noticed palm tree limbs clinging to the front of cars. Air is pretty clean.

I wouldn't call this region super-rich in cultural arts, although it definitely exists. And it's quite a distance from the ocean. But it isn't THAT far, maybe a couple of hours to San Diego.

I like Palm Springs fine, but Palm Desert and LaQuinta are very nice. I don't know how soon you're hoping to do this, but I think you should make a trip to the area in the summer to experience it at its challenging time.

Good luck to you.

[POhdNcrzy]

Allow me to chime in please. I am considering a move to the Coachella Valley.

I have a positive opinion of TwinkleToes, although I am not familiar enough with her posting history to know whether I can trust her judgment.

FunkyMonk I am more familiar with and more or less trust his judgment.

HOW IS LIFE IN THE COACHELLA VALLEY AREA DIFFERENT FROM LIFE IN AND AROUND LA?

I lived in West Hollywood briefly in late 2007. For me it was too urban and too expensive.

I did recently see the movie Alpha Dog, shot mainly in the Palm Springs area. The movie shows off the stunning beauty of the valley and surrounding mountains and the cloudless blue skies. You also see the mix of "lowlife scum"/upper middle-class "flashy wealth" that SoCal is known for. The movie makes it look like all the kids in Palm Springs are bong smoking pothead hipsters, with their parents even allowing the kids to grow dank hydroponic marijuana in their homes. Any Coachella Valley dwellers wanna comment on that?

Also, I am wondering about what the outdoor athletic lifestyle is like there. Personally, I don't exercise indoors (Except for Bikram Yoga classes). I like to run the trails in the mountains and zoom around on my road bike on roads that have a decent shoulder (or even bike lane) and not too much traffic.

Is the traffic volume in the Coachella Valley anything like the LA area? If so count me out!

I appreciate input from anyone with firsthand knowledge of the Coachella Valley communities.

[FunkyMonk]

Originally Posted by Twinkle Toes

This is what you said:

"Palm Springs is full of old people who wear loud, gawdy outfits and jewelry trying to compete with each other on who looks the richest. Some words that some to my mind are.....snobby, socialite, old, cheesy, tacky, gold jewelry, obnoxious, rude, bad attitude, wrinkles, preperation-H, little mustaches, hawaiian shirts, blowdried hair, luxery cars.

It's a great place, beautiful geography. But that element of people there would drive me crazy to be around all the time."


Palm Springs is not primarily comprised of old people and gays and people with gawdy clothing. There are all kinds of people in Palm Springs and in our valley as a whole. There are a lot of families and working professionals. I very rarely ever see anybody dressed "gawdy". The people in our valley don't dress any differently than anybody in Riverside or Ontario or Los Angeles or San Francisco or anywhere, for that matter. Sure, we don't have to wear winter parkas.

I haven't run into the snobbery you claim is rampant here, nor the cheesy or the tacky, nor the rude, nor the bad attitudes. I don't know what crowd you've been rolling with, but maybe you need to expand your horizons. Most of us who live here have chosen to live here, so why would we have a bad attitude? Life is good here and we enjoy it! No bad attitudes here!

Well, i've seen the exact same things that i've written about Palm Springs on this forum several times before.

Also, before I ever went to Palm Springs, I met quite a lot of people from there. And just about all of them mentioned the huge amount of old people and the rich, elitist attitude. They mostly had negative things to say about the city really.

Then, I went to Palm Springs 4 times. On and off, I spent about 3 weeks there total, that's plenty of time to see a place and get a grasp on it. And I witnessed the same things.

Downtown Palm Springs truely is FULL of old people who are all trying to show off with expensive clothes and cars. The scene there is just like La Jolla, Beverly Hills or Blackhawk, it is a wealthy community with an intense "keep up with the Jones" attitude, but full of old people too.

I am not talking about ALL of Palm Springs or the Coachella Valley, i'm talking about downtown Palm Springs. The other side of Palm Springs was just like a normal desert town.

[FunkyMonk]

Originally Posted by POhdNcrzy

Allow me to chime in please. I am considering a move to the Coachella Valley.

I have a positive opinion of TwinkleToes, although I am not familiar enough with her posting history to know whether I can trust her judgment.

FunkyMonk I am more familiar with and more or less trust his judgment.

HOW IS LIFE IN THE COACHELLA VALLEY AREA DIFFERENT FROM LIFE IN AND AROUND LA?

I lived in West Hollywood briefly in late 2007. For me it was too urban and too expensive.

I did recently see the movie Alpha Dog, shot mainly in the Palm Springs area. The movie shows off the stunning beauty of the valley and surrounding mountains and the cloudless blue skies. You also see the mix of "lowlife scum"/upper middle-class "flashy wealth" that SoCal is known for. The movie makes it look like all the kids in Palm Springs are bong smoking pothead hipsters, with their parents even allowing the kids to grow dank hydroponic marijuana in their homes. Any Coachella Valley dwellers wanna comment on that?

Also, I am wondering about what the outdoor athletic lifestyle is like there. Personally, I don't exercise indoors (Except for Bikram Yoga classes). I like to run the trails in the mountains and zoom around on my road bike on roads that have a decent shoulder (or even bike lane) and not too much traffic.

Is the traffic volume in the Coachella Valley anything like the LA area? If so count me out!

I appreciate input from anyone with firsthand knowledge of the Coachella Valley communities.

I lived in the San Diego/LA area for a long time. I would say Palm Springs is more laid back and a lot less urban than West Hollywood for sure. It's not a big city vibe there really, much more of a smaller town atmosphere.

It definantly has that flashy wealth vibe, just like LA and SD. Overall I guess the mix of people is about the same as the rest of SoCal. But there is also a huge retired population, and the downtown area is taken over by them. And there is a really big gay community.

I know that some people disagree with me on this. But to me, the huge, huge amount of old people there was overwhelming. I do not dislike old people at all, I respect them a lot, but it was just too much. I think that if I were 50 or older, I would like it a lot. But for a young man like myself, I wasn't diggin it. In the bars and clubs the average age seemed to be about 45.

The outdoor opportunities in Palm Springs were awesome and amazing. There is a mountain right next to the city that's about 8000 ft. high, and big national parks right beside the city. Great for hiking and bicycling and nature.

That movie you saw might be just about on target. You should go look at it for yourself. It's a unique place.

[GoodbyeCalifornia]

I have a long connection with Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley starting with frequent visitor and ending as a full time resident. And when I say long connection, I'm talking mid 1980's up to present. So let me give you my take on this.

Palm Springs has always been a destination for those looking to retire and also a tourist resort town. Because most retirees are over 60 years of age, older people logically were the majority population. The mild winter weather and the activities available also made it, and still make it, appealing to the so-called "snowbirds" who come in from other parts of the U.S. and Canada to escape the cold winter. Again,these people are primarily older and in some cases, wealthy. All of this was true in 1970 as much as it was in 1998.

But then things changed. There was a renewed interest in 1950's modernist architecture and the affordability of acquiring homes in that style in Palm Springs became very appealing to a much younger group of people, both straight and gay. Bit by bit, the population began to shift and has continued to shift to include a much broader age group. New home construction targeted families and began to draw in people from Orange and San Diego Counties that were looking for cheap housing alternatives to those overpriced and overheated real estate markets.

Now have all of these changes made older people a minority? Absolutely not, but to say that Palm Springs is filled with nothing but old people isn't correct either. If you go downtown on any given day, you will see a mix of people both young, old and in between. Will you see maybe more older people then younger? Of course, because Palm Springs is still a haven for retirees, snowbirds, and tourists. And I'd be willing to bet money that the majority of the people walking around downtown are tourists, not residents. I hardly ever went downtown except maybe to go to a restaurant and most of the people I knew were the same way. On my few trips to downtown, I did see some bad clothing...on tourists.

Bad attitudes...yes, I sure got my share of that. Want to know where? From all those transplants from Los Angeles and Orange County. They are the ones that cruise up and down Palm Canyon showing off their Jaguars, Range Rovers, and BMW's, flashing their jewelry and treating the locals like a bunch of uneducated, backward hicks. And don't even get me started on the self-absorbed, pretentious queens from West Hollywood and San Francisco. If you were to meet an actual local, you would find them to be some of the nicest, most welcoming people around.

Alpha Dog...Funny that you bring up that film. Besides my regular job I occasionally worked as a site rep for a location company. I was the site rep at one of the homes used in that movie. Alpha Dog wasn't/isn't about Palm Springs and the teenagers that live there and shouldn't be taken as such. Nick Cassavetes, the director, chose Palm Springs as his locale because of his love of the scenery and the architecture, plus the proximity to Los Angeles. In actuality, the film is based on the true story of a drug dealing punk from the San Fernando Valley who called himself Jesse James Hollywood. The real victim in the case, Nick Markowitz, was kidnapped and taken to Santa Barbara and eventually murdered in the Los Padres National Forest outside of Santa Barbara. So really, there is zero connection between Palm Springs and what was portrayed in the movie.

Let me sum up by saying that Palm Springs is a beautiful place, there is no question. Is it perfect? Not at all and I have said as much in other posts. But my criticism or praise for that matter is not based on just a visit. Twinkle Toes and I often post about things relating to Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley. And nine times out of ten we are in agreement. So I think it is safe to say that you can trust her judgment because she does know what she is talking about, just like I do. But if you are skeptical, that's fair, because the only way you will know if Palm Springs is for you is to experience it yourself.

[Bluesbabe]

True, it isn't for everybody. In fact, living in the Pacific Northwest, I'd say that it certainly wouldn't be for ANYBODY here except for myself. (I'll admit, I'm one of those who hoped to retire there when I'm ~ gasp!!! ~ old.)

All the comments I read about flashing riches. . . I always notice that more in Palm Desert than Palm Springs. In El Paseo Drive I've seen things like wealthy old ladies walking their groomed French Poodles dressed in pink. Quite a sight that was.