La Quinta Cove California

[sunshinesfree]

THe La Quinta Cove is unmatched in beauty, in my opinion, compared to anywhere else in the desert area. I'm talking about geographical beauty with the mountains, birds, palms, etc.

We own two homes in the upper cove. Live in one and rent one out. Have NEVER had any issue with crime of any sort at either residence. There is a bad element anywhere and everywhere unfortunately. mod cut: You simply cannot find more for your money or better views/hiking than in the cove area. Currently you can find a beautiful newer santa fe home with pool and privacy wall/gate for anywhere from $220-$500k. We live in the higher end of the scale and couldn't be happier. We could afford to live in a similarly priced "gated" community elsewhere in the desert but I nearly wretch at the thought of living in a home that looks exactly like the other 500+ homes in the neighborhood. The "gated" aspect creates an absolutely false sense of security. In the past few years, if you research the desert sun, you'll find most crime in the desert is in Indio, Coachella, and Desert Hotsprings. Although, I firmly believe, some bad "element" exists everywhere.

One more thing, the proximity to the miles and miles of desert reserve for hiking and mountain biking is literally steps away from your door front anywhere in the upper cove. Old Town La Quinta is located down at the bottom of the cove area and its full of eclectic high-end boutiques and restaurants.

In my opinion, coming from an upper-middle class income standpoint - if you're open minded, artistic, or athletic, you'll LOVE living in the upper La Quinta Cove.

[doghandler]

Wow!!! I tried to ask for this info about "The Cove" but sure didn't get answers this complete!! Now that I have been to The Cove it all makes total sense.

We just returned from a 6 day house hunt, viewing close to 50 homes in La Quinta Cove, Palm Desert and Pinion Flats (up in the mountains).

We bought a new construction home in Palm Desert. It just worked out best for us with the proximity to work, all the amenities close, not at all far drive- or bike ride -to trail heads and great schools (which we felt seemed better than anywhere else). Now I am worried about the utility bills, though, as one person here mentioned it is several hundred dollars a month! Yikes!! Currently our most expensive utility bill where we live now is in the high $300's....lowest around $100. I hope we don't go higher than that in Palm Desert!!!

During our extensive home search we drove up to Banning and through Thousand Palms but must not have found the decent neighborhoods in those areas. We never bothered to look at houses in either place. We scatched Indio after reading & researching about it and seeing for ourselves how very windy it was near the 10. We didn't look at houses there though we saw what appeared to be some great bargains listed.

We were lucky to spend the week in the vacant home of a future co-worker up route 74 in Pinion Crest. Wow! Talk about views, stars and a wonderful cooling breeze!! Also, we visited another friend up in Mt. Center who has a ranch there and had dinner in Idyllwyld. Gorgeous!! It was 30 mintues to Mt. Center and 45 to Idyllwyld. A crazy up hill switch back drive but lovely! If you could do that drive (to Pinion Crest)....which isn't all that far....It took us 20 minutes to get from the house in Pinion Crest to the bottom of the 'hill'...and you could AFFORD a home in Pinion Crest!!..it would be worth it. NO cheap houses there, I'm afraid!

Okay, here is what we saw in "The Cove" in La Quinta. We were casual observers....we do not live there and don't have any extended knowledge of the area. But this is what we saw having been out there for three days in a row...8 hours a day.....house-hunting. Our price range was between around $190,000 to $300,000...with most falling in the price of about $250,000-ish.

Our favorite, the very first house we saw out there, was at the VERY top of The Cove....right there by the trail head. GORGEOUS veiw....literally a step across the street to the trail. The house was lovely, too. Bad news....we saw what looked like some kind of shady activity in the parking area of the trail head. Quick exchanges of something...then driving away. Also so some teens who looked at us as if we were invading whatever they were up to. Behind the house was another house which looked pretty rough and unkept. We looked at MANY houses in The Cove. There were a LOT of them for sale within our price range. Some were a bit higher priced, too.....high $300 - a few at low $400. Most were short sales and foreclosures. There were also many, many rentals there. We did get into some very nice homes. Also a couple of shabby ones. The things which turned us off of the nice homes we found were the surroundings. Check the back yards of the neighbors behind, to the sides and across from the house you are looking at. A few things we saw were....an 80lb or so pit bull tied with a heavy chain to a pile of old tires, cluttered yard full of scrap metal, chickens, a sandy yard which appeared to be the local stray cat littler box, a yard with a huge speaker hook up (we lived in Ft. Worth in a neighborhood which was not un-like what we saw in The Cove....weekends were all about burning trash in the back yard while blasting Tejano music....I have no idea if the booming Tejano music would be the same deal in The Cove or not....but we sure didn't want to find out). Again, this wasn't true of every house we looked at....but do check what you will be living next to. Also, look up and down the street....at all the cars parked along the roads. We were there on week days and the streets had a lot of low riders, lifted pick-ups, etc...parked along the sides. See how the yards are kept. There ARE some very nice 'sections' in The Cove....but wow how it can differ from one end of the street or block to the other. What finally told us to not look any further in The Cove was witnessing a young man getting arrested, cuffed and taken away by two cruisers right in the middle of the intersection in the mid-section of The Cove in broad daylight. We are a 40 something family of three with a toddler...that scene scratched The Cove for us. Had we been just a couple....or a single, active oung person....maybe we would have still considered The Cove. But with a young child....it just didn't look like a good neighborhood for her.

We did not have the chance to look in other areas of La Quinta because were were trying very hard to stay as close to the $250,00 price range as possible. There was nothing we could find for sale with our specs and price range coming up in other areas of La Quinta.

Good Luck!!

[EmilyD1970]

I have lived in LQ Cove for a year now. It does have its ups and downs.
Its very beautiful out here. I look out to the mountains through my kitchen windows. There are many, many beautiful (and expensive!) homes out here but of course, there are the bad ones. In the first 8 months, my daughters bike was stolen, and then my car was broken into and stole all my cd's.
I then have neighbors who routinely have loud parties. I'd say its 90% good with the 10% bad. It is very quiet around here during the day.
Crime is everywhere unfortunately. There have even been crimes in the gated communities.

[eschulze]

There are great deals out there right now. Great place for training and hiking. All areas in the desert have their own share of the good and the bad. LQ cove is a nice community with a great park and cool little town feel. I know of some great hiking trails if that is what you are into. I go with some friends about once a week (usually in PD or PS, though).

Call me if you want me to send you some interesting listings (I am a realtor). 760-333-2134.