Palm Desert, CA (Riverside, Indio, Palm Springs: real estate, apartments, for rent)

[nikkij333]

Could anyone please tell me what Palm Desert is like? I am looking to move there sometime this fall and I was wondering what the area is like? Also I was wondering about apartments for rent, and if it is a basically a safe area for single women? Thank you for any information. Nikki

[cdbiggs021]

i have lived in la quinta for 16 years, a neighbooring city to palm desert. if you don't like golf that sucks cause we have about a thousand golf courses out here. it is true that it can get really hot in the summer (105+) but the winter makes up for it maybe it hits 55 for a high but usually in the 60s. there are a lot of restaurants down here. the best spot to be is "the river" in rancho mirage about 7 miles away its a great singles spot except for friday night when all the tweens are there. there are not many apartments in palm desert and i dont know much about them. typically it is a safe place for singles, im sure you'll be fine. i'll be moving to san marcos in north san diego county in a month but i'll be able to give you information until then. if you have other questions i'll be happy to help

[nikkij333]

Thank you cdbiggs021 for the information.

[tweety]

I used to live in Palm Springs which is near Palm Desert. The winters are wonderful but oh those summers! I couldn't take the heat anymore. Home prices have risen quite a bit in that area in the last 10 years. On the plus side, there is lots of shopping and restaurants and you wouldn't know you were in the desert because its well landscaped with grass and flowers everywhere. Quite beautiful and some very pricey, beautiful homes. Golf is the number one sport there. Great winter retreat but wouldn't want to live there in the summer again.

[petenadi]

homes are expensive and the amount of golf courses have raised the humidity levels to Florida levels, allergies are year round, people are very classist and seperatist in the desert, the service class vs. the rich, the gay vs the straight, its not bad though but it's close enough to the salton sea to get arotten egg sulfer smell that lingers everywhere it's like an extended road trip with a smelly grandparent eating pickled eggs , fish and beer (picture that?) it doesn't last forever but heat is the most oppresive thing, expect high cooling costs and a definite have and have not mentality.lots of shopping but it is CA everything is a commute. just my thoughts as a desert dweller.

[Deserter]

Well, I've been living in Palm Desert for 7 years and I've only smelled the Salton Sea over here a few times. Farther east in Indio, where I work, you smell it quite often.

PD has its good and bad points like most places. Winter, spring, and fall are usually pretty nice, weather-wise, but summers are evil. Both last year and this, we had temperatures into the 120s for a few days and in the teens for a few weeks. The cost of A/C is ridiculous. (My house is only 1300 s.f. and it costs more than $500/month.) However, some apartments might include utilities with the rent, making it more affordable.

Compared to many places in So Cal, the desert is still fairly affordable. PD is a pretty safe place to live. There are plenty of shops and resturants and new ones are being built every time I turn around. Most areas are new and clean, but without much variety or character. (Palm Springs probably has a little more character than PD, but also a little more crime.) I don't know much about apartments, I suggest you check out the Desert Sun online for info on that.

Humidity is really not much like that of Florida at all. (The stats on this site don't look accurate to me, they must be including the mountains or Riverside or something.)There is humidity some days in the late summer and it's unpleasant. However, most of the year, it's quite dry.

[chester's]

What is the area like? It is pretty safe. There aren't many apts,but there are a couple near the mall that seem decent. Maybe there's more that I've never noticed. Others have already mentioned the heat( almost unbearable summers)The winter is great. Unless you like snow . And we seldom get rain. Humidity is getting to where it's sometimes better to run the swamp cooler. You do have to have a good income. A 1bd/1bth apt is,guessing,about $1000for 800 sqft. The crime,gangs,illlegals in neighboring cities is taking over . If I had a choice to live in another state, I probably would. Just about any of 'em.

[Twinkle Toes]

Hi Nikki, I don't know who did it, but that post allegedly from me a few posts before this one was not me! That's pretty scary!!! Anyway, I live in Palm Desert and I can say Palm Desert is a very safe place to live. It is very pricey, but you get what you pay for. I am not a golfer, but I have found that I have not been completely bored living here. It is true that there is not much else to do if you don't golf, but there is shopping. I admit, I am a shop-a-holic! There are places in Palm Desert that you probably won't want to be, but you will spot those places right off the bat when you get here. It does get pretty flippin' hot here during summer. This summer we had a few days of 123 and 124 degrees and several days of 118+, but after you've lived here a while you just get used to it. It's not pleasant when it's that hot, but you do acclimate. I am leaving the state very soon. I am a native Californian and have lived in So Cal all my life, but I have to say that I don't think I'm gonna miss it when I leave. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions about Palm Desert or the surrounding areas as I am also a real estate broker.

[margulis7]

Can anyone tell me about Cathedral City. There are so many nice affordable homes compared to palm desert or rancho mirage. What is the reason they are so much cheaper? Is it a bad place to live?

[MamaRed]

Cathedral City has a couple of really bad neighborhoods, which tend to give it an overall bad reputation. In the past 20 years, they've worked really hard to build more of a community. There have also been several nice neighborhoods developed. If you are seeing low prices for home in the north part of the city, the main culprit is the wind. If you're not familiar with it, it's easy to shrug it off as a "little wind", but you don't want to do that. I'm talking about several inches of sand blowing into pools, trees being uprooted, and howling winds that will keep you up at night. Mainly in the spring and fall. If you're looking in CC, you can find some really good deals, just be aware of where you're looking.