Palm Springs City

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Margo and I spent a delightful month in Palm Springs. Located about 100 miles east of Los Angeles with a population of about 45,000, it is the largest and best known of the adjoining cities and towns in the Coachella Valley. The mean annual temperature is about 75 F (24 C), and there are 180 days when the high reaches 90 F (32 C). On top of that, it’s almost always sunny, so it’s a paradise for “snowbirds” like us.

The area had long been inhabited by Amerindians, but it only began to attract the interest of others in the late 1880s. It started to become a fashionable resort in the early 1900s because of its dry heat and near perpetual sunshine. By the mid-1930s wealthy people seeking respite from Los Angeles began to arrive, establishing the ‘Movie Colony’ and adding all the amenities of urban living without the bustle of big city life. As Hollywood and other celebrities continued to arrive, their taste in lifestyles and accommodations came to dominate the local culture. From less than two dozen golf courses in the 1960s, now there are well over 100, which use over a million gallons of water daily. They are the sites of some of the most prestigious PGA tournaments.

Besides the rich and famous, many retirees from all across North America now make Palm Springs their home. Tourists continue to flock there in the winter, at the rate of nearly two million per year. Today there are over 130 hotels, luxurious resorts, numerous seasonal condominiums for rent, and more than 100 restaurants catering to all tastes. It is unquestionably one of the most relaxing and interesting winter destinations we have ever visited. Here are sources of further information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palm_Springs,_California and http://www.themoviecolony.org/history.php

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