Palm Springs became a fashionable resort town starting in the early 1900s when health tourists arrived here. It received another boast in popularity when movie stars began to buy second homes here in the 1930s helping to create the ultra exclusive Movie Colony, Tahquitz River Estates, and Las Palmas neighborhoods sitting just outside of Downtown. Palm Spring also built California’s first self-contained shopping center “La Plaza”, which still stands today. The 1950s brought architectural modernists and the blossoming of the arts and cultural. Many argue that Palm Springs became the model for mass-produced suburban housing, especially in the Southwest. The 1970s brought more and more year round residents to Palm Springs as many retirees began to live here fulltime. Since the 2000s much effort has gone into building up and urbanizing Dwtn especially along the main drag (S Palm Canyon Dr.) and surrounding blocks.
Not surprisingly Dwtn Palm Springs hosts great cultural and shopping amenities, very interesting architecture from the 1920s-1950s, and several very walkable blocks. But the eastern half of Dwtn has many dead spaces and plenty of vacant lots or self-enclosed apartments and subdivisions. These areas need to urbanized for Dwtn Palm Springs to be a quality urban area. There is also need for more affordable housing, better connectivity, bike infrastructure, and better walkable schools.
URBAN STRENGTHS:
* Other than some outdated curb cuts the ADA infrastructure is very good in Palm Springs.
* Poor access to Job centers and Dwtn. Residents are a 1 hr. drive to Dwtn Riverside and 2.5 hrs. by bus. Dwtn LA and Anaheim and even further.
* Surprisingly very good racial and economic diversity.
* Park amenities just got a lot better with the construction of the expansive and multi-faceted Downtown Park. Frances Stevens Park is another nice one with a couple other pocket parks. Dwtn Palm Springs also has access to get hiking and trails with the mountain practically hoping right up to it.
* Great culturally assets including many restaurants, bars, and cafes, tons of art galleries, several performing art galleries, several museums, and many night clubs.
* Retail amenities are also great and include a discount supermarket, a couple gourmet grocerias, a couple drug store, tons of boutiques and clothing store with a good mix of name brands and locally owned, many gift shops, a couple bookstores, a couple gyms, many dessert joints, and a dwtn public library.
* Vey safe dwtn.
* Interesting 1920s/1930s and mid century architecture especially along the core of Dwtn. The eastern edge is mostly modern in-fill and pretty bland. Good urban in-fill in the core as well.
* Great urban massing and streetscaping along S Palm Canyon Dr., decent massing along Indian Canyon Dr. and the western half of Tahquitz Canyon Way.
URBAN WEAKNESSES:
* Density is more similar to a suburb.
* A couple dedicated bike lanes but no bike stations dwtn.
* Not surprisingly the medium age is about 60 and few children households here.
* Only a couple schools within walking distance to Dwtn Palm Springs.
* For sale hsg is on the expensive side but a decent # of moderately 1-bed condos in older bldgs selling btwn 200K-500K. A good # of 2-bed condos sell btwn 300K-500K. Also plenty selling btwn 500K-1M. 3 & 4 beds go for anywhere btwn 500K-1.5 M. Multi-Million $ hsg exists just outside of Dwtn.
* Not a ton of rentals available. They are also expensive with 1-beds renting btwn high 1Ks-3K, 2-beds 2K-4K, and 3-beds a very rare.
* Dwtn is missing a dwtn post office, only has a handful of churches, and a major hospital is about 1 mile north of Dwtn.
* A couple dead/gritty parts of Dwtn on the eastern edge.
* Connectivity is good in the western half of Dwtn (the core) but not so great in the eastern half. Lots of private developments. Lots of open vacant lots here too and urban massing is very good.
Evaluating our Urban Communities [with a focus on America] 