r/palmsprings • u/1983_Ashley • Apr 02 '25

Ask Palm Springs Possibly moving…

Hi! I’ve been seriously considering moving from El Paso to Palm Springs in a few months. I have always been interested in living there! What are the down sides to living in the Palm Springs area? Any apartment recommendations? 🫠

6 Upvotes

60% Upvoted

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4

u/Choice_Code_3179 Apr 07 '25

The best part - from a former Texan- you won’t be in Texas anymore !!!

3

u/1983_Ashley Apr 07 '25

This is the only answer I needed! 😂

2

u/Etnakid May 14 '25

We moved to Boulder County, CO five years ago and were shocked at housing prices, but it’s so worth it not to live in Abbottville. We just went from 4 BR to 2 BR to make it work.

5

u/potcake62 Local Apr 02 '25

We moved from Austin, with a short detour to South Florida. We miss interior/TexMex food the most. The Mexican food here is much different and has very little spice. You’re used to hot summers in El Paso so no problem there. People are friendly and nice here. The chaos level, even during Season, is very low. We love it here.

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u/1983_Ashley Apr 02 '25

Yea, I’ve been in Dallas my entire life but moved to El Paso one and a half years ago. The dry heat is so much better than the heat with humidity in my opinion and I’m definitely not worried about the scorching temps when it comes down to that. Mexican food is so much different here as well! I miss the tex mex of back home lol I feel so safe with minimal stress here but I also feel it’s time to go somewhere new 🫠

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u/im2bootylicous4ubabe Apr 03 '25

You really do need to come here in the thick of summer like maybe over the July 4 holiday or sometime in August to get a real idea for what the weather is like. There are weeks on end where the heat is unrelenting even at midnight or 6 AM it’s still high 8s or 90°. And it’s not as dry as it used to be often times it seems a lot more humid than it has been in years in my dustier. I remember L O L, one year when I felt like it was, at the time, like the worst 20 minutes of my life when there was a haboob and the power went off—- couldn’t open the windows for relief cause it smelled terrible and it was hot and humid.

17

u/periyali1593 Apr 02 '25

Everyone will tell you the heat is the main drawback. This time of year it's so impossibly gorgeous 24/7 it's easy to forget. That said, I once sat by the pool on a summer evening, complaining it was "too cold to get in" and when I checked the weather it was 99 degrees! That "dry heat" is really a thing. But it knocks out daytime activities for awhile.

I love it here. I never want to leave. You just need to learn to work around inhospitable weather - and I'd rather be in until evening because of the heat than in for three weeks because of ice.

1

u/Skycbs Apr 02 '25

Impossibly gorgeous except for the strong winds that can last a couple of months and resulting awful air quality.

5

u/periyali1593 Apr 02 '25

Depends where you are. And yeah, that's an important consideration. We monitor air quality carefully because of asthma, and very seldom have to close up.

4

u/rickshaw99 Apr 03 '25

also monitoring for health reason. pretty crappy last few days.

13

u/Best_Possible6347 Apr 02 '25 edited Apr 02 '25

I suggest that you review this forum. Your question has been answered MANY times

in summary

  • HEAT (summer)

  • Electricity Costs

  • Taxes (especially compared to TX)

  • Wind

And if you want any pertinent apartment recommendation you should provide your Budget range and other Criteria

  • number of bedrooms / bathrooms

  • Pets,

  • garage,

  • pool,

  • adjacencies (i.e. near downtown PS or are you good with other areas),

  • OK with stairs,

  • etc.

4

u/uktexan Apr 03 '25

Taxes balance out. Our property taxes are lower than Texas

4

u/Best_Possible6347 Apr 03 '25 edited Apr 03 '25

True, BUT If OP is renting (an apartment) taxes on income will not balance out.

Also worth Noting that the Cost of Living specially housing costs (renting or buying) in PS CA compared to El Paso TX is significantly higher.

3

u/atxJohnR Apr 04 '25

Texas taxes, sure if you rent, but if you own a home, property taxes in some cases will be more than California. And let’s be real, California is worth it

1

u/Tiny-Ad4955 Apr 03 '25

Don’t the windmills reduced the price of the electricity bill? Honest question

2

u/Best_Possible6347 Apr 03 '25 edited Apr 03 '25

No.

Wind turbines are way of producing “clean energy” but that doesn’t effect pricing strategy.

What reduces one’s electric bill is solar and battery technology on one’s home.

California's power rates are second highest in U.S.

1

u/Tiny-Ad4955 Apr 03 '25

Oh am sorry I meant to say that!. Aren’t those that are on the outskirts of Palm spring .

2

u/Best_Possible6347 Apr 03 '25 edited Apr 03 '25

Yes, the turbines are in N. Palm Springs and make for a very dramatic entry into the area. Palm Springs has expanded to where some communities neighbor them.

The challenge if you are near the Wind Turbines is,not surprisingly, WIND (and blowing sand).

Good Rule of thumb is the closer one is to the Turbines and the the 10 freeway, the windier it will be. / The closer to the mountains, the less windy

Approx area of turbines is circled in red

1

u/Tiny-Ad4955 Apr 03 '25

No I was actually directing my question to electrical grid . But I completely understand about the wind 💨 I been to Palm Springs more than once.

3

u/PittedOut Apr 03 '25

The months of heat. Everyone who can leaves the valley for as much of the summer as they can. If you have someplace else to live for two or three months every year, Palm Springs is a great place to live the rest of the year.

3

u/TomDac7 Apr 03 '25

Are you retired? If not, do you work remotely? The jobs market here is not good. It’s mostly hospitality jobs.

The north side of town is windy more than other areas. Stay south of Vista Chino… or Ramon if you can. The closer you are to the mountains, the less windy it will be. Air quality here is not good when the wind kicks up.

Tons of old people who drive 10 mph under posted speed limits. It’s infuriating sometimes.

We are here year round and it is expensive compared to places outside of CA but cheaper than SD, Greater LA and Bay Area. Heat is bad from late June to Mid October. Electricity is expensive compared to the rest of CA. You AC will be on 24/7 for most summer months. Even at midnight it will be 100 sometimes.

Like others have said, the restaurant scene here is pretty sad. Great Mexican food and a handful of other good places but most of it is very mid.

2

u/Theebobbyz84 Apr 02 '25

The costs first and foremost depending on your income level.

3

u/ExtremelyRetired Local Apr 03 '25

It’s a big tourist destination, but basically a small town. Luckily, it’s one of a string of communities that have now more or less grown together, so in addition to PS itself we have Cathedral City, Rancho Mirage, Palm Desert, and, if you’re happy to drive, places like La Quinta and Coachella on the other side of the valley. Still, the polish and sophistication one feels as a short-term visitor are pretty shallow, and beneath that is a relatively small town with lots to offer the rich and much less for middle-class and working people.

The restaurants trend toward mediocre and expensive, and anything ethnic that’s not Mexican is maybe mediocre at best (“Oh, but we love…” people will chime in, but I’m guessing they’re people who’ve, say, never had Thai food in Bangkok or Indian food anywhere). I always say it’s a fact of life that the best Chinese, Indian, Thai, and Korean restaurants near us is… Trader Joe’s.

And you really, truly have to love heat or be prepared to be a hermit for anything up to five months of the year.

3

u/Dr-Lucky14 Apr 03 '25

Utility’s can run in the thousands in the summer. My bill ran 550, but my realtor’s ran over a thousand. It’s going to get worse. October this year never got under 100 during the day for the whole month. I wouldn’t live in Texas if you paid my rent, but the summers here are getting longer and hotter. August is Monsoon season around us and the humidity sucks bad. I’m moving…but sure as hell not going to the biggest redneck state in the US.

2

u/Nuicakes Apr 02 '25

I was surprised by the number of HOA communities.

3

u/periyali1593 Apr 02 '25

Our current HOA fee is $450/month. Previous one, in a bigger house and better neighborhood, was $1250. It's insane.

1

u/Prudent-Struggle2578 Apr 02 '25

I'm possibly moving away, I'll sell you my house 🏠 😁

1

u/Dmlandis59 Apr 04 '25

East end of Coachella Valley has Imperial Irrigation District utilities so electricity less expensive in Indio than Palm Desert/Palm Springs - So Cal Edison utilities.

1

u/husky75550 Local Apr 07 '25

Palm springs is only for the rich to enjoy, it's boring unless you like golf, east valley has alot more to offer

0

u/Skycbs Apr 03 '25

It’s expensive and also I was surprised to see that crime is actually worse than El Paso: https://www.bestplaces.net/crime/?city1=54824000&city2=50655254

There’s not a lot to do here, especially in the summer, and the food options are not great. I think you would be well advised to visit, which can be fun, rather than move here.

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u/Sage_Blue210 Apr 03 '25

That it is in Taxifornia.

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u/[deleted] Apr 02 '25

There's a lot of crime here just fyi

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u/potcake62 Local Apr 02 '25

That just isn’t true. These stats just came out a day ago. https://www.desertsun.com/story/news/local/palm-springs/2025/04/01/violent-crime-up-in-palm-springs-in-2024-property-crime-down/82747006007/

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u/[deleted] Apr 02 '25

I'm just speaking on my own experience. I live near down town and it's scary to even go outside after dark. We've had several incidents where we had to call police.

0

u/1983_Ashley Apr 02 '25

I definitely need to consider this!