82 South Bay Accent
FROM TOP: COURTESY OF PARKER PALM SPRINGS; LANCE GERBER; PREVIOUS SPREAD: NIKOLAS KOENIG
Palm Springs and the eight towns that make up Greater Palm
Springs are home to over 100 golf courses, tennis courts, swimming
pools, and hiking and biking trails. For culture, the region
takes pride in museums, concert halls and theaters. With so many
events and little to no traffic, Jim and his wife are poised to make
a permanent move to the desert region. “I feel really excited about
it. It will be our full-time base,” he said. “And in the hot months
we will travel or visit with friends.”
For many couples like the Domkes, the area seems customized
to their lifestyle. But Palm Springs is still a few land-use disputes
and contested aquifers from heaven.
There are, for instance, ongoing tussles over natural resources.
Who has the sovereign right to the precious water in the region’s
aquifers, the underground source of sustenance for the parched
terrain of Coachella Valley? A recent Supreme Court decision
ruled in favor of the region’s Native Americans, the Agua Caliente
Band of Cahuilla Indians. Though this move acknowledged ancestral
territorial rights, it did not sit well with the tribe’s adversary,
the Desert Water Agency, representing many longtime residents.
Lately, there has been mounting tension between established
residents—many of whom are retirees—and relatively new homeowners
who are taking advantage of Airbnb to make a few extra
bucks on the side. Just 30 minutes away from Palm Springs,
the popular Coachella Valley Music Festival in Indio draws a
hard-partying crowd whose boisterous behavior rankles some
older Palm Springs folks but serves as an irresistible draw for
homeowners hoping to profit from the dearth of hotel options to
serve the millennial masses. Other age-old antagonisms include
Old Money vs. New Money, the Old Guard vs. the New Generation—
familiar frictions that echo turf wars in some South Bay
communities—and in many cities throughout the nation.
Shifting sands aside, there’s a lot of glamorous history to be savored
in the shimmering desert. In the ’60s and ’70s, Palm Springs
was revered as the Hollywood hideaway for stars such as Elvis Presley,
Dean Martin, Liberace and Frank Sinatra. Two hours from Los
Angeles, the town known as “PS” sheltered celebrities fleeing the
paparazzi. Now in the 21st century, celebrities still come out, but
PALM SPRINGS
ART MUSEUM
LANAI ROOM, PARKER PALM SPRINGS