Palm Springs, California
Encyclopedia : P : PA : PAL : Palm Springs, California
Palm Springs is a famed Riverside County, California, desert resort city, approximately 110 miles east of Los Angeles. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 42,807. Palm Springs possesses some of the most famous golf courses in the country. Swimming, tennis, horseback riding, and hiking in the nearby desert and mountain areas are other major forms of recreation in Palm Springs. It is one of nine adjacent cities that make up the Coachella Valley (Palm Springs area). The area code for Palm Springs is 760. The ZIP codes for Palm Springs are 92262 through 92264.
Once known as the "Playground of the Stars," Palm Springs is a small city with the legacy, amenities, and history of a large, cosmopolitan city. Palm Springs lies at the foot of one of Southern California's most majestic mountain peaks, 10,834-foot-tall Mount San Jacinto, whose eastern flank abuts downtown. It is not unusual to swim in 80 degree weather while looking up at snow covered peaks.
History
Early History
The Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians is composed of two lineages of Cahuilla Indians (panik and kauasik) whose traditional territories encompass modern day Palm Springs. The Agua Caliente Indian Reservation was established by the United States Government in 1876 and 1877. The reservation occupies 32,000 acres, of which 6,700 acres lie within the city limits. Agua Caliente Indian Reservation lands were granted in alternating squares laid out in a checkerboard pattern. This alternating checkerboard pattern was originally granted by the United States Government to the Southern Pacific Railroad as an incentive to bring rail lines through the open desert. The majority of reservation's lands are not communally owned by the tribe, but are instead allotted to and owned by individual tribal members -- a result of the 1947 Lee Arenas Decision.1 Reservation lands, whether individually allotted or communally owned by the tribe, are held in trust by the United States.
The Cahuilla name for the area was "Se-Khi" (hot springs). Spanish explorers named the area "Agua Caliente" (hot water). The current name for the area, "Palm Springs," was likewise preceeded by the name "Palm City" which appeared on the town's first official survey map. References to "springs" and "hot water" in historical place-names revolve around the hot spring waters located beneath Indian Canyon Way at Tahquitz Canyon Way, which are pumped and redirected to spa facilities at the same location. The hot spring has played an important role throughout the history of the tribe and the City. According to Cahuilla mythology, the hot spring is a place of power and healing where nukatem (powerful beings) dwell and a source from which shamans obtained their power.2 The hot spring and its health-giving properties would over time shape Palm Springs' image as a health resort. References to "palm" in historical place-names refer to the native Washingtonia filifera palms which grow in abundance in the Indian canyons.
John Guthrie McCallum is often erroneously cited as being a judge and Palm Springs' first white resident, of which he was neither. Jack Summers, a stagecoach driver, arrived at Agua Caliente in about 1863 to replace William McCoy as stage coach station keeper.3 These two individuals constitute the town's first white residents. McCallum would not arrive until the 1880s, ostensibly to find a healthful climate for his tubercular son, but instead used his status as a federal Indian Agent (1883-1885) to launch a career as land developer and promoter, having recognized the potential of Palm Springs as a health resort and for its agricultural potential. He quickly joined with other promoters and with them took possession of some of the most desirable lands in the area, especially those with a water supply. Although it was the duty of Indian Agents to inform Indians of their rights and to act as their advocate, McCallum instead withheld legal information from the Cahuilla which stated that "bona fide" settlers (both Indians and whites) had a right to claim homesteads existing prior to the taking of lands for the Southern Pacific Railroad.4 This law required such claims to be filed by a given time. Unaware of this requirement, no Cahuilla claims were filed, resulting in a devastating loss of traditional Indian land and property.
By May 1876, the Southern Pacific Railroad had constructed a train station at Seven Palms at a distance of seven miles from Agua Caliente. Many Cahuilla had been active in the railroad's construction, replacing Chinese laborers who had died in the desert heat. (In a bitter irony, the railroad made heavy use of mesquite wood for fuel and as a building material which was a traditional Cahuilla food source.) Seven Palms Station was known as the "Station from Hell" due to its isolated, windy location. The presence of the train, like the stagecoach line that preceeded it, opened up Agua Caliente (Palm Springs) to the world. At about this same time, the Palm Springs Hotel and a rustic bathhouse were established in the vicinity of the Section 14 hot spring.
- 1Winner of Major Indian Land Case Dies (7/23/1966), Press Enterprise Newspaper.
- 2Stories and Legends of the Palm Springs Indians (1943), Francisco Patencio.
- 3Archaeological, Ethnographic, and Ethnohistoric Investigations at Tahquitz Canyon (1995), Lowell John Bean, Jerry Schaefer, & Sylvia Brakke Vane.
- 4Archaeological, Ethnographic, and Ethnohistoric Investigations at Tahquitz Canyon (1995), Lowell John Bean, Jerry Schaefer, & Sylvia Brakke Vane.
Mid-Century Period
Popular opinion generally earmarks the period ranging from the 1930s to the 1970s as Palm Springs' heydey. During these years, popular culture and residential development flourished thanks to an influx of wealth, originating most notably from the Hollywood film industry. Hollywood's visible and influential penchant for Palm Springs living would in turn perpetuate Palm Springs' national reputation as a place of health, relaxation, wealth, and glamor. Palm Springs came to be home and a favorite destination, if only seasonally, to many of Hollywood's most glamorous stars. Major stars and celebrities such as Al Jolson, Greta Garbo, Cary Grant, Steve McQueen, Liberace, Howard Hughes, Bob Hope, Elvis Presley, Debbie Reynolds, Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Sonny Bono, Cher, Kirk Douglas, Jack Benny, Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin owned homes in Palm Springs during this period. In addition to film and stage personalities, the Palm Springs area has been frequently visited and settled by United States Presidents Dwight David Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford.
Palm Springs' famous "playground of the stars" tagline has its origins from this period, when celebrities and the Hollywood elite flocked to Palm Springs to see and be seen in one of its many nightclubs, country clubs, hotels, poolsides, and restaurants. Charles Farrell's Racquet Club (opened with fellow actor Ralph Bellamy), the Hotel Mirador, Irwin Schuman's Chi Chi nightclub, George and Ethel Strebe's Doll House nightclub, Irwin and Mark Schuman's Riviera Hotel, Vic Sudaha's Palm House restaurant, the Foldesy family's Polynesian restaurant, Palm Springs Hotel, Trader Vic's restaurant, Aloha Jhoe's restaurant and bar, Tom O'Donnell's golf course, the Deep Well Guest Ranch, the Desert Inn, the Del Tahquitz hotel, and the Oasis hotel were some of the more popular destinations.
In a less glamorous light, the mid-century period was also marked by a two significant events which exposed elements of the City's underlying problems with corruption, racism, and poverty.
In 1959, landmark legislation by the Secretary of the Interior equalized allotted Indian lands, thereby setting the stage for development of Indian lands within the City of Palm Springs. This same legislation, however, recognizing the potential value of Indian lands within the boundaries of a world famous resort, also called for the appointment of conservators and guardians to "protect" Indians and their estates from "artful and designing persons"5 who might otherwise cheat them out of their properties, which could now be legally sold by the individual tribal members who owned them. By declaring Indians as "incompetent," court appointed conservators and guardians took control of a majority of Indian estates. A major oversight of the program was the appointment of judges, lawyers, and business people as Indian conservators and guardians -- the very people the program sought to protect Indians and their estates from. The program was administered by the Indio Superior Court's Judge Hilton McCabe, subject of the Ed Ainsworth's Golden Checkerboard. Bolstered by the ability to control valuable Indian estates, the conservatorship program fostered corruption among those conservators and administrators with their own economic agendas. A series of Pulitzer Prize winning Press Enterprise articles authored by journalist [George Ringwald] exposed such instances of excessive fees, fee-splitting, and other types of questionable conduct.6 The conservatorship program was officially ended in 1968 after the Secretary of the Interior's [Palm Springs Task Force] likewise exposed it as fraudulent and corrupt.7
In 1962, the City of Palm Springs formally initiated an urban renewal project8 which sought redevelop Section 14 -- a residential enclave made up largely of low-income, African-Americans working in the local service industry. (Section 14 at this time was quickly becoming one of the City's most valuable properties after tribal land allotment equalization occurred in 1959 and by means of radical changes taking place in Indian land lease laws.) By seeking cooperation with the Association of Conservators and Guardians and the Bureau of Indian Affairs9, the City cleverly maneuvered around legal restrictions which otherwise limited its power to pursue an urban renewal program on Indian owned lands. The result of this indirect, legally questionable approach to Section 14 urban renewal was disastrous. Conservators and guardians in charge of Indian estates, made up largely of judges, lawyers, and business people with a vested interest in rapid development, were asked to give preliminary condemnation notices to residents and owners of properties on Section 14. However, in many cases, homes were dismantled and burned without any notice given. Residents were forced to relocate to windswept, defunct housing tract on the outskirts of town, where many still live today.10 Loren Miller, in a 1968 investigative report prepared for the California Department of Justice, described the urban renewal program as a "city engineered holocaust."11 The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), active in hearings at the time of the program, has asked the City of Palm Springs for an apology but has not received one to date.12 This fact is especially notable after the city elected its first African-American mayor, [Ron Oden], in 2003.
- 5Summary of Indian Conditions, Palm Springs, California (1962), Hilton H. McCabe, Indio Superior Court.
- 6Agua Caliente Indians and Their Guardians, The (1968), George Ringwald, Press Enterprise.
- 7Final Report of the Palm Springs Task Force ("The Cox Report") (1968), Palm Springs Task Force (Secretary of the Interior).
- 8Palm Springs City Council Notes: Resolution #6781 (2/19/1962), City of Palm Springs Office of the Registrar.
- 9Cover letter accompanying a copy of Resolution #6781 addressed to the Association of Conservators and Guardians (2/26/1962), City of Palm Springs City Council.
- 10Wounds Inflicted by Section 14 Remain (12/9/2001), Desert Sun Newspaper.
- 11Section 14 Demolition [of Minority Homes] (1968), Loren Miller (California Department of Justice).
- 12Local NAACP Demands Apology (11/3/2000), Desert Sun Newspaper.
Modern Renaissance
As the 1970s drew to a close, increasing numbers of retirees began moving to the Coachella Valley. As a result, Palm Springs began to evolve from a virtual ghost town in the summer to a year-round retirement community. Businesses and hotels that formerly shuttered for the months of July and August instead remained open all summer. As commerce grew, so too did the number of families with children. Sadly however, the immediate post mid-century period was marked by decades of economic decline which continued throughout the 1980s and early 1990s.
Economically, the City began to show signs of recovery in the 1990s. Mid-century homes built in an architectural style now fashionable again began selling for many times their asking prices in the 1980s. Ironically, the economically depressed 1970s and 1980s had managed to preserve much of Palm Springs' mid-century architectural heritage by an unintential and effortless means: economic stagnation. The late 1990s to present have been marked by a period of architectural renovation and preservation, largely afforded by the arrival of young, urban expatriates with an appreciation for mid-century design, architecture, and everything "retro." Businesses, inns, and other enterprises have in turn begun catering their services to the tastes and penchants of these new arrivals, heralding an unmistakable period of mid-century modern renaissance.
Also greatly contributing to Palm Springs' economic revival was arrival of Indian gaming operations, profits from which are redirected to employ a substantial number of employees in various business enterprises owned and operated by the Agua Caliente Band. The tribe also contributes a percentage of its profits to philanthropic causes and local infrastructure, such as the City of Palm Springs Fire Department, Palm Springs Public Library, and the Boys and Girls Club of the Coachella Valley.
Architecture
Palm Springs is notable for having the highest concentration of mid-century modern architecture in the United States and was [recently recognized] by the National Trust for Historic Preservation for its dedication to preserving mid-century modern architecture. However, destruction of period architecture in favor of new business enterprises continues to be a source of contention between developers and organizations committed to the preservation of historic structures. A contemporary example of this struggle is the controversy concerning the Wessman Development Company's desire to demolish the [Town & Country Center] designed by architects A. Quincy Jones and Paul R. Williams.The post-war era period drew famed architects such as John Lautner, Richard Neutra, Rudolf Schindler, William Cody, Albert Frey, Donald Wexler, and E. Stewart Williams to Palm Springs. Anchored in the Bauhaus movement, such architects adapted modern materials, techniques, and floor plans to the unique requirements of desert living. Inspired by the starkness and beauty of the desert, an aesthetic popularly known as Desert Modernism was born. Notable for its use of glass, clean lines, natural and manmade materials, and indoor/outdoor spaces, Desert Modernism defined a lifestyle of elegant informality.
Iconic modernist structures in Palm Springs include Albert Frey's [Tramway Gas Station], Donald Wexler's airport), E. Stewart Williams' [Coachella Savings & Loan], Richard Neutra's Kauffman House, and Palmer & Krisel's [House of Tomorrow].
A home developer, the Alexander Construction Company, popularized a modernist post-and-beam architectural style during this period. Alexander houses feature low pitched roofs, wide eaves, open-beamed ceilings and floor-to-ceiling windows to create an indoor/outdoor ambiance most suitable for private, pool-side living in a desert climate. The Alexanders built over 2,200 houses in the Coachella Valley between 1947 and 1965 and played an important role in securing Palm Springs' a place in modernist history.
Students and afficinados of mid-century architecture and design come to Palm Springs to study and pay homage to its unique heritage. A number of local organizations have also been formed in recent years to advocate this heritage and to help preserve it, ensuring that Palm Springs' architectural legacy can be appreciated by future generations.
Geography
Palm Springs is located at (33.823990, -116.530339)[Geographic references#1GR1].
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 246.3 km² (95.1 mi²). 244.1 km² (94.2 mi²) of it is land and 2.2 km² (0.8 mi²) of it (0.88%) is water.
Palm Springs is sheltered by the Little San Bernardino Mountains to the north, the Santa Rosa Mountains to the south, and the San Jacinto Mountains to the west. This geography gives Palm Springs its famed warm, dry climate, with 354 days of sunshine and less than 6 inches of rain annually. Winter temperatures average in the 70s with nights in the low-to-mid 40s, but the dry desert heat of summer pushes daytime temperatures well above 100, with overnight temperatures in the mid-to-upper 70s. In general, very high temperatures in the summer are made bearable by the dryness of the desert heat. Summer evenings and nights are very pleasant.
Average Seasonal Temperatures (In the middle of the season)
Winter: Daytime highs of 72°F, with overnight lows of 42°F
Spring: Daytime highs of 86°F, with overnight lows of 55°F
Summer: Daytime highs of 108°F, with overnight lows of 77°F
Autumn: Daytime highs of 92°F, with overnight lows of 59°F
Demographics
As of the 2000 census[Geographic references#2GR2], there were 42,807 people, 20,516 households, and 9,457 families residing in the city. The population density was 175.4/km² (454.2/mi²). There were 30,823 housing units at an average density of 126.3/km² (327.0/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 78.33% White, 3.93% African American, 0.94% Native American, 3.83% Asian, 0.14% Pacific Islander, 9.78% from other races, and 3.06% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 23.72% of the population.16.3% of households had children under the age of 18 living with them, 34.0% were married couples living together, 8.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 53.9% were non-families. 41.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 18.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.05 and the average family size was 2.88.
In the city the population was spread out with 17.0% under the age of 18, 6.1% from 18 to 24, 24.2% from 25 to 44, 26.4% from 45 to 64, and 26.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 47 years. For every 100 females there were 107.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 107.4 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $35,973 and the median income for a family was $45,318. Males had a median income of $33,999 versus $27,461 for females. The per capita income for the city was $25,957. The relatively low income reflects the presence of a large retired population and a large population of owners of second homes whose income is not reported. About 11.2% of families and 15.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 28.2% of those under age 18 and 6.8% of those age 65 or over.
Gay and lesbian community
Although Palm Springs has traditionally been a conservative city, the 2006 gay and lesbian population in Palm Springs is estimated to be about seven times the national average. [link] This concentration is even greater than that of San Francisco, which has approximately five times the national average. Gay residents represent about 35 percent of those who are year-round residents.Ron Oden was elected to City Council in 1995. In 2003, he became the City's first gay Mayor. Many interpreted his rival's defeat, former Mayor Kleindienst, as a reactionary vote against Kleindienst's ambivalence towards the City's burgeoning gay community.13
Jewish community
Palm Springs has been home to a sizable Jewish community through much of its mid-century and modern history. Charles Farrell's Racquet Club is rumored to have been the first country club in Palm Springs to welcome Jewish members. Architect Donald Wexler's residential condominium complex, the Royal Hawaiian Estates, likewise formed an early Jewish residential community. According to one source, several Jewish stars formed Tamarisk Country Club because of a perception that Thunderbird Country Club was anti-Semitic.14African-American community
Lawrence Crossley, born 1899 in New Orleans, is said to have originally come to Palm Springs as settler Prescott T. Stevens' chauffeur in 1924. Over time, he became responsible for much of the town's early development. In addition to being an early investor in the El Mirador Hotel, Crossley managed the Whitewater Mutual Water Company and owned trailer parks, a laundromat, a restaurant, a company that produced tea made from Cahuilla medicinal herbs, and Crossley Courts on Ramon Road.15 Crossley also served as an Indian conservator. (See Mid-Century Period section.) Ironically, his estate would be largely absorbed by the conservatorship program following his widow's death.16Although a sizable community of African-Americans once lived in downtown's Section 14, it was forcibly removed by the City of Palm Springs between the years of 1962-1966 as part of an urban renewal program. (See Mid-Century Period section.) For lack of alternative, low-income housing options, many residents from Section 14 relocated to a small, windswept community on the outskirts of town organized and funded by Lawrence Crossley.17 Crossley was developing a second tract for the displaced community in Cathedral City when he died in 1962.
In 2003, the City elected its first African-American mayor.
- 13Mayor urged to reach out to gay community (4/25/2002), Desert Sun Newspaper.
- 14Celebrities who put the valley on the map were just plain folk (12/13/1999), Desert Sun Newspaper.
- 15Bet you didn't know (2/03/2006), Desert Sun Newspaper.
- 16Agua Caliente Indians and Their Guardians, The (1968), George Ringwald, Press Enterprise.
- 17HISTORY: In the 1920s, Lawrence Crossley designed and built the city's first course (2/26/2002), Press-Enterprise Newspaper.
Points of Interest
Celebrities still retreat to Palm Springs, but today the city's economy focuses on tourism, real estate, health care, shopping, and gambling. It is a city of numerous festivals, conventions, and international events.Palm Springs, because of its beauty and resort style of living, has had special appeal to senior citizens and the gay community. With the peace and spirituality of its desert and mountain setting, and its many activities and points of interest, Palm Springs is again attracting the attention of international travelers, young people, and those who want to live in or retire to one of the most unusual and attractive resort areas in North America.
The [Indian Canyons] are an often overlooked wonder. The canyons surrounding Palm Springs and their associated resources are sacred to the Cahuilla and are historically important to Cahuilla history, scientists, and nature lovers. Tahquitz Canyon and three southern canyons are listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Palm and Andreas Canyons are known as the world's largest and second largest California fan palm (Washingtonia filifera) oases, with Murray Canyon listed as fourth. While in Palm Canyon, visit the Trading Post for hiking maps, refreshments, Indian art and artifacts, books, jewelry, pottery, baskets, weavings and conversational cultural lore.
The world's largest rotating tramcars can be found at the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway. Constructed at Chino Canyon at the north end of town, tramway cars ascend two-and-a-half miles up a steep incline through five unique life zones to reveal dramatic, sweeping valley views from within San Jacinto Mountains. The ascent from desert floor to an altitude in excess of 8,500 feet is accompanied by a drop in temperature of 30 degrees or more, giving riders a cool respite from the heat on a hot summer day. A wilderness area can be explored at the top of the tram and there is a restaurant with spectacular views.
In recent years, Palm Springs has become a shopping mecca for mid-century modern ethusiasts interested in modern design. [Vintage design, clothing, furnture, and thrift stores abound].
The [Palm Springs International Film Festival], founded by former mayor Sonny Bono in 1990, draws film lovers and aficionados from around the globe, having become over time one of the nation's premiere film events. The Festival has an attractive film sales and distribution record and is seen by American distributors as one of the best Academy Award campaign marketing tools. It also features cultural events, filmmaker tributes, industry seminars and an annual black-tie gala award presentation.
The [Palm Springs International Festival of Short Films & Short Film Market (ShortFest)] is the largest short film festival and market in North America, screens over 350 short films with a concurrent film market facility featuring over 2,400 shorts. An Academy® sanctioned Festival, over the past 10 years, 50 of the short films nominated for Academy Awards® have been screened at the Festival prior to receiving their nominations. The Festival offers 20 awards in ten different categories, featuring cash prizes and/or film stock.
The [Palm Springs Follies] stage-show spectacular brings one of the last of the authentic vaudeville shows still presented in the United States; one of the unique aspects of the show is that all of the performers are over the age of 55. The follies show is largely patronized by an older crowd to which it caters its similarly antiquated brand of humor.
Every Thursday evening downtown Palm Springs is transformed into [Village Fest], featuring a diverse display of arts and crafts, a certified farmer's market, food, and live entertainment on beautiful Palm Canyon Drive. Roads are cut off to traffic, granting pedestrians and merchants full access to the area.
The [Palm Springs Historical Society] maintains Palm Springs' largest collection of historical photographs, objects, and ephemera. It also maintains two museums, the McCallum Adobe and the Cornelia White House, on site at the Village Green in downtown Palm Springs.
The [Agua Caliente Cultural Museum] is a non-profit organization interpreting the history and culture of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians and other Cahuilla peoples. Located on the Village Green in downtown Palm Springs, its collections include an Indian basketry collection and other Native American cultural artifacts. The ACCM will open a new facilitity on Tahquitz Canyon Way in late 2008 .
Housed in modernist masterpiece designed by architect E. Stewart Williams, the [Palm Springs Art Museum] features contemporary and Western American art, changing exhibits, the Annenberg Theater, and curiously an Indian basketry collection.
The Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians has added an exciting vibrancy to downtown with the luxurious [Spa Resort Hotel and Casino], offering gambling opportunities, restaurants, and spa facilities. The [spa facilities] draw their thermal waters from the original hot springs which gave rise the names "Palm Springs" and "Agua Caliente."
The Moorten Botanical Garden and Cactarium is a glimpse of old Palm Springs and features 3,000 examples of desert cacti and other desert plants, grouped by geographic regions.
The [Palm Springs Air Museum] is a non-profit educational institution whose mission is to exhibit and educate about World War II combat aircraft and the role the air crews had in achieving this great victory.
Law and Government
The City of Palm Springs incorporated in 1938. It is a Charter City, with a charter adopted by the voters in 1994. It consists of a Council-Manager government, with a five-person City Council that hires a City Manager and City Attorney. The mayor is directly elected and serves a four-year term. The other four council members also serve four-year terms, with staggered elections. The City is considered a full-service city, in that it staffs and manages its own police and fire departments including a jail, parks and recreation programs, public library, sewer system and wastewater treatment plant, international airport, and planning and building services. The City Council also serves as the Community Redevelopment Agency, the Housing Authority, and the Financing Authority.
The current mayor is Ron Oden, but the best-known mayor in the city's history was Sonny Bono.
Education
Public education in Palm Springs is under the jurisdiction of the Palm Springs Unified School District, an independent district with five board members. The District has fourteen elementary schools, four middle schools, three comprehensive high schools, one continuation high school, one independent study program, eight headstart/state preschools, three full-day headstart programs, four childcare programs, and an extensive adult education program. The PSUSD serves the Desert Communities of Cathedral City, Desert Hot Springs, Palm Desert, Palm Springs, Rancho Mirage and Thousand Palms. [link]
The Palm Springs Unified School District has four middle schools: Desert Springs Middle School, James Workman Middle School, Nellie N. Coffman Middle School and Raymond Cree Middle School. The largest middle school in the Palm Springs Unified School District, Desert Springs Middle School [link] is located in Desert Hot Springs and serves approximately 1,800 students in grades six through eight. James Workman Middle School [link] is located in Cathedral City and serves the north side of Cathedral City and a small portion of Palm Springs. James Workman serves approximately 1,500 students in grades six through eight. Nellie N. Coffman Middle School [link] is located in Cathedral City and serves approximately 1,200 students in grades six through eight. Raymond Cree Middle School is located in Palm Springs and is the smallest middle school in the Palm Springs Unified School District. Raymond Cree [link] serves approximately 1,000 students in grades six through eight.
Private schools in Palm Springs and nearby communities include Desert Chapel (K-12), St. Teresa's (K-8), King's School (K-8), Desert Christian (K-12), and Marywood-Palm Valley (K-12). The Roman Catholic Diocese of San Bernardino has committed to building a new Catholic high school in the Coachella Valley, called St. Xavier's.
The Desert Community College District, headquartered in Palm Desert with its main campus, College of the Desert located there. California State University, San Bernardino and University of California, Riverside have satellite campuses available within the College of the Desert campus.
Sports
Palm Springs is home to the Palm Springs Power, a California league baseball team composed of college all stars. The Palm Springs Stadium, was once the spring training site of the California Angels (now Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim) American League baseball team from 1961 to 1993.The Palm Springs area features a number of world class sporting events including the Pacific Life Open, one of the most significant tennis events in the world, after the four Grand Slam tournaments; the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, typically the first PGA event of the season; the Kraft Nabisco Championship, the largest LPGA event; and, dozens of boxing events held throughout the valley throughout the year. Palm Springs has also hosted the Easter Bowl, the national junior tennis championships, for the past several years, as well as several NCAA golf tournaments.
Local Slang
- The term "desert rat," a semi-derogatory term used by locals, is said to originate from the Rat Pack's penchant for partying in Palm Springs. Its neutral use describes a full-time resident of the desert. Its negative use describes a person who is somehow unsavory or smarmy. A man who walks around with an unbuttoned shirt and his belly hanging out, who is likewise ambivalent about his body odor, is a prototypical example of a desert rat.
- The term "snowbird" refers to seasonal visitors who remain only during the cooler winter months, returning to their northern homes during the hotter summer months. It is generally a neutral term, but can be utilized negatively in certain contexts when referring to a perceived inappropriate use of local infrastructure.
- The street name "Tahquitz" is locally pronounced as "Taw-kwitz." However, the correct Cahuilla pronunciation is "Taw-kwish." According to Cahuilla lore, Tahquitz is the name of an evil shaman who lives in Tahquitz Canyon whose habit is the stealing of souls.
- "Scalping" is a local landscaping practice relating to the re-seeding of Palm Springs' expansive and famously manicured grass lawns and golf courses. Specifically it refers to a bi-annual replanting of grass seed: one type that does well in the cooler months, another type which flourishes in the warmer months. This practice grows increasingly controversial, as prior to the replanting of seed, the old grass and dirt are tilled to encourage new growth. This process stirs pollen, dust, and mold up into the atmosphere, causing severe allergies and air pollution. Scalping is currently not controlled by any local ordinance.
External links
- [City of Palm Springs Homepage]
- [Palm Springs Desert Resorts Convention and Visitors Authority home page]
- [Palm Springs Bureau of Tourism page]
- [The Desert Quidnunc blog]
- [Palm Springs Directory]
- [Palm Springs Travel Guide]
- [Palm Springs, Free Community Listings]
- [Complete Guide to Palm Springs]
- [The Desert Hunter, Online Business Search Engine and Directory]
- [The Desert Sun, Coachella Valley Newspaper]
- [Palm Springs Public Library]
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