Local Life in the Coachella Valley

Most of what gets written about Palm Springs is written by people who stayed four nights.

This is the other stuff. What it's actually like to live in the Coachella Valley — the wind, the summer, the July electric bill that makes you sit down for a minute, the weather myths visitors repeat with total confidence, and the things that feel completely normal here and faintly alarming everywhere else.

It's also where the arguments are. Whether the valley's better than it used to be. What got lost, what got better, and which changes locals actually notice versus the ones that only ever make the paper.

Thinking about moving here? Read this before you read a single listing. The listing is not going to mention August.