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<\/a>Welcome to Desert Hot Springs<\/p><\/div>\n
Not unlike the California gold rush of ’49, there is a land rush going on in the northwest corner of Coachella Valley, now know as the Coachillin’ Valley<\/strong>.\u00a0 To paraphrase an old saying from the \u201860s, if you can remember what you did in Desert<\/strong> Hot Springs<\/strong>, you weren\u2019t there! I recently returned from a \u2018trip\u2019 to this windy city and was amazed at what\u2019s happening there and what it’s doing to the local real estate market. For example, six months ago a gentleman bought 5 acres<\/strong> of brush-pocked desert for $200,000<\/strong> and just recently sold it for $1,000,000<\/strong>. A recent real estate ad showed\u00a02.85 acres<\/strong>\u00a0of raw desert for sale for $1,544,325<\/strong>. So why does this hot, windy seemingly god-forsaken corner of the desert command these kind of prices? The land grab in Desert Hot Springs (DHS<\/strong>) is because it is the first<\/strong> Southern California city to legalize large-scale medical marijuana<\/strong> cultivation. You won\u2019t see the marijuana growing out in the open desert; the land that is being purchased will accommodate large warehouses, and I mean large, like\u00a03,000,000<\/strong>\u00a0square feet, where marijuana plants are fed by hundreds of lights and an automated irrigation system. Giant tanks pump in CO2 while computers control air conditioners that regulate temperatures through the plants’ life cycle.\u00a0It has clearly become the\u00a0\u2018Cannabis Capital\u2019<\/strong>\u00a0of the country.\u00a0 The locals now affectionately call their city Desert Pot<\/strong> Springs.<\/p>\n One of many spacious warehouses<\/p><\/div>\n For decades, Desert Hot Springs had relied on its ‘miracle’\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0mineral waters<\/strong>\u00a0and nude spa resorts to lure tourists to this tumbleweed town. It is home to the largest collection of warm mineral springs in the United States, but the population of some 28,000 people have mostly suffered. A third of its residents lived in poverty and the city filed for municipal bankruptcy<\/strong> in 2001. A housing bust seven years later deepened the fallout. Now land values, the building industry and marijuana growing are creating jobs and starting to make this city rich.\u00a0 To say the least, it’s created a buzz.<\/p>\n The mayor<\/strong> of DHS, Scott Matas seems to be fairly buzzed as the projected income to the city within the next couple of years will add approximately $10 million<\/strong>\u00a0annually to the city coffers and upwards of $25 million<\/strong>\u00a0within 8 years. The mayor actually gets giddy when he is reminded that California is voting this coming November on the legal use of recreational <\/strong>marijuana . . . and you know how we Californians love to recreate. The mayor may also be thinking of doing some creative advertising by reversing the engines on all those energy-generating windmills<\/strong> in his city and start blowing some of that wacky-tabaccy smoke toward Los While the tony neighboring cities of Palm Springs<\/strong> and Indian Wells<\/strong> have malls filled with expensive fashion accessories, DHS has malls filled with pot paraphernalia<\/strong> and brownie shops<\/strong>. Today the standard greeting in DHS sounds the same, \u201cHi\u201d, but it\u2019s spelled a little differently and asked as a question, \u201cHigh?\u201d It won\u2019t be long before new streets around these mega-warehouses are given names like Pot Place, Cannabis Circle, Weed Way<\/strong> and Doobie Drive<\/strong>. It wouldn\u2019t surprise me if they renamed a section of the freeway that runs by DHS in honor of former president,\u00a0Bill Clinton<\/strong>,\u00a0from I-10<\/strong> to I-Never-Inhaled.<\/p>\n Soon when traveling on I-10 past DHS, all you’ll have to do is roll your window down and take a deep breath; but you’ll never be able to run for president.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Bob Sparrow “There’s gold in them thar weeds!” Not unlike the California gold rush of ’49, there is a land rush going on in the northwest corner of Coachella Valley, now know as the Coachillin’ Valley.\u00a0 To paraphrase an … read more![\"\"](\"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/warehouse.jpeg\")
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<\/a>Angeles<\/strong>.<\/p>\n