I moved from NYC to the California desert 2 years ago. 10 things continue to surprise me about living here.

The author on a hike near Palm Springs.

Emily Hochberg/Business Insider

• Two-and-a-half years ago, I moved near Palm Springs, California, after a decade in NYC.
• I loved vacationing in California and made the move when my job turned remote.
• So many things surprise me daily — and not just the summer heat.

So many things in my life changed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The biggest being I moved away from the Northeast, which is where I grew up and lived for the decade prior in New York City.

But everything changed in 2020 when I was no longer required to work in the office and had my first baby.

Needing more room for my family, and no longer feeling tethered to New York's exorbitant rental prices, my husband and I started brainstorming where we might move.

We considered my home state of Connecticut, but couldn't find a home to buy that didn't need many repairs, and longed to give up the Northeast's long dreary winters.

We kept coming back to Palm Springs, California. It was the place we loved to vacation, where we got married, and always said, "Wouldn't it be cool to live here if we didn't have to be in New York for work?"

After a monthlong visit during the summer to test out the intense heat and look at houses, we had an offer accepted on a home, and two-and-a-half years later, we're still happy Coachella Valley residents.

It was a leap of faith — we didn't know anyone when we moved here, and many things continue to surprise us every day.

The Palm Springs area isn't just for old people. Since my husband and I moved here, we've made so many friends with young kids.

The author's daughter at a park.

Emily Hochberg/Business Insider

When friends learned we were moving near Palm Springs, we were always met with the same response.

"Isn't it for old people?"

Before we arrived to live here full-time, I thought it too. Initially, I wasn't worried. After 10 years in New York, I was fed up with the crowds and noise. Living like a retiree among palm trees and sparkling pools in my late 30s sounded great.

And while the Coachella Valley has long had a reputation as a retirement enclave, since living here, I know that that's just one demographic of people.

One of the most shocking things has been how many new connections we've made, perhaps even more than in New York.

The community of families is smaller than in a big metro area and everyone seems to know everyone, so being a parent has made it incredibly easy to make friends.

So many other parents we've met — through my daughter's school, Facebook mom groups, and at the playground — are around the same age, and relocated from cities like Los Angeles, Chicago, and San Francisco to work from home with a better quality of life at a cheaper price, just like us.

But there are still plenty of "snowbirds," and a lot operates on a seasonal basis around this community.

Looking over the Coachella Valley.

Emily Hochberg/Business Insider

While living here doesn't feel like a retirement community to me, there is a noticeable shift every year around November, and again in May.

That's when the "snowbirds" return, and then leave again.

Despite the influx of young families, many homeowners and visitors to the area are still retirees who come for the "season," which is typically November to May, when the weather feels near perfect. They get to drop in for the best time of the year and depart just before the long, dreadful summer when temperatures can reach 120 degrees Fahrenheit and many businesses close until the fall.

When the snowbirds return, I notice a huge uptick in local traffic, restaurant reservations are nearly impossible to secure, and local stores become inundated with long checkout lines.

It feels frustrating to me as a full-time resident, but their annual departure is a silver lining of living here during the hot summer when things feel calm and empty.

Though in all honesty, I'm just envious. One day I hope I can be a snowbird, too.

Living near the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival isn't as annoying as I thought it would be.

Coachella is a famous music festival in Indio, California.

Callie Ahlgrim

The first year I lived here, I dreaded the arrival of April and, with it, the annual Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.

I feared the worst with raucous short-term vacation renters, loud parties, and traffic detours. Luckily, we've had no such problems, despite living not too far from the festival grounds.

And I always look forward to seeing the festivalgoers' fashion each year as they board shuttle buses at a hotel near my home or stock up on goods at my local Target.

One big reason we wanted to move here was the access to the outdoors and hiking. We rarely go.

The author on an attempted hike with her child.

Emily Hochberg/Business Insider

Back when it was just me and my husband vacationing here, our favorite thing to do was hike.

The entire Coachella Valley is full of trails, and Joshua Tree National Park is under an hour away.

As residents, we imagined we'd hike every week. Our kids had other ideas.

Now that we have two children, our life operates around their daily needs and desires. As most parents know, that hardly ever matches up with ours.

My toddler doesn't have the attention span or interest in a hike. At best, we can agree to a short "nature walk" before she inevitably wants me to carry her 30-pound body the rest of the way.

Now, we save hikes for days when my parents can babysit, but it's far from every week, more like once every few months.

We were spoiled by food in New York. Especially takeout.

A meal the author prepared instead of ordering takeout.

Emily Hochberg/Business Insider

I always knew we had access to some of the best restaurants in the world in New York, but it wasn't until I moved away that I realized how much I took that for granted.

We've found restaurants in the Palm Springs area that we like, but the takeout scene feels especially bleak with limited, overpriced, and bland options.

I long for my favorite Chinese food, Indian curries, and wood-fired pizza that was once just a Seamless order away.

I'd usually rather cook as most places we've tried to go are disappointing. That always feels frustrating when I'm tired or returning from a trip and the last thing I want to do is fire up the stove.

Most big-brand stores are only a mile away, making every day errands incredibly convenient.

A Target store in La Quinta, CA.

Emily Hochberg/Business Insider

Where I grew up in Connecticut, I had to drive about 45 minutes to get to the closest Home Depot or Target. Similarly in New York, those stores were a lengthy subway ride away.

Here, they're down the street. I can easily hit up Costco, Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, and Walmart. The same goes for Lowe's, Home Depot, Home Goods, and Best Buy — it feels like every major chain has an outpost nearby.

This was a welcome surprise when we moved in and had a whole house to furnish and maintain.

I still appreciate it now when I realize I've forgotten a single grocery item, or it's hot outside and a trip to Target is the only way to entertain an antsy toddler.

While I miss many things about the Northeast, I know I wouldn't have this kind of convenience in the other places we considered living.

Other things are incredibly inconvenient, such as childcare and healthcare.

Children at a daycare.

Thomas Kienzle/ AP

The thing I talk about most with fellow parents here is how it feels like the Coachella Valley lacks the infrastructure to meet the needs of all the new families.

We're on our third pediatrician in two years because it's been impossible to find a doctor who doesn't have a 6-month wait for appointments, or sees kids same-day when they're sick.

With our first two doctors, every time my daughter had an illness, even a minor ear infection, we were always told, "Sorry, go to ER."

It wasn't until we signed up for a concierge-style doctor with a $250 annual fee per child that we are now guaranteed visits and after-hours messaging for emergencies. All of those services were standard in the Northeast.

The families I know all face the same problem, and the doctors I've spoken with say there just aren't enough providers to meet the number of kids living here.

I'd say the same for local childcare. Most daycares and preschools I've encountered are for ages 2 and up, with long waitlists.

With my oldest, we had no choice but to hire a nanny until she became eligible for the one school with a spot open. It's one of the most expensive schools in the valley, and a half-hour drive from our house. This means we spend two hours a day driving back and forth.

A closer-to-home school with one of the very few infant rooms has had us on a waitlist for over a year for our baby, but I fear we'll be paying for a nanny until she turns two.

We researched childcare centers and medical practices before moving here and saw well-reviewed options, but we had no idea there would be so many waitlists and disappointing services.

Owning a pool is not as fun as I thought it would be.

The author's pool.

Emily Hochberg/Business Insider

When we looked at houses here, I refused to consider one without a pool. It was a must given the heat, I thought.

I was so wrong. Owning a pool is a pain.

Heating it takes about 24 hours and after friends told me it can cost them $100-$300 to heat it each time, we avoided using it altogether in the winter. My kids never want to go in for more than a few minutes, and my husband and I don't have the luxury of time to use it, so the cost is hardly worth it.

In the summer, the extreme heat makes it feel like bathwater, so we only use it a handful of times then, too.

Maintenance is also expensive. I pay $180 per month for twice-a-week cleanings for a pool I rarely use. The pool pump also broke shortly after we moved in, costing us another $2,000.

During those hot months, it also becomes prone to growing algae and I find myself opting out, waiting for the pool cleaner to come.

And since it was built along with the house nearly 20 years ago, it's showing wear and tear. Our pool cleaner told me that relining it could cost anywhere from $10,000 to $20,000, so I guess we'll just be using a less-than-photogenic pool for the foreseeable future.

Living here does often feel like being on vacation, though.

The grounds of a hotel in Palm Springs where the author took a staycation.

Emily Hochberg/Business Insider

I love nice hotels (hence my job as a travel editor) and I love how many are readily available in the Palm Springs area.

My family regularly signs up for ResortPass to spend the day at a nice hotel, and we've taken overnight staycations at many properties in the area, both as a family and as a couple, for special one-night getaways. I've also done spa days at other hotels.

And there are still so many other resorts to experience. It's one of my favorite perks of living here that I can't imagine having so readily available anywhere else.

Yes, the summers are incredibly hot, but no one warned me about the wind and dust. I'm not sure I'll ever get used to it.

A desert trail near the author's home.

Emily Hochberg/Business Insider

There's no way around it, the summer here sucks. It gets oppressively hot and we're forced to stay indoors all day, which is excruciatingly difficult with kids.

There's also extreme wind and dust, which I was not prepared for, and I spend so much time hosing down and cleaning our back patio from an endless layer of dust.

The day we moved in, we experienced our first haboob, a dust storm where the sky turned dark along with intense wind and dust.

We've found ways to deal with the summer, like bringing the kids to indoor playgrounds, swimming, and taking as many out-of-town trips as possible, but after three summers here, I still dread them.

I hate the winter, too, and thought I'd rather deal with a scorching summer, but some days I'm not so sure.

While I enjoy living here for the time being, I'm not sure if it's our forever place, and I hope we can find somewhere else in the future that's family-friendly with milder weather at a price we can afford and, ideally, a lot less dust.

Read the original article on Business Insider

from Business Insider https://ift.tt/pyDds4M