Is Desert Hot Springs safe to raise small children? (Temecula: rent, low crime)

[tilegirl]

I have seen Mission Lakes CC, and it is very nice. It is outside of DHS, and the houses are very well kept. I hear the golf is pretty good also. Different "crowd" than DHS, and is geography seperated as well. I think in any area that may have some "iffy" folks, it is good to live in a gated community, and one with mostly adults and HOA's that are enforced.

[Twinkle Toes]

No, it is INSIDE of DHS - not outside. If you live there, you will have a DHS address. While Mission Lakes may be fine insiode the gates, the problem is that you DO have to leave and go outside of those gates, and DHS is a VERY rough area. If you're going to spend the money to live in a gated community, why not just come down here and check out La Quinta, Palm Desert, Indian Wells, or Rancho Mirage? There are a lot of "deals" here in my area that will allow you NOT to have to live in DHS.

[cl723]

Desert Hotsprings is full of serious crime.I would not take my family there. Palm Desert, La Quinta,etc. are much better places to live.

[LivingInTheDesert]

I to was enticed by the cost of houses in DHS when we were moving here from Utah. It is as all above said. Of course there are nice people, some nice houses (behind gates) etc. So sorry to anyone whose home base was bashed here but it was all true.
You don't need to downsize to consider living in the other areas mentioned - ie: Palm Desert, La Quinta, Rancho Mirage, you need to consider foreclosures which sit next door at half the price to full priced residences. They usually need paint, some trim and landscaping but there are SO many out here and they need good families to hook up with

[Twinkle Toes]

Let's just say that if I were to live in Desert Hot Springs I'd have to change my name to .................................................. ...... TWEAKER TOES!!!!!!!

[kcummins]

Here is an honest answer from a person who lives in Desert Hot Springs....well I just moved to DHS from Alabama...I think alot of pple on here are not telling the whole story abt.this place. First off there are only families here!!!! . Low income-middle income mostly hispanic descent. Yes some of the fathers are paroles, but said paroles have a lllooot of kids here So if you are white (I am) and you come from a white suburban sheltered community you won't like it here. If you already live in a low-middle income city this one isn't that bad. I am originally from New orleans, DHS is quiet and nice compared to N.O.. I have not heard a single gun shot since I have been here. <<<<<<>Pros- Houses are very cheap and surprisingly not very old! there is 2 large groceries, kmart starbucks and some fastfood..you are only abt 10 minute shoot to the airport, walmart, lowes etc in palm springs. There are several new parks for the kids. A massive skateboard one and a separate bmx..plus slides etc. The schools are fairly newer compared to the east coast. Also several baseball soccer fields for kids. Also very warm here in teh winter, you can lay out and get a tan in January. <<<<<<>Cons- Houses and rent are cheap so some areas can be run down. B/c its the desert the wind blows garbage and debris into the yards and vacant lots. There are no damn street lights at night it is very scary driving around, also the busses run all over through which does not help the city, prosper it only moves in more low income ppl..and alllot of pple ride the bus, you have to try not to run them over at night do to no street lights or side walks. Allot of the roads are pot hole ridden. All the stores are employed by immagrints.. so the service is awful b/c they don't speak english. There are a ton of kids. it's seems the families here are very large and the kids can be very loud... they also having a habit of taking my pets home. one kid could not understand the right of ownership that a cat w/ a collar belongs to some one....oh yeah and there beggars/crack heads out side the stores here, the beggars are all white. and seem to only harass the 5 other white folk here. my husband went to get the mail once and had an old cracky lady ask him for a ride. he of coarse then asked her if he looked like a taxi... umm it is also very very hot here in the summer.. there are no jobs really here in DHS you would have to get on the interstate and commute most likely. Plus it's the desert no rain no trees very dry...
<<<<<<<>Personally I like trees and rain.. so I will be going north here soon.. <<<>>> I have only gone into yucca once..it is much more secluded then DHS, there is only one road in... they do have a good bit of shopping, a walmart and biglots so you probably don't need to leave the yucca valley for anything really...

[KarlaT2]

Originally Posted by Twinkle Toes

Let's just say that if I were to live in Desert Hot Springs I'd have to change my name to .................................................. ...... TWEAKER TOES!!!!!!!

LMAO.

Not sure if origainl poster is still around, but if the goal is to be close to family in Riverside, in addition to La Quinta and Palm Desert here in the valley you could go south of Riverside instead to Temecula/Murrietta area. Very nice area, and familiy friendly.

[Twinkle Toes]

Originally Posted by kcummins

Here is an honest answer from a person who lives in Desert Hot Springs....well I just moved to DHS from Alabama...I think alot of pple on here are not telling the whole story abt.this place. First off there are only families here!!!! . Low income-middle income mostly hispanic descent. Yes some of the fathers are paroles, but said paroles have a lllooot of kids here So if you are white (I am) and you come from a white suburban sheltered community you won't like it here. If you already live in a low-middle income city this one isn't that bad. I am originally from New orleans, DHS is quiet and nice compared to N.O.. I have not heard a single gun shot since I have been here. <<<<<<>Pros- Houses are very cheap and surprisingly not very old! there is 2 large groceries, kmart starbucks and some fastfood..you are only abt 10 minute shoot to the airport, walmart, lowes etc in palm springs. There are several new parks for the kids. A massive skateboard one and a separate bmx..plus slides etc. The schools are fairly newer compared to the east coast. Also several baseball soccer fields for kids. Also very warm here in teh winter, you can lay out and get a tan in January. <<<<<<>Cons- Houses and rent are cheap so some areas can be run down. B/c its the desert the wind blows garbage and debris into the yards and vacant lots. There are no damn street lights at night it is very scary driving around, also the busses run all over through which does not help the city, prosper it only moves in more low income ppl..and alllot of pple ride the bus, you have to try not to run them over at night do to no street lights or side walks. Allot of the roads are pot hole ridden. All the stores are employed by immagrints.. so the service is awful b/c they don't speak english. There are a ton of kids. it's seems the families here are very large and the kids can be very loud... they also having a habit of taking my pets home. one kid could not understand the right of ownership that a cat w/ a collar belongs to some one....oh yeah and there beggars/crack heads out side the stores here, the beggars are all white. and seem to only harass the 5 other white folk here. my husband went to get the mail once and had an old cracky lady ask him for a ride. he of coarse then asked her if he looked like a taxi... umm it is also very very hot here in the summer.. there are no jobs really here in DHS you would have to get on the interstate and commute most likely. Plus it's the desert no rain no trees very dry...
<<<<<<<>Personally I like trees and rain.. so I will be going north here soon.. <<<>>> I have only gone into yucca once..it is much more secluded then DHS, there is only one road in... they do have a good bit of shopping, a walmart and biglots so you probably don't need to leave the yucca valley for anything really...

This post - in more ways than one - provides all the answers the OP seeks.

I spent a great deal of my time in and out of DHS as a teenager/young adult. Many many years, as that is where a good deal of my friends lived, as well it was where attainable work was. I lived in Morongo and went to Yucca High,La Contenta and last Sky High.
Personally, i would not live there myself, much less with a child. The crime is through the roof. With areas such as Browns Town, Upper hill compound, and the like who needs LA. I delivered pizza for a while in DHS for Dominos back in 1994 when I first bought my car (tips were good plus 4.25hr). I quite the night I delivered pizza to a house in Browns Town and got caught in the middle of some territory fight between two unhappy groups of individuals. I went to work for Carls Jr. in DHS the next day, I traded my tips for life.
I was a skater. There was a group of about 50 of us who were friends back then. At any given time we were 6 or 10 in a crowd skating.
One weekend I took off out of town with a few friends to go to northern Arizona for the weekend. When I returned I found out my friend Jamie had been shot and died of aggravated bullet ricochet wounds. He was 17 years old, would have been 18 September 1st 1996.
His younger brother (15 years old) had been stalked home by some guy on the Sunbus who had been following him all the way home (Line 19 DHS) from Palm Springs. All the way to the house the guy was walking behind him, the guy asked my friends brother for a cigarette, then pulled out his gun and started shooting. My friend came out of the house and it was over. Jamie died that night at 430am. The guy got away, with the chase ending somewhere in Sacramento where he killed a few more random people. He also had killed a few people in a city before that night. In all there 5 deaths resulting from his misgivings.
The shooter was a native born and bread out of DHS and he was in his 20's.
This is not an isolated incident and it occurs quite often.
I knew the people who lived in the poorer parts of town and so the awareness of these things was sharp.
Yucca Valley has its own problems, if you would like your children to grow up well adjusted you need to consider further south, la quinta, palm desert, rancho mirage.
The public school system is bad, however it is especially bad here. Do not be alarmed at a bad report card out of MUSD it is just politics.
My 9th grade math class, for example, had a teacher who always had our assignment and homework written on the board upon arrival to class.
It was either evens or odds page say 31-32. Not one time during the whole year did he explain one problem. 28 out of 32 kids failed that year and no one batted an eyelash. This is a district wide issue, (among other things), or was at the time. And, as funding has gone down since then for public schools i cant imagine much has changed for the good.
Yucca valley and the surrounding areas has a high dropout rate, and a high drug abuse problem. Or at least it did when I was younger. I cant imagine that has resolved itself either.
I lost a few good friends to the meth kingdom. Which was quite popular back then (15 years ago now).
Hwy 62 is a killer too, too many people driving too fast and too many blind spots in the road. I have personally known about 7 people who have died by the hwy. Among them Two of them brothers who both died on the hwy, 16 years apart, their mother lost both her boys to the same hwy 16 years apart and about 5 miles in between.
So, I know it has been a while since your post and I was researching a move out to Oklahoma tonight and saw your post. Just wanted to FYI for ya and hope it all works out for ya.

[Twinkle Toes]

One word ........................... PARAGRAPHS.