The Path to Paradise

The city of Palm Springs gained fame as an exclusive resort in the 1920s. Thereafter, the city elite became consumed with maintaining its reputation. Because public policies in Palm Springs increasingly re�ected the interests of local business, real estate, and village elites, social engineering and control over land use became the driving forces behind the city's political economy. Collaborating with local businessmen and attorneys, Palm Springs civic leaders persecuted their lower-income constituents who resided on the local Native American reservation . Attempting to dispossess the Indians of their tribal lands and erase any blighted neighborhoods that might degrade "the city beautiful," Palm Springs of�cials successfully removed the city's people of color and restructured the race and class con�guration of the city.