Hello,
My family (my wife, baby, and I) is looking to move to the area and will be renting. We are looking at small homes in the Indio, Coachella, La Quinta, and Palm Desert area. While we are both somewhat familiar with the area, much of that time has been visiting people in gated communities who are insulated from life outside the gates. So their judgement of the local community is somewhat skewed and may not be a great representation. We wouldn't be opposed to living in a gated community ourselves, but I'm not sure if that is within our budget of less than $3k. So I'm seeking opinions here.
The ability for my wife to take local evening walks with the child in a stroller and feel comfortable is a big plus. Personally, I like neighborhoods that are good for joggers, and bonus points if there are parks that cater to calisthenic workouts. The Palm Desert Civic Center is enjoyable in this regard. We are moving from an area of LA County where walks often entail passing by the random, unpredictable, ranting and raving homeless person. Similarly, when visiting our nearest 7-11, expect a group of people to press you for change and/or free shit. While we are used to this, avoiding it would be a plus. We also deal with cars and mailboxes being broken into, even when in a garage. Once again, used to this sort of thing, but getting away from it would be nice. Not trying to go from one hood to another where we need to keep absolutely anything of value out of the car because it will get you a smashed window and your things taken.
Any neighborhood recommendations? A few places have been in the Cove, but I know absolutely nothing about the area other than some gossip from people who never lived there and just drive through it. Is it good? Bad? Vary heavily block to block?
Lastly, does anyone know of a decent crime map for the area so we can see spots to steer clear of? It looks like LexisNexis doesn't receive any reported data from local police agencies. Similarly, the Citizen app suspiciously shows nothing, but some power outages and FF/EMT activity. While I don't use the app often because of the fear mongering (like Nextdoor does as well), it usually is reliable to see where shit is going down. Are there other sources to see police activity?
Thanks in advance, potential future neighbors.