Will The Obamas Make Palm Springs Their Post-White House Home?
PALM SPRINGS (CBSLA.com) — President Obama is in the Coachella Valley for business summits and, no doubt, a couple of rounds of golf.
The President has been a frequent visitor to Palm Springs the past seven years, fueling speculation that the Obamas might be considering the area as a post-White House residence.
And why not? Chicago has cold winters, Hawaii is far from the mainland. Palm Springs has the aforementioned golf courses. Sounds like a no-brainer.
KCAL9's Crystal Cruz reports some residents are hoping he will make the area his permanent home.
"You know Palm Springs is the premiere place," says Palm Springs Mayor Robert Moon.
The mayor said he has a brief meeting with the President Friday, "Maybe it was about 90 seconds."
But even though the time was short, Moon says he got a little lobbying effort in.
"I mentioned to the president this morning, I said, 'You know it's 9 degrees in Philadelphia this morning and it's probably pretty cold in Washington. We have some beautiful weather for you.'"
The Palm Springs mayor isn't the only one lobbying. The Rancho Mirage mayor is doing the same. President Obama has visited that city six times.
"Keep coming to Rancho Mirage," says Mayor Dana Hobart, "because nobody has to tell [him] what's good about Rancho Mirage. It speaks for itself."
President Ford lived in Rancho Mirage, along with the Annenberg family and many celebrities and he said the president would feel right at home.
Both mayors agree that the Coachella Valley has some of the best golf courses in the world.
Last year, the president was rumored to be under contract to build a home in the desert with realtor Carl Blea.
"That was just all rumor in the end," Blea said.
Blea told Cruz he would love to show the Obamas some modern, or maybe mid-century homes and hopefully turn the current First Family into future desert dwellers.
"It's amazing and a beautiful place to live," Blea says, "I think people who come here for the first time get it."
The desert has great weather most of the year and when it gets too hot, Mayor Moon says the president's Chicago home would just be a four-hour flight away.
The president showed Friday he definitely has a love of deserts on the mind. He designated three areas of the Mojave desert national monuments -- the Castle mountains that border Nevada, the Sand to Snow national monument on the edge of Joshua Tree National Park as well we the Mojave Trails, all in all, about two million acres under federal protection.