I've always loved coming out to Palm Desert. I have a number of relatives who live in Sun City and it's a nice upscale retirement community... Golfers and golf carts, friendly people with dogs, and after 7 p.m. it's wonderfully quiet. I'm usually in town visiting during holidays and love to frequent the great seasonal restaurants and shopping venues. It may sound odd, but I also enjoy watching the local news affiliates; nothing particularly bad happens and the reports are usually feel good stories or events that happen right down the street. It's a mini vacation every time I'm in town. read more

Sun City Palm Desert - Golfers and golf carts, friendly people with dogs, and after 7 p.m. it's wonderfully quiet. - Golf Near Me - Palm Desert, California

Loads of crotchey widows constanly complaining, they have nothing else to do They need to get a life!!! Lots of thefts which surprises me sincere it's 24 hour security. I believe it must be an inside job, gardeners, handymen, contractors..etc. Seriously, how do you steal a golf cart out of a garage. Who knows! read more

Majority of the time no one answers the phone. No one can leave a message because the voicemail is full.

This place is a shit hole. If you play golf you might be happy, but the temps are above 115 degrees in May, June, July, August, Sept, and Oct. You can never go outside because it is always windy and soooooo sandy here. Sun city is so sandy and there is so much sand outside the walls that they do not get rid of. This is not a good place to live. Many of my neighbors have moved after 1 year. I have to live here to take care of my mom but am moving ASAP. read more

Moved to Sun City about 4 years ago and couldn't be happier. We have met such amazing people and made so many new friends, it's just the kind of place we had always hoped to retire to. So many things today here, golf, swim, tennis, pickle ball, the gym and so many clubs to be involved in. It started as our weekend getaway from Los Angeles and now happy to call it our full time forever home. read more

I moved here 3 months ago and I couldn't be happier. They keep the grounds immaculate. I feel very very safe here unlike my last place. Clean pools. I met some very nice people at the pool, people here seem very friendly. It's during Covid so I have not yet participated in any of the hundreds of activities the have but hope to soon. If you are over 55 this is the best deal in the desert. read more

Nothing spells paradise like visiting my grandparents for the weekend. You can tell they love it here when everyone they knows asks to visit. The views of the mountains are to die for and the quietness of no children is amazing. The landscape is impeccable and always kept tidy. The gate keepers are also very friendly and help you out in a bind -- like when your grandmother mistakingly puts your out-of-state fathers name as a registered guest as opposed to you visit after visit. "Hey g-Ma, it's Steve not Michael!" All in all, I love visiting. I think I need to take up golf. read more

Sun City Palm Desert - Golf Near Me - Palm Desert, California

Worst community in the entire Coachella valley for vendor access. Good luck getting your home care

Waiting at the main gate on Washington can take up to 15 to 20 minutes I have business to conduct I can afford to be late but security doesn't care the home owner will call and complain but nothing happen when the snow birds come by back it will be even worse idiots! read more

Just a quick question. Is it against rules to park in your driveway over night? Mom just moved there and thinks they are not allowed to park in driveway against HOA pool read more

I bought a home in Sun City Palm Desert in the summer of 2017 and could not be happier. The community is beautiful - well maintained and developed. The HOA fees are low, especially considering what you get - premium cable and internet, three clubhouses, two 18 hole golf courses, pickleball and tennis courts, bocce ball, a softball field and much, much more. The activities and clubs are almost endless, from sports to crafts to hobbies to cards to social activities. The people are very friendly and there are so many opportunities to meet and socialize with your neighbors. The community recently received the Medallion award from the Community Associations Institute (CAI). It is a national organization with over 800 members in the Coachella Valley alone. A community must meet over 70 benchmarks to be eligible and Sun City is now one of only four in the state and the first 55+ community to be awarded this status, which means we have been recognized as a preferred place to live. This was the best decision I've ever made! read more

Enter through the front guarded gates and prepare to gasp at the cascading waterfalls, perfectly manicured golf courses, flowering bushes, palm trees and colorful beds of blooming plants. The streetscape is always alive with color, and the three clubhouses offer all the fitness and amenities one could ask for. With oodles of social activities and over 80 clubs, there's something here to interest anyone and everyone. Plus the homeowner fees are the lowest in the valley for a 55+ community. Retirement means nothing here--there's so much to do to fill every day. read more

We owned a place there from 2012-16, and I'm very glad we sold and moved to Indian Wells. Pros: Well maintained common areas, good security, some good clubs, some very nice residents Cons: Frequent sand storms; had to remove sand yearly. Remote location necessitates long drives to shopping, restaurants, and entertainment. On-site Boulevards restaurant mediocre. HOA rules very rigid and controlling; many ways to get in trouble from taking your garbage cans out too early the night before, to leaving your garage door open too long. Grand-kid unfriendly; no kids under 4 allowed in pools; only 1 pool open to kids 4-18. Although it is a 55 and over community, the average age is way way above that. Be very careful when being a pedestrian or bicyclist; there are people still driving there that shouldn't be. Repetitive cookie cutter architecture with pretentious facades, jammed on 7,000 sq ft lots with crushed rock (only in HOA approved colors haha!). read more

We never thought in our wildest dreams that we would move to the desert after living at the beach for 28 years, let alone a retirement community. A friend of ours told us about Sun City so we looked and purchased a really comfortable home with a nice sized front and backyard. We love everything about living here. The day we moved here it was 114 degrees. Setting your AC to 85 works well after being in 114 temps. Yes, it can get really hot so-o-o go swimming, shopping, join a club, stay indoors or get out early to take your dog for a walk. It seems that everyone has a dog or two. We have great neighbors and everyone seems pretty happy and relaxed and so are we! Watch the speed limit...you WILL get a ticket. Get a golf cart and drive through the neighborhoods. Everybody waves to each other-we feel like we're on a never-ending vacation! Finally peace and quiet and really clean. read more

Sun city a retirement community in Palm Desert. As you drive in you have to stop at the security drive through. Most residents use electronic gate openers to get in. Inside you see a oasis , waterways , fountains , greenery and a bounty of desert plants and golf course. There are many club houses and the main club house offers shops , resturant, mail office and they hold year long meetings to entertain and inform residents. The homes in the community are priced well and most people ride golf carts on the streets , they are all legal here. read more

I moved to SCPDA in spring of 2018. Sold the unit a year later. I read about senior living and the palm desert area. So i purchased a small house and looked forward to meeting alot of seniors like myself who wanted to make new friends. Was I in for a disappointment. The homes are nice and generally well built. My immediate neighbors were great. One spent the hot season in PD and went to Asia while his home was rented out. The neighbors around me generally moved out around May 1 to cooler climates and returned in October or November when the temperature dropped below 100F. I never even saw or met some of the neighbors across the street/down the street from me. Worse yet, many of the social clubs/activities close down around the first of May and reopen around November. So there is little activity in my opinion to do during the summer. One of the things that happened to us on moving in was our cars were out in the driveway overnight and they were vandalized with several items stolen. Security advised that we keep out windows rolled up completely and park in the garage [our garage was full enough to make this difficult]. In addition we found that our mail was being stolen; we found our mail scattered in the street by our mail box. Again security recommended that we get a post office box to keep this from happening. We were paying around $300 per month for security and having more problems that we had living in San Bernardino County. This seemed completely ridiculous to me. There we no security cameras along our street but several of the community centers had them. I do not know if anyone was caught by these cameras. Once you bought in to SCPDA you had to abide by their very strict HOA laws. One monthly newsletter i read listed all kinds of fines/tickets given out [probably to seniors] for all kinds of offenses. It did not mention than anyone was arrested for the thefts that were occurring in the community. So it seems to me that the home owners were being victimized twice...once by the criminals and once by the HOA. I liked the security guards at the front gate and the people at the clubhouses were helpful. But when you move, there is an inspector that reviews your property in incredible details and issues citations that have to be corrected within 30 days. Since the sand in incredible bad at SCPDA it collects everywhere to the point that it is impossible to keep your floors, etc dust free. To make matters worse, it collects in the rock in the yard and is a constant source of irritation between home owners and the HOA. When we were inspected there were a half dozen or so violations that cost us a couple of hundred dollars to fix. Mainly too much sand in our rocks. My neighbor had a wonderful lemon tree that extended way over into our yard. He told us to pick all the lemons we wanted, but during the inspection, the HOA made him cut the tree back over to his yard even though we both loved the tree and wanted it left alone. Just completely irrational rules enforced by extremely difficult people. Nuff said. read more

I live there but my husband and I choose to play golf elsewhere in Palm Desert. The play is too slow, as the course was not built for the 80 year olds that try to play 18 holes with lots of walking involved. 5 to 5 1/2 hour round expected as they have nothing else to do all day! read more

If you are smart and care about people please never purchase a home here. My parents lived there for almost 20 years and the security and rent-a-cops they have there act like they are from Nazi Germany. Recently we sold my mothers home as she passed away in December 2016 (my father passed away in 2010) and the Security people treated us like garbage for the past 6 weeks when we were trying to clean out my mother's house. Once they gave me a ticked for parking a U-haul at the Main Clubhouse parking lot because it was "blocking" traffic for coming through. Number one there was hardly anyone parked over there so no traffic to block in the first place as there was 25 different ways they could around it. Secondly if it was blocking it was only by a matter of inches not feet or yards. Secondly they gave my sister a ticket for failing to stop completely at a stop sign. Even when you couldn't see any traffic if you tried straight ahead, to the rear or right or left. My sister even told the rent-a-cop that my mother passed away and we are trying to clean out her house. The Nazi rent-a-cop took her drivers license and made her sit in her car (in the heat) and wait for 10 minutes. Excuse my french but what a jerk!!!! They have no clue how to act like human beings. I could take the time to list more about Sun City and the lack of care for human beings they have shown us over the years but it will just get me more aggravated. I would suggest looking for another place to purchase a home other than this place. Don L. read more

Yes, I know I'm not old enough to live here... but with family here, it's such an amazing place to visit. This would be the place to be when you retire! This is no ordinary "older people" community.. everyone is so active... constantly swimming, golfing, out and about.. it's crazy!! read more

I LOVE Sun City but sometimes the residents are so unhappy. At times they are impatient, rude, and just plain nasty. I have a lot of family members that live there and I visit at least three times a week or more. Just because you live there doesn't make the place yours and it certainly doesn't give you the right to be unkind to others. And please don't use the excuse of just being plain old. I know a lot of elderly people that are some of the nicest people in the world! Life is way too short for this kind of nonsense so I say "Grow up and enjoy your retirement!" read more

My retired parents live in Sun City and as an experienced Realtor, this is THE place to retire and live. I would love to live here, what is not to like? When I see the words active adults, I now know what it means. Everyone I saw at the gym were hitting the pool and the gym hard. Sun City not only offers 3 pools, a gym, but you name the activity and it is there for you to learn and participate and have a life. I bet you the majority of the retirees are more active than those of us that are not retired. What a fantastic place. read more

This is the place to live in Palm Desert. Gated entry, palms, ponds, fountains, ducks. A great outdoor swimming pool and a large in door one. Quiet streets where you can drive around in your golf cart. They even have a Bocce court. What more could you want? My mom likes it there. read more

We've been living at this absolutely beautiful resort like community for a number of years, enjoying the friendly people, the unbelievable amount of clubs and activities and the fantastic facilities - swimming pools, hot tubs, fitness centers, tennis & pickle ball courts, golf, you name it, it's here. And on top of all that, I think it's the lowest cost active adult community in the area. We realize every year we couldn't have made a better choice. read more

When I visited I found that there were many different club houses with many activities and many swimming pools, but it was hard to park at them. There was too little parking and this was a weekday, although one could park, one would have to walk a long way to get to the club houses. It would make sense to have a golf cart to get around. I am not sure if golf carts got good parking. The handicapped spaces were all full up. If you don't mind walking a lot, it would not be problem, but for the mobility impaired it would be awful. The Blvd cafe did not have very good food and the prices were too high. The place is like a huge golf course, I could smell the chemicals from the giant greens. I know the fees charged to each home owner are fairly high here compared to other sun cities. Not very many people were swimming many pools did not have too much crowding. There is an indoor walking or running track that would be good for hot weather, but very few people were working out at the gyms. If you really love golf and are in great shape this is your dream place, but the surrounding area of stores near by lacked charm. There is a kind of strip mall with chain stores. It was just not a pretty area over all very barren, and a bit depressing, not cute and charming like Palm Springs. There is a very big library with many books (if one is not using e readers like Kindle) and they show movies very often and also have live entertaining and plays. There were many people playing card games. They have a dance studio and give dancing lessons and also have large formal dances. There is a sewing lab and a ceramics lab. (Note: it is not pottery, as they have no wheels for throwing pots, I think they should get some wheels. However, Sun City in Roseville does not have any ceramics at all, so they get brownie points for at least some type of work with clay.) You really have to see it to believe how large it is. You can visit by checking in the gate and showing your ID. Everyone I met was pleasant. I would like to compare it with Sun City in Phoenix which is even bigger, but I have not been there yet. read more

It is unfathomable to me how anyone can downplay this remarkable community. We originally purchased a second home here but within 3 months we knew we wanted to live here full time. This community offers everything we want in our retired life...sports, clubs, learning experiences, great camaraderie and so many friends that it is difficult to have a party without leaving some friends uninvited. In fact, one can be so busy that it is difficult to want to drive out the gates. We moved from the San Francisco Bay Area and have never looked back. We sometimes feel like they built this community just for us and our wants and needs. We love everything about this mini city: the management, the rules that keep our area pristine, the educational level of many successful retirees, the volunteers who offer us so many experiences, our home and yard, and, of course, the beauty of our surroundings. read more

One of the most annoying things about Sun City Palm Desert Comm Assoc. is the the contractors that are allowed to operate in here. We have a Community Standards board that inspects each homeowners property almost once a week. Sometimes they complain about things that aren't even a complaint. We've had a letter mailed to us that the property looked Vacant and the yard was "Shabby" and needed cleaned up. We take pride in our home. I immediately went down to the Community Standards meeting on Tuesday and asked for guidance in reference to what they were saying "Shabby". Another person came out and looked and the whole letter thing was dropped. So one person's opinion is not the same as another. I happened to mention that we were law abiding citizens and could not afford to get into any kind of Workers's Compensation situation of a contractor not being able to provide a license or certificate of insurance. The Community Standards Person said to stop right there because they don't get into that. I'm hear to tell you that today, I'm sitting in my home and listening to these gas fired leaf blowers that smell of oil and are louder then one could ever imagine, blowing garbage in the air and onto my property. They blow this stuff from back to front then to side yards. Where are the Community Standards people when all this is taking place. I wish I could put a video with sound on here and you would understand a lot better about what I'm talking about. Should the Community Standards Committee for Sun City be called Double Community Standards Committee for Sun City? These contractors are loud talking, loud working and have very little respect for other people's property. I doubt very much they have a county business license, that they adhere to any laws including taxation laws and the Sun City Security says you should keep your house locked at all times and garage doors closed. I think this is because they have had a few problems with Sub contractors coming into the community. One of the nagging things that really bothers me is that we get new asphalt on our streets and then these same contractors will come along and dump their coffee cups out in the street. I seem to always have a nasty coffee stains on the street in front of my driveway. Good luck on trying to report these things. These items certainly need to brought to someone's attention that doesn't turn their head the other way. Just think if we had real community standards in this area, we would get some decent contractors in this area that are licensed with the county and are law abiding citizens and pay file their taxes on an annual basis. However people sometime people believe differently that they are getting a better deal the way it is. That is never true. The consumer will always be cheated when dealing with outlaws. Thank you A Resident of Sun City Sounding off. read more

I've analyzed many acquisitions so when we decided to look at moving to an active adult community, I did a more in depth analysis than most buyers might do. We had vacationed in the Palm Springs area a few times and I attended several conferences in Palm Springs so we felt we would be happy moving to the greater Palm Springs area although we were most interested in a community near Palm Desert. We talked to Relators and read many reviews and that led us to want to look at Sun City Palm Desert. We managed to visit Sun City Palm Desert (SCPD) twice and fell in love with the beauty, resort style living and all the activities we could engage in, so we decided to rent a home there for the month of February to see if this was the right place for us. I bike and hike and found clubs right in SCPD for both those activities and made new friends doing those. We both swam several times a week alternating between the resort style outdoor pool and the Olympic style indoor pool and we both went skiing at the nearby Big Bear ski resorts which were amazing. My wife joined the Tennis and Pickle ball clubs as well as the art club where she has learned new skills and loved it. We explored Joshua Tree National Park which is not only fantastic to explore but turns out to be a world class rock climbing and bouldering spot where I ended up taking a class, learning something new. We also rented ATVs (dune buggies) and road the giant sand dunes in nearby Glamis after exploring the Salton Sea area. With three casino entertainment venues, the fantastic McCallum theater and many playhouse theaters the amount of entertainment available in the Coachella Valley is amazing. The restaurant options are almost endless and delicious and of course the weather and landscape are what much of the rest of the country dreams of. When we looked at the cost of selling our home in the Seattle area and buying at SCPD, not only were the homes very reasonably priced but I discovered that SCPD had the lowest property tax bills in the entire Coachella Valley and unlike two other 55+ communities we considered there are no expensive Mello-Roos or Community Facility District fees that I was surprised to learn can add as much as $1,000 a year or more to your property tax bill. Also SCPD has a negotiated premium cable TV and high speed Internet package that saves us over $100 a month from what we were used to paying for an inferior package. As you may have guessed we really became thrilled with the Sun City Palm Desert life style so we have now bought a home in SCPD and could not be happier. read more

I moved to this fantastic community a few years ago with some hesitation as I am still working 5 days a week. However not only did I find living here was as enjoyable as staying at a resort, the people I have met have been so friendly and welcoming and with super fast internet, a low cost landline and excellent cell service I am easily able to work from my home office when I want to. SCPD is right off of the I-10 freeway, which makes my commute super easy. The fitness centers, tennis courts and swimming pools are all open late so I can use them when I get back from work. I also take advantage of the 18 hole putting course and occasionally the golf course on my days off. I never thought I'd be able to afford this life style as I approach my retirement, moving to Sun City Palm Desert is one of the best decisions I've ever made. read more

My wife and I did our homework. We knew we loved the desert lifestyle, so planned ahead, and did our 'due diligence' and visited Sun City Grand in Phoenix, and Heritage Palms in Indio. Both pleasant enough, but SCPD is the absolute best community. Without a bit of a doubt, SCPD is truly the place!! Great value, great construction, attentive staff, beautiful clubs. The Lifestyle Enhancement Committee might seem a bit strict, but they are looking after the homeowner's investment. Property values are great and remain constant. We rented for a month first to try it out. I suggest that everyone consider doing that. Its easy to illiminate properties that aren't really a good 'fit' when you do it that way. I completely endorse the fantastic SCPD lifestyle. There is truly something for everyone . There are more than ample reserves, and the management staff is one of the best in all of California. It was one of the very best investments I've ever made. read more

My mom lives here and it is very pretty and in a good location, however the houses are cramped next to each other, small backyards, and very impersonal neighborhoods as a result of the housing construction. The clubhouses are nice, quiet but wish it was a more friendly environment in the living areas. Very strict rules as well for visitors (such as parking overnight on the street-issued a ticket without warning), residents leaving out garbage cans for too long are cited (these are senior citizens!!). I appreciate the security, activities/immenities they offer at the clubhouses. Suggestion...a lot of these residents don't drive and/or shouldn't be driving golf carts on their own. It would be great if they had a 'shuttle' service for residents within the compound. Other suggestion....the clubhouse(s) NEED a beauty salon (with a manicurist) and pet grooming-so it is easier for the senior citizens that cannot travel easily off the community grounds. read more

When we were looking for a place to retire, my husband and I visited Sun City Palm Desert and were very impressed. it's truly beautiful and has so much to offer. I would have preferred to move there (from the L.A. area) in order to stay near friends and family but yet feel that we were living the resort life away from L.A.'s traffic and smog. But the prices were a bit steep for a Sun City so ultimately we opted for Arizona instead. We fell in love with Sun City Grand in Surprise, which is similar in size and was built in about the same timeframe as Sun City Palm Desert. But we finally chose to buy in a Sun City that was newer, not built out, so we could buy our first ever brand new home. We live in Sun City Anthem Merrill Ranch which is quite small at the moment and will never have as many homes or options as Sun City Palm Desert. But we've been happy here and I think that from the perspective of a Sun City resident, I can say, in response to a previous poster, that each of these communities has a lot of wonderful people as well as its share of angry, rude, perpetually unhappy old people. It goes with the territory. Some people have a great deal of difficulty adjusting to retirement. One thing we have heard here from those relocating or snowbirding from the Midwest is that the more affluent people they know have headed straight for Sun City Palm Desert and the rest of us have opted for more affordable housing. That said, if I found myself alone someday, I'd move to Sun City Palm Desert in a minute both to be closer to loved ones in L.A. and to enjoy the full range of amenities that Sun City Palm Desert alone has to offer. read more

While Sun City is a very pretty place, the air quality is terrible!! It really stinks in Palm Desert and the surrounding towns. I understand the smell is coming from the Salton Sea. So sorry for the townspeople! I was thinking about buying a retirement place, but after visiting on the weekend and smelling the air, will probably not do so. read more