SEARCH NEWS:

 

Study: Income Disparity Greatest in Resort Areas

PALM SPRINGS, California – As reported by the Associated Press: "…A recent analysis of 2000 Census data by the Associated Press found that Palm Springs and the neighboring towns of Cathedral City and Palm Desert have some of the greatest income disparities in California.

"The AP ranked 122 towns and cities with populations greater than 1,000 to find out which ones had the greatest income gap between the poorest and richest residents.

"In general, resort communities such as Palm Springs, Santa Monica and Santa Barbara had some of the highest income gaps, as did agricultural areas in the Imperial and Central valleys that rely heavily on immigrant workers.

"…In the Coachella Valley, the division between the rich and poor is as much geographic as it is economic.

"The valley, in the arid desert east of Los Angeles, forms a gentle arc that stretches from the extravagant casinos and resorts of Palm Springs and Rancho Mirage to the rutted trailer parks and unincorporated agricultural outposts of Mecca and Thermal.

"…Further east in Mecca, immigrant workers pack into unregulated trailer parks on tribal land. The median household income drops to $22,973, with 98 percent of residents listing themselves as Hispanic on the 2000 Census.

"Many of these people commute 30 miles or more to the resort towns to the west, where they work as gardeners, maids or in casinos -- but can't afford to live…"

< Gaming News