Conde Nast Traveler has named the City of Palm Springs in the Top "30 Best Small Cities in America" for 2014. Pooled in a category with beach towns and snowy escapes, Palm Springs landed at number 28 for its 350 days of sunshine and Hollywood glamour mixed with a poolside vibe.

This award is voted on by Conde Nast Traveler readers and based on cities with a population of fewer than 100,000.

"We know our city is great, so it's fantastic that Conde Nast audience has recognized us to be among the best in the country, "said Mary Jo Ginther, Director of Palm Springs Bureau of Tourism. "With our year-round sunshine, casual desert lifestyle, a wide choice of new and renovated hotels and hugely popular special events like the Palm Springs International Film Festival,  Modernism Week and so much more,  there's simply no doubt Palm Springs is one of the most happening, vibrant resort destinations on the planet."

Over a dozen new and renovated hotels have opened recently, with additional new developments set to open this and next year. New establishments to dine, dance and play have burst onto the Palm Springs scene, adding more "hip" and "cool" to the City's already great vibe. 

Another example of how Palm Springs is a place for high fashion and the luxury lifestyle is the recent Louis Vuitton "Resort Collection" fashion show held in Palm Springs in May.  Sorry, I'm a little late reporting this, but I just heard about it, and felt it was worth a belated mention.  Following is a little bit of the Vogue article I found about the event:

"It’s hard to imagine a fashion spectacle that can follow a mere two days after the Met Gala.  Flash forward to Wednesday evening, Louis Vuitton and Nicolas Ghesquiere decamped to Palm Springs to unveil its 2016 resort collection at the Bob and Dolores Hope Estate. The show, which took place at the John Lautner–designed house atop a vista looking out across the desert, was followed by an after-party that took over the grounds at the Parker Palm Springs. Guests taking in the scene post-show included the CEO of LVMH, Bernard Arnault, as well as familiar LV faces like Michelle Williams and Adele Exarchopoulos, along with Kanye West, Selena Gomez, Alicia Vikander, Gia Coppola , Derek Blasberg, Lisa Eisner, and Rosetta Getty.

The crowd, many clad in Louis Vuitton, enjoyed the Mexican buffet spread of tacos and ceviche. It was a rather relaxed setting, and a welcome change of pace. As dusk turned into a night illuminated by the glow of fire pits, revelers could be found roasting s’mores or migrating towards the evening’s next main activity: the LV carnival. Fit with bumper cars, a dance floor where Grimes held court as the night’s DJ, an arcade, and even a Louis Vuitton claw vending machine filled with genuine LV wallets for the taking (if you were so lucky), the carnival engendered wonder in all its visitors, including Ghesquière himself, who seemed in awe of what could only be described as a night that celebrated the inherent fun of fashion."

Another article I read, which focused on the business aspects of the event, mentioned how other major "luxury brands", like Tom Ford and Berburry, also hosted their major events in California Vs. New York or Paris this year.  This article made a comparison between the jet-set renaissance Palm Springs is experiencing and a fashion renaissance California as a whole is going thru.

If California is in fact going thru a fashion renaissance, this bodes well for us here in Palm Springs;  just as The Hamptons is a hop skip and jump away from Manhattan, so too is Palm Springs a hop skip and jump away from Los Angeles.