In the early 1970s, a visionary and relentlessly driven land developer convinced the Palm Springs City Council to annex 34 square miles of pristine wilderness in nearby mountains that rose in elevation from 500 to 5000 feet. He named the massive tract “Palm Springs Atajo,” and he aimed to use its cooler climate to make Palm Springs a year-round destination for travel, recreation, and residence.
Atajo was to be an 18-mile-long series of residential communities that would be home to 40,000 people. The design of each community would be themed to the climate at its altitude. A Tyrolean village. A Tudor hamlet. An Old West outpost. A Spanish settlement. Among its amenities would be five retail centers, a ski resort, the largest equestrian center in the West, and cultural venues to be the envy of large cities.
From more than a dozen offices in two countries, teams were assembled, studies initiated, concepts visualized, financing secured, permits issued and marketing conducted. But in the end, Atajo was doomed to spectacular but slow-motion collapse, and its failure still echoes today. ATAJO: The Palm Springs That Never Was tells its story.
Program presenter Eric Chiel is best known to Modernism Week audiences as the creator and host of programs that explore American popular culture of the mid-20th century, particularly in Palm Springs. His most recent entry was last year’s Quirks Kitsch & Curiosities: 100 Years of Palm Springs Eccentricity—the 2027 sequel to which can be read about here.