Palm Tree Tourists Annoying residents of Beverly Hills

[DoomsDave]

Beverly Hills residents concerned by "palm tree tourists" stopping in street to take selfies with city's landscape

Though Beverly Hills is well-known for having some of the world's most iconic palm tree-lined streets, residents are beginning to grow tired of "palm tree tourists" stopping in the street to snap photos of the city's iconic landscapes. 

They say that the concerning trend really took off thanks to social media and influencers, with groups of people flooding popular streets like Rodeo Drive, Beverly Drive and Cañon Drive. 

"It's definitely taking a risk," said Jeremiah Cox, a Beverly Hills resident. "Because I drive through there all the time, and sometimes people are in the middle of the street, and you have to honk."

 

[DoomsDave]

palms in BH.pdf

[JohnAndSancho]

I remember about a week and a half or so ago, some troublemaker on here posted a whole bunch of pictures from Beverly Hills and now the Grey Poupon guys are all annoyed because sometimes they have to use the horns in their car. This country is truly going to hell. What's the world coming to when the wealthy have to share the same space as us peasants? 

[happypalms]

Iam sure if they cut them down that would solve the tourist issue problem. But then they would kick a stink about losing part of there iconic look which would be part of the reason they moved there in the first place. You can’t please some people all the time. 

[Hu Palmeras]

I delight in watching Beverly Hills on my Smart TV. The mansions and those avenues lined with palm trees. I like to see and admire the architecture and its surroundings.

[mnorell]

Hopefully this fad will die down on its own. I lived next door to Beverly Hills for many years and I was about the only person ever driving around or walking and photographing palms in those days, LOL. There are a couple of parks in B.H. that have nice old palm plantings and these shouldn't cause a problem in terms of traffic interference, so I'm assuming this is about the big Phoenix canariensis and Washingtonia robusta palms that line Cañon and Beverly Drives; and around the Beverly Hills Hotel at Sunset and Crescent. These are very busy streets and quite dangerous to be running around taking selfies in the middle of the road!

I believe most of these palms were planted between 1911 and 1913 or so, as the city was being first laid out, and so they are very impressive. Hard to believe it's been more than a century now. Quite a few of the big old P. canariensis have been lost, as it was Ground Zero in L.A. for the big Fusarium epidemic that exposed the unsanitary practices of the landscape crews maintaining the palms in the 1990s.

[Harry’s Palms]

I can see both sides of this . If visitors use common sense and obey traffic laws it ain’t a problem . Problems arise when visitors are intrusive and ignore boundaries. Harry

[PalmatierMeg]

If visitors stand in the middle of the street to take their selfies, you may see fewer of them in the future. Me, I like to photograph palms but I leave myself out of the results because what human mug horns in on a gorgeous palm?

You can also erect a sign in the middle of the street that reads, "Stand here for selfies."

[Silas_Sancona]

33 minutes ago, PalmatierMeg said:

If visitors stand in the middle of the street to take their selfies, you may see fewer of them in the future. Me, I like to photograph palms but I leave myself out of the results because what human mug horns in on a gorgeous palm?

You can also erect a sign in the middle of the street that reads, "Stand here for selfies."

" Clever signs " article = Perfect timing for this topic...

I'd have them all up around my yard.   ....And a few others.  

[Tracy]

On 9/23/2025 at 3:05 PM, JohnAndSancho said:

I remember about a week and a half or so ago, some troublemaker on here posted a whole bunch of pictures from Beverly Hills and now the Grey Poupon guys are all annoyed because sometimes they have to use the horns in their car. This country is truly going to hell. What's the world coming to when the wealthy have to share the same space as us peasants? 

This isn't an issue of wealthy land owners in Beverly Hills versus the rest of the population.  It is an issue of the self absorbed who don't care about inconveniencing others so they can get their photo of themselves in traffic.  These streets may be popular with tourists, but they are also streets that locals use.  The barista at the coffee shop, the Uber and Lyft drivers, and other folks just trying to drive to their places of work or homes.

We have all seen the self absorbed "influencers" in our travels.  In Sequoia National Park, expecting everyone to wait and stand back for 30 minutes while they do their "turn" in front of the Sherman Sequoia, oblivious to all the other people there waiting for a few moments to get their photo.  Perhaps on the edge of a cliff after taking a cable car to the top of a mountain in the Alps.  Or near a water body in Florida trying to get that alligator in the shot.  This is no different except that the people taking the photographs can do so from the sidewalk without interrupting traffic but insist on getting in traffic lanes to get an "influencer moment".  Pick a busy street in your home town and imagine people going out into traffic to get a photo of themselves, and you can see how this cuts across all economic lines.  If anything, the social influencer of today that has the luxury of travel probably does not come from a economically difficult situation.

On 9/23/2025 at 4:48 PM, mnorell said:

Hopefully this fad will die down on its own. I lived next door to Beverly Hills for many years and I was about the only person ever driving around or walking and photographing palms in those days, LOL. There are a couple of parks in B.H. that have nice old palm plantings and these shouldn't cause a problem in terms of traffic interference, so I'm assuming this is about the big Phoenix canariensis and Washingtonia robusta palms that line Cañon and Beverly Drives; and around the Beverly Hills Hotel at Sunset and Crescent. These are very busy streets and quite dangerous to be running around taking selfies in the middle of the road!

I believe most of these palms were planted between 1911 and 1913 or so, as the city was being first laid out, and so they are very impressive. Hard to believe it's been more than a century now. Quite a few of the big old P. canariensis have been lost, as it was Ground Zero in L.A. for the big Fusarium epidemic that exposed the unsanitary practices of the landscape crews maintaining the palms in the 1990s.

Your point about dangerous only adds to the point that I wish to reinforce, which is the inconsiderate nature of people standing in traffic on busy roadways.  Since I have been fortunate enough to travel and see some spectacular places, I have encountered this mindset, which only came about with the advent of both camera phones and social media.  We all want to get good photos, but there is a place for being considerate of the other people that both live in those places and fellow tourists.  We all have read about the people insisting on going out onto the beachside outcroppings to get closer to the swells during big surf, then turn their backs to the ocean for a photo and get washed off the rocks to their demise.  This is no different.  

[happypalms]

When I first traveled to Europe to see those famous places I learned about in school, I couldn’t believe how difficult it was to get a picture taken without some clown doing a selfie in the picture. If they keep on taking pictures in the middle of the road let them do so they will be on you tube next week in a video of when idiots die taking selfies, then half world will see how good they are then!

[PalmatierMeg]

35 minutes ago, Tracy said:

This isn't an issue of wealthy land owners in Beverly Hills versus the rest of the population.  It is an issue of the self absorbed who don't care about inconveniencing others so they can get their photo of themselves in traffic.  These streets may be popular with tourists, but they are also streets that locals use.  The barista at the coffee shop, the Uber and Lyft drivers, and other folks just trying to drive to their places of work or homes.

We have all seen the self absorbed "influencers" in our travels.  In Sequoia National Park, expecting everyone to wait and stand back for 30 minutes while they do their "turn" in front of the Sherman Sequoia, oblivious to all the other people there waiting for a few moments to get their photo.  Perhaps on the edge of a cliff after taking a cable car to the top of a mountain in the Alps.  Or near a water body in Florida trying to get that alligator in the shot.  This is no different except that the people taking the photographs can do so from the sidewalk without interrupting traffic but insist on getting in traffic lanes to get an "influencer moment".  Pick a busy street in your home town and imagine people going out into traffic to get a photo of themselves, and you can see how this cuts across all economic lines.  If anything, the social influencer of today that has the luxury of travel probably does not come from a economically difficult situation.

Your point about dangerous only adds to the point that I wish to reinforce, which is the inconsiderate nature of people standing in traffic on busy roadways.  Since I have been fortunate enough to travel and see some spectacular places, I have encountered this mindset, which only came about with the advent of both camera phones and social media.  We all want to get good photos, but there is a place for being considerate of the other people that both live in those places and fellow tourists.  We all have read about the people insisting on going out onto the beachside outcroppings to get closer to the swells during big surf, then turn their backs to the ocean for a photo and get washed off the rocks to their demise.  This is no different.  

I grew up in one of the top tourist traps of the universe: the Washington DC metro area. I can't recall the number of times a tourist or "visitor" copped an attitude and said, "You people here in DC can't tell ME what I can do. I pay your salary." No, Skippy, you don't. I'm self-employed and got customers to serve, so get your Grand Marquis out of my way.

My fortune and luck to move to Cape Coral, FL, aka "The Banana Republic of Florida" where Snow Birds clog the roads on their way to golf, tennis, bingo, bridge club, sunbathing by the sea while the poor working schlubs trailed behind them. They have Cape Coral Code Enforcement on speed dial, the quicker to report locals for violating "their Florida". I got reported for running a nursery when bypassers could see a couple dozen palm seedlings visible at the side of my house. That kind of stuff was a regular rite of Season for years.

Tracy, I get where you're coming from. Funny how people freak out over palms in Cali but are mostly palm-blind in FL.

I love some of those sample signs in this post. I wouldn't mind posting a couple at the edge of our yard but my pie-in-the-sky husband would object. "Let's be nice to the neighbors." That means the unknown people who bought the monstrosity of a 1700 sf house next door and immediately put up a 7-8' chocolate brown vinyl fence right away  and block access to a freshwater canal yet.

[PalmatierMeg]

2 hours ago, Silas_Sancona said:

" Clever signs " article = Perfect timing for this topic...

I'd have them all up around my yard.   ....And a few others.  

Dibs on the "No Stupid People" sign

[JohnAndSancho]

I misread the room, I apologize @Tracy. I dunno why but I was assuming this was people taking pictures OF palms, not the Tik Tok and Instagram people taking pictures WITH them. I can't stand the term "influencer," and I probably low-key resent people that get paid to travel and just post pictures of stuff. Except Anthony Bourdain, he was great. But 😬

 

Like @PalmatierMeg sort of alluded to, if you stand in the middle of the street taking selfies and filming videos there's a good chance you become part of the pavement. 

[Silas_Sancona]

1 hour ago, PalmatierMeg said:

Dibs on the "No Stupid People" sign

May be a holiday season gift to myself this year,  lol...