In general though, Joshua Tree has very few motels/hotels so aside from the camping sites, JT needs STRs to survive the festival seasons, the 3M+ visitors the park sees every year, and the LA hipsters who like JT as a staycation destination. 

I'm a contractor, custom home builder, investor & flipper.My take on Cathedral City is more on the low end of property values but still close to the "action" in Palm Springs, five minutes to downtown and about 45 minutes to the music festivals in Indio.BTW, Golden Voice added two more weekends of music festivals in October (Guns & Roses, Paul McCartney, ect) for a total of five weekends!

Both have pools and close to the festivals and tennis gardens.

I went to a rock festival at VIR.

If I had the capital to invest in my backyard, I would find something in Indio near where the music festivals are.

Raleigh is also the home of the Hurricanes and the Wolfpack, and hosts a variety of sports events, music festivals, rallies, and protests. 

From my research it seems like Austin is pretty popular during the March-April and August-November seasons (due to festivals, events etc).

Hocking Hills is slower January-February but the community is trying to have events like the Frozen Festival and winter hikes (the landscape is really beautiful with snow!)

This time last year we were booked solid through April with snowbirds and people coming for Cards games, Spring Training, the Open, Barrett Jackson, Culinary Festival, etc. 

So to name but a few of my favourites:The Opera: https://www.sarasotaopera.org/ we have our own dedicated Opera House and the company is more than proficient..I had my own seat at The Royal Opera ( well I believed it was my own seat....) and Glyndebourne and I'm a terrible snob when it comes to Opera ( mainly because I'm passionate about it) and the Sarasota company certainly perform.The ballet: https://www.sarasotaballet.org... we have Iain Webb, who, if you are an aficionado you will know is truly excellent and has transformed the company - I have to say they are superb and I try to see everything they produce.Sarasota Orchestra: https://www.sarasotaorchestra....very talented bunch, some world class musicians with a passionate and driven management company trying to establish, amongst some obstacles, their own home here...they offer a variety of performances and have a rich programme of participation with the community - I support them from one of the Boards that I am on and they change the lives of people who have always wanted to play with their programmes, it's something else to see a 75 year old woman perform her first violin solo in public...Foodies and Sarasota: I couldn't even begin..a very vibrant scene here..https://www.sarasotamagazine.c... this will give you a taste Best restaurants: https://www.sarasotamagazine.c... we have a slew of glorious eateriesWine: We have 4 Wine Spectator Award of Excellence restaurants, and many restaurants with excellent lists, tons of tasting events and festivals, we also have a cute restaurant that runs a programme to help you curate your own wine and make it yourself:https://www.goodfellassarasota...Festivals : again too numerous to list but we have a mix of national exhibitions that tour down here and local artists and artisans that perform, exhibit, here's a taste: https://www.visitsarasota.com/.....we also host the Internationally renowned Siesta Key Crystal classic Sand Sculpting Festival which is - I must say - a spectacular event - incredibly beautiful sculptures that exist for a brief moment and then are swept away by the ocean..it's exquisite..especially at night when everyone has gone home and it' s just the moonlight on the beach and the sound of the ocean and you're staring at Neptune himself...https://www.siestakeycrystalcl...We have a Polo club, large sports stadium, Orlando down the road...I could seriously go on and on...Needless to say it's gorgeous...