WI the accident (and the events leading up to it) that led to the formation of the Salton Sea never occurred? Would there be any major long-term effects? Would the communities around there (such as Indio, Mecca, Coachella, Palm Springs, etc.) be more or less developed than they are today?
And the POD will ideally not be major -- i.e. no Bryan winning in 1896 leading to the ATL.
And a sub-WI: How could, with a POD no earlier than the POD that leads to the Salton Sea never forming (in the same TL), how could the area now encompassed by Indio, Coachella, Palm Springs, etc., coalesce into a single city about the size of Glendale, CA (i.e. about a quarter of a million people or more) by modern-day?