Coachella, California
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- For the music and arts festival, see Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival
| City Of Coachella | |
| Nickname(s): Coachello, La Coachelita and Cochele. | |
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| Coordinates: 33°40′46″N 116°10′28″W / 33.67944°N 116.17444°WCoordinates: 33°40′46″N 116°10′28″W / 33.67944°N 116.17444°W | |
| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| State | California |
| County | Riverside |
| Government | |
| - Mayor | Eduardo Garcia |
| Area | |
| - Total | 20.8 sq mi (83 km2) |
| - Land | 20.8 sq mi (53.9 km2) |
| - Water | 0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2) |
| Elevation | -66 ft (-20.74 m) |
| Population (2000) | |
| - Total | 22,724 |
| - Density | 1,091.4/sq mi (421.4/km2) |
| Time zone | PST (UTC-8) |
| - Summer (DST) | PDT (UTC-7) |
| ZIP code | 92236 |
| Area code(s) | 760 |
| FIPS code | 06-14260 |
| GNIS feature ID | 1652686 |
| Website | http://www.coachella.org/ |
Coachella is a city in Riverside County, California; it is the easternmost city in the region collectively known as the Coachella Valley (or the Palm Springs area). It is located 28 miles (45 km) east of Palm Springs, 72 miles (116 km) east of Riverside, and 130 miles (210 km) east of Los Angeles.
Known as the "City of Eternal Sunshine", Coachella is largely a rural, agricultural, family-oriented community in the desert and one of the state's fastest growing cities in the late 20th century. When it first incorporated back in 1946, it had 1,000 residents, but the population was 22,724 at the 2000 census.
The eastern half of the Coachella valley is below sea level, and the area's average elevation is 68 feet (35 m) below sea level. The Salton Sea, a saltwater lake located about 10 miles (16 km) South of Coachella, lies 227 feet (69 m) below sea level.
The city also lends its name to the Coachella grapefruit; the town's stretch of State Route 111 is named Grapefruit Boulevard in its honor. Harrison Street or State Route 86 is declared historic U.S. Route 99, the major throughfare that connects with Interstate 10 a few miles north of town.
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[edit] Geography
Coachella is located at 33°40′46″N 116°10′28″W / 33.679522°N 116.174488°W.[1]
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 20.8 square miles (53.9 km²), all of it land.
The elevation is 68 feet/35 meters below sea level, as the Eastern half of the Coachella valley is below sea level. The saltwater lake, Salton Sea is 10 miles/6 km. South of Coachella, lies 228 feet (69 m) below sea level.
[edit] History
The city was originally founded as Woodspur in 1876, when the Southern Pacific Railroad built a rail siding on the site. In the 1880s the indigenous Cahuilla tribe sold their land plots to the railroads for new lands east of the current town site, and in the 1890s, a few hundred traqueros took up settlement along the tracks.
The origin of the name Coachella is unclear, but in 1901 the citizens of Woodspur voted on a new name for their community; at their town hall meeting, the homeowners settled on "Coachella". Some locals believe it was a misspelling of Conchilla, a Spanish word for the small white snail shells found in the valley's sandy soil, vestiges of a lake which dried up over 3,000 years ago.
Coachella began as a 2.5-square-mile (6.5 km2) territory gridded out on the mesquite-covered desert floor. Not until the 1950s did Coachella begin to expand into its present range, about 32 square miles (83 km2), an area which contained large year-round agricultural corporate farms and fruit groves, particularly of citrus (lemons, oranges, grapefruit) and date palms.
Coachella became a city in 1946. During the incorporation voting process, the first city council was tentatively elected: Lester C. Cox, T. E. Reyes, John W. Westerfield, Lester True, and Paul S. Atkinson. Also elected on November 26, 1946, were City Clerk Marie L. Johnson and City Treasurer John C. Skene. John Westerfield was appointed mayor at the first meeting.
By the 1980 census, Coachella's population had reached at least 10,000 due to relative slow population growth. Due to a high percentage of Hispanics in the city, Coachella was a scene of Chicano political activism including protests and visits by United Farm Workers leader Cesar Chavez in the 1960s and 1970s.
[edit] Education
Coachella is served by the Coachella Valley Unified School District, based in Thermal, California. Its main high school is Coachella Valley High School (with 2900 students) followed by a new high school Desert Mirage High School about 5 miles to the south; its two middle schools are Cahuilla Desert Academy and Bobby Duke (slated to re-open in September, 2007). Elementary schools include Cesar Chavez, Ed Park, Palm View, Peter Pendleton, Valle Del Sol, Valley View, Westside and Coral Mountain Academy.
The Coachella Valley Adult School, in operation since 1952, is the third largest adult school in Riverside County. It offers seven levels of English as a Second Language (ESL), and has offered citizenship classes for over 20 years. In the last ten years, over 1,500 people completed citizenship classes at the school and submitted N-400 forms.
[edit] Culture
The film director Frank Capra is interred in the Coachella Valley Cemetery. Professional boxing champions Antonio Diaz and Julio Diaz (brothers), are originally from Coachella. The agricultural area surrounding Coachella was where the United Farm Workers union staged strikes and protests, including visits by UFW leader Cesar Chavez. Migrant labor activist Sam Maestas has a home in the rural outskirts of Coachella.
Downtown Coachella is under renovation as the area experiences an economic boom which has brought increasing numbers of people in the city — Pueblo Viejo (the old neighborhood) as locals of Hispanic origin sometimes call it.[citation needed] Despite its image for Mexican immigration, a large percentage are US citizens, born and raised in Coachella. A multi-generational Mexican American subculture has taken root in the town.
Much of its population consists of younger Latino families (an estimated 90 percent of Latino/Hispanic origin) and, in the outlying areas, migrant farm workers. The city is officially bilingual in the English and Spanish languages, although city council meetings are nominally spoken and performed in English. Historically, Coachella was predominantly Mexican/Hispanic (including Central America) and/or Native American, but had other ethnic groups like Arab-Americans, Filipinos, and recent immigrants from Southeast Asia and the former Yugoslavia.
Two popular fiestas are celebrated each year in town: Cinco de Mayo (May 5), the 16d del Septembre Fiestas Patrias (Mexico's Independence from Spain) and the 12d de Decembre (the patron saint of Mexico: Santa Maria del Guadalupe) to celebrate the Virgin Mary is well observed by local festivities.
Near the city limits of Coachella are three casinos on Indian reservations: Fantasy Springs Resort and Casino, Spotlight 29 Casino, and Augustine Casino, which are owned and operated by Native American tribes — the Cabazon Band of Mission Indians, Twentynine Palms Band of Mission Indians, and Augustine Band of Cahuilla Indians, respectively. These small but highly profitable tribes have representative councils to ensure self-reliance as a community. Coachella is also home to a significant Southwest Indian (Apache, Hopi, Navajo and Zuni) population, though not indigenous to the California desert region.
[edit] Demographics
| Historical populations | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Census | Pop. | %± | |
| 1950 | 2,755 |
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| 1960 | 4,854 | 76.2% | |
| 1970 | 8,353 | 72.1% | |
| 1980 | 9,129 | 9.3% | |
| 1990 | 16,896 | 85.1% | |
| 2000 | 22,724 | 34.5% | |
| Est. 2007 | 38,728 | 70.4% | |
As of the census[2] of 2000, there were 22,724 people, 4,807 households, and 4,480 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,091.4 people per square mile (421.4/km²). There were 5,024 housing units at an average density of 241.3/sq mi (93.2/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 38.77% White, 0.45% Black or African American, 0.84% Native American, 0.31% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 56.57% from other races, and 3.03% from two or more races. 97.39% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 4,807 households,and many more of which 65.9% had children under the age of 18, 66.5% were married couples living together, 19.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 6.8% were non-families. 5.3% of all households were individuals living alone, and 2.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 4.72 and the average family size was 4.80.
In the city the population was spread out with 40.8% under the age of 18, 12.7% from 18 to 24, 28.8% from 25 to 44, 12.8% from 45 to 64, and 5.0% 65 years or older. The median age was 23 years. For every 100 females there were 100.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.4 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $28,590, and the median income for a family was $28,320. Males had a median income of $23,044, compared to $15,550 for females. The per capita income for the city was $7,416. About 29.1% of families and 28.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 35.3% of those under age 18 and 25.7% of those 65 or over.
[edit] Politics
In the state legislature Coachella is located in the 40th Senate District, represented by Democrat Denise Moreno Ducheny, and in the 80th Assembly District, represented by Democrat Manuel Perez. Federally, Coachella is located in California's 45th congressional district, which has a Cook PVI of R +3[3] and is represented by Republican Mary Bono Mack.
[edit] Local issues
According to a 2006 state-funded economic survey, Coachella ranks third lowest in average personal income of any California city, and one of ten poorest cities in the state. The city's remote location from urban areas can be responsible for the high poverty rate.
Coachella has dealt with socioeconomic issues which produced a history of above-average crime rates. Coachella received negative local media attention as a city riddled by youth gangs, drug trade activity, massive movement of undocumented immigration and racial separatism. Much of the non-Hispanic population moved away in reaction. However, the 2006 FBI crime statistical release placed Coachella at the lowest crime rates in all of the Coachella Valley and Riverside County.
In 1995, state and federal officials designated Coachella as part of the Coachella Valley Enterprise Zone to boost economic activity and entice businesses to relocate to this rural city which was once home to several fruit shipping plants. Near Coachella, new four-lane expressway, State Route 86, was built for international trucking from Mexicali, Mexico to Los Angeles or Arizona. Referred to as the "NAFTA highway" (in reference to the North American Free Trade Agreement), it replaces and older, less safe two-lane road.
In 2006 mayoral elections, 29-year-old Eduardo Garcia became the city's youngest mayor ever. Garcia was a lifelong Coachella resident and a 1995 graduate of Coachella Valley High School. He attended the College of the Desert in Palm Desert, California.
Also in 2006, the city council voted to make Coachella a "sanctuary city" to prohibit federal and immigration (INS) officials from enforcing immigration law to arrest or/and deport any undocumented immigrant residing within city limits. It's one of 100 known cities or towns in the United States to enacted such a law and illegal immigrants form an invisible but observant percentage of residents.
Today, retail and commercial properties appear on Coachella's two main drags, Harrison Street (formerly U.S. Route 99) and Grapefruit Boulevard (State Route 111), along with a new retail development on Avenue 48 and Jackson street. Since 2000, thousands of single-family homes and multi-unit apartment complexes are being built at a fast pace, as the city's population soars, having more than doubled in the last decade. The population is estimated to reach 60,000 by 2010 and possibly 100,000 by 2020.
The future of Coachella could be linked one day to tourism as well as agriculture. Coachella expanded recreational and social activities for which residents once had to drive ten or twenty miles (32 km) west. The city has a recreation center, a Boys and Girls Club center, and a boxing club in Bagdouma Park. There are two dance clubs and the Corona Yacht Club located near Spotlight 29 casino; two new golf courses (Desert Lakes and the Vineyards) attract many retirees, RV owners, and local business people.
[edit] Events and points of interest
- Cinco de Mayo (May 5)
- September Fiestas Patrias
- Bagdouma Park
- Coachella Boxing Club
- Spotlight 29 Casino
- Augustine Casino
- Red Earth Casino
- International University of San Diego-Coachella Valley, a professional college campus for students living in the area
[edit] Public Safety
The Riverside County Sheriff's Department now serves the city from the nearby Indio Regional Station(the original Coachella Police Department was disbanded in 1998). The City also contracts out for fire protection and emergency medical services(EMS) with the Riverside County Fire Department through a cooperative agreement with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire). The Riverside County Fire Department currently staffs 2 paramedic engine companies out of station 79 with plans for another station in the future.
[edit] External links
- ^ "US Gazetteer files: 2000 and 1990". United States Census Bureau. 2005-05-03. http://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/gazette.html. Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
- ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
- ^ "Will Gerrymandered Districts Stem the Wave of Voter Unrest?". Campaign Legal Center Blog. http://www.clcblog.org/blog_item-85.html. Retrieved on 2008-02-10.
- City of Coachella Official site
- Coachella Chamber Of Commerce Official site
- Coachella Valley Unified School District Official site
- Augustine Casino Official site
- Spotlight 29 Casino Official site
- Play Back Radio Official site
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