Coachella, California

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You have new messages (last change).

City Of Coachella

Seal

Coordinates: 33°40′46″N, 116°10′28″W

County

Riverside

Government

- Mayor

Eduardo Garcia

Area

- City

83 km² (32 sq mi)

Elevation

20.74 m (68 ft)

Population (2000)

- City

22,724

- Density

421.4/km² (1,091.4/sq mi)

Time zone

PST (UTC-8)

- Summer (DST)

PDT (UTC-7)

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). Located 28 miles east of Palm Springs, 72 miles east of Riverside and 130 miles east of Los Angeles.

The "City of Eternal Sunshine - Gateway to the Salton Sea" is largely a young, rural and family oriented area of the desert. Much of its population is comprised of younger Latino families that enjoy a sense of community and a lifestyle enriched with the elements of a proud heritage.

Coachella's official population was 22,724 at the 2000 census, but according to local officials, the population might have doubled to 40,000 as of 2006 from one of the state's highest population growth rates. The predominantly agricultural city's population density of 15,500 per sq. mi. in only 3 square miles of developed land is one of California's highest outside an urban area.^{[citation needed]}

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 227 feet below sea level.

1 History
2 Education
3 Culture
4 Demographics
5 Local issues
6 Events And Points of Interest
7 Trivia
8 External links

[edit] History

The city was originally founded as Woodspur in 1876 when Southern Pacific built a railroad siding - a short stretch of railroad track used to store rolling stock or allow trains on the same line to pass. In the 1880's the indigenous Cahuilla tribe sold their land plots to the railroads for new lands east of the current town site, and in the 1890's, a few hundred traqueros, railroad workers from Mexico 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 decided on "Coachella" as their designation. Some locals believe it was a misspelling of a Spanish word "Conchilla" or little white snail shells found in the valley's sandy soil left over from an ancient lake dried up at least 3,000 years ago.

Coachella began as a 2 and 1/2 square miles of territory gridded out on the mesquite-covered desert floor. Not until the 1950s did Coachella begin to expand into its present sphere that includes 32 square miles by the 1980 census, it had at least 10,000 residents in a city area that contained large year-round agricultural corporate farms and fruit groves (i.e. citrus such as lemons, oranges or grapefruit, and date palms).

In 1946 Coachella became "City of Coachella". Its first City Council was elected tentatively during the incorporation voting process: Lester C. Cox, T. E. Reyes, John W. Westerfield, Lester True, and Paul S. Atkinson. Also elected on November 26, 1946 were Marie L. Johnson as City Clerk and John C. Skene as City Treasurer. John Westerfield was appointed Mayor at the first meeting.

[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) and its two middle schools Cauhilla Desert Academy and Bobby Duke (slated to re-open in September, 2007). Other schools are elementary level: Cesar Chavez, Palm View, Peter Pendleton, Valle Del Sol, Valley View, and Coral Mountain Academy(Opened 2006). Also located in Coachella, the Coachella Valley Adult School has been operating since 1952 and is the third largest adult school in Riverside County. The Coachella Valley Adult School offers seven levels of ESL (English as a Second Language), 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 submit N-400 forms.

[edit] Culture

The film director Frank Capra is interred in the Coachella Valley Cemetery in Coachella. 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, included visits by UFW leader Cesar Chavez, and migrant labor activist Sam Maestas has a home in the rural outskirts of Coachella.

Downtown Coachella is under renovation during an economic boom has increased the number of people in the city, as locals of Hispanic origin sometimes call it "Pueblo Viejo", or the old neighborhood. 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. They contributed to the area's later growth to attract other ethnic groups and nationalities to settle Coachella in the 20th century.

Near the city limits of Coachella are three gaming establishments 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 Cauhilla Indians respectively. These small but highly-profitable tribes have representative councils to signify self-reliance as a community. Coachella is also home to a large Southwest Indian (Apache, Hopi, Navajo and Zuni) population, though not indigenous to the California desert region.

[edit] Demographics

This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources.
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. (help, get involved!)
Any unsourced material that has been or is likely to be challenged may be removed at any time.
This article has been tagged since November 2006.

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 22,724 people, 4,807 households, and 4,480 families residing in the city. The population density was 421.4/km² (1,091.4/mi²). There were 5,024 housing units at an average density of 93.2/km² (241.3/mi²). 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.

Coachella has one of California's highest percentage of Latinos. Visitors may notice the cultural imprint left behind by the city's Mexican-Americans and recent arrivals from Mexico to work in the Coachella Valley's thriving economy. Agriculture, landscaping, domestic help, hotel lodging and retail jobs in Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley are a major draw to the newcomers. But, city council officials disagree and referred to a large wave of newcomers are from suburban Los Angeles and San Diego, but in terms of ethnicity and cultural background, they identity in the Hispanic category.

There were 4,807 households out of which 65.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 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 made up of individuals 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, a typical cultural trait of a majority (but not all) of Hispanic-American residents hold conservative traditions or family values. Coachella has one of America's highest ratio of unmarried single mothers of any city with an excess of 10,000.^{[citation needed]}

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% who were 65 years of age 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. Teen pregnancy rates are notably higher than national and state average, and in Coachella Valley High School, over a quarter (28 percent) of female students are mothers while ever attending school.

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 versus $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 (rates above state and national average) and 25.7% of those age 65 or over (also it's above average, since the city has a large senior citizen population).

[edit] Local issues

In 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 and the continuous seasonal labor migration caused the high poverty rate. In Coachella, one out of every three are on public assistance and over 40 percent receive welfare and social security funds.

Coachella dealt with socioeconomic issues that produced a history of above-average criminal activity. The city long battled a negative image of illegal drug trade, high school dropouts and youth gangs. Much of the non-Hispanic population moved out in part of reaction in what's called white flight in urban areas. But, the 2006 US FBI crime statistical release on The Desert Sun newspaper placed Coachella at the lowest crime ratios per population in all of the Coachella Valley and Riverside County, California.

In 1995, state and federal officials designated Coachella is part of the Coachella Valley Enterprise Zone to boost economic activity and drew in business corporations to relocate in a mainly rural city, once had several fruit shipping plants. A four-lane California State Highway 86 expressway opened to traffic east of town is referred to as the "NAFTA highway", a safer alternative route replaced the older two-lane road, for international trucking from Mexicali, Mexico on the way to Los Angeles or Arizona.

In 2006, Coachella held elections for a new mayor with Eduardo Garcia receiving the majority of the votes and becoming the youngest mayor ever for the City at 29, Garcia himself is a lifelong Coachella resident having graduated from Coachella Valley High School in 1995, and later attending College of the Desert in Palm Desert, California.

Today, retail and commercial properties appear on Coachella's two main drags: Harrison Street (formerly US Highway 99) and Grapefruit Boulevard (California State Highway 111). Along with a new retail development on Ave. 48. Since 2000, thousands of single-family homes and multi-unit apartment complexes are being built in a fast pace, as the city's population soars to more than double in the last decade, from 20,000 to an estimate of 50,000 by the year 2010, and can reach 80,000 by the year 2020.

The future of Coachella could be linked one day to tourism as well as agriculture. Two popular fiestas celebrated each year in town: Cinco de Mayo (May 5), and 16 September Fiestas Patrias (Mexico's Independence from Spain).

Coachella expanded recreational and social activities that residents once had to drive 10 or 20 miles west for. The city has a recreation center, a Boys and Girls Club center and a boxing center in Bagdouma Park. Two dance clubs and the Corona Yacht Club located near Spotlight 29 casino, while 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

[edit] Trivia

Coachella is also a shorthand reference to the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival held in nearby Indio, California.

The city erected a local Vietnam veterans' memorial to represent over 600 men and women from Coachella whom served in the Vietnam war.

Ernie Ball guitar company based in Fullerton opened a manufacturing facility near Coachella in 2005.

One of the few US alternative fuel plants is in Coachella, where cooking oil is recycled and transformed into use for motor vehicle engines.

The Augustine band of Cahuilla Indians based in Coachella is the smallest tribal nation in size, made of six family members related to Mary Ann Parker, is the tribal president and personally owns the Augustine casino.