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74-634: The Coachella Valley ( / k oʊ ˈ tʃ ɛ l ə , ˌ k oʊ . ə -/ koh- CHEL -ə, KOH -ə- ) is an arid rift valley in the Colorado Desert of Southern California in Riverside County . The valley has been referred to as Greater Palm Springs and occasionally the Palm Springs Area due to the historic prominence of the city of Palm Springs . The valley extends approximately 45 mi (72 km) southeast from

148-697: A "hate-free zone" as a sign of local pride to celebrate the city's tolerance (Palm Springs, especially in The Advocate magazine that caters to gay and lesbian readership, has voted it as one of the top five most popular world places for the gay/lesbian community) and multicultural diversity of the city's relaxed attitude regarding many races living close together. According to the Palm Springs Pride LGBT association poll and census data in 2010, an estimated 40–45 percent of Palm Springs' residents are thought to be LGBT and nearby Cathedral City

222-592: A letter, postmiles were measured on the road as it was in 1964 , based on the alignment that existed at the time, and do not necessarily reflect current mileage. R reflects a realignment in the route since then, M indicates a second realignment, L refers to an overlap due to a correction or change, and T indicates postmiles classified as temporary ( for a full list of prefixes, see California postmile § Official postmile definitions ). Segments that remain unconstructed or have been relinquished to local control may be omitted. The numbers reset at county lines;

296-445: A magnitude of 6.0, injuring 29 people and destroying 51 homes. In the summer months daytime temperatures range from 104 °F (40 °C) to 112 °F (44 °C) and nighttime lows from 75 °F (24 °C) to 86 °F (30 °C). During winter, the daytime temperatures range from 68 °F (20 °C) to 88 °F (31 °C) and corresponding nights range from 46 °F (8 °C) to 65 °F (18 °C) making it

370-599: A multi-genre music concert venue in the Empire Polo Ground, recognized as one of the nation's premiere music festivals for its high-profile acts and scenic beauty. Visitors see desert nature at the nearby Joshua Tree National Park and the Sand to Snow National Monument to the north, the Santa Rosa Mountains to the south and Mt. San Jacinto Aerial Tram to the west. The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens

444-471: A newer expressway alignment. SR 111 continues northwest as a major arterial road , four lanes or wider, through Indio , La Quinta , Indian Wells , Palm Desert , Rancho Mirage , and Cathedral City . As it approaches this area, the northbound traffic is on Indian Canyon Drive, and the southbound is on Palm Canyon Drive. An alternate route runs on Gene Autry Trail while mainline SR 111 continues west on Vista Chino. Continuing west from Cathedral City,

518-520: A number of shoots that he brought back from Algeria in September 1903. On his own initiative, Johnson imported more shoots from Algeria in 1908 and again in 1912. The area's entire date industry can be traced back to those original USDA experiments near present-day Mecca . Date palms were grown from present-day Cathedral City to the Salton Sea, but most date groves were overtaken by development by

592-479: A popular winter resort destination. The surrounding mountains create Thermal Belts in the immediate foothills of the Coachella Valley, leading to higher night-time temperatures in the winter months, and lower daytime temps during the summer months. Due to its warm year-round climate the region's agricultural sector produces fruits such as mangoes, figs and dates. The valley is the northwestern extension of

666-599: A retirement haven throughout the area's history, a large percentage of residents are age 65 or older. The valley has some of the densest concentrations of senior citizens in California with three of California’s cities with the highest percentages of residents age 65 and older: Indian Wells, Rancho Mirage, and Palm Desert. Though the area is somewhat politically conservative, it is also home to a sizeable LGBT population; current estimates are that up to 33% of Palm Springs' residents identify as gay and lesbian, and Cathedral City

740-558: A scenic highway by the California Department of Transportation . SR 111 was first proposed in the early 1930s due to the area's growth bought on by the Southern Pacific Railroad . A 1993 rerouting of the highway takes drivers away from the historic center of Palm Springs, but meets with its original alignment as Business Route 111 a few miles further south. The northern terminus was so busy in

814-458: A sniper on that street in 1997. In a similar move in December 2005, the stretch of SR 111 through La Quinta was named the "Deputy Bruce Lee Memorial Highway". Lee was a Riverside County deputy sheriff in the city for many years and was killed in 2003 during an altercation with a mentally disturbed suspect. The suspect was able to take Lee's baton during the altercation and used it to bludgeon

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888-418: A stretch of I-10 through Indio named in her honor. The Coachella Valley became popular among celebrities from Frank Sinatra to Dakota Fanning who came to enjoy vacations and winter homes in the desert resort community. It became a real estate destination in the 1980s and 1990s and has also become a tourist destination. The Coachella Valley is the northernmost extent of the vast Salton Trough , also called

962-772: A variety of flora and fauna, including the endangered California Fan Palm, Washingtonia filifera , Bighorn sheep inhabit the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto mountain ranges as well as the fringe-toed lizard , an indigenous desert reptile whose numbers are increasing under the U.S. Endangered Species Act . Desert wildlife in the Coachella Valley includes localized subspecies of ants, bats, beetles, blackbirds, bobcats, coyotes, fleas, foxes, gnats, gophers, hawks, horseflies, jackrabbits, kangaroo rats , mosquitoes, mountain lions, pigeons, quails, rattlesnakes, ravens, roaches, roadrunners , scorpions, spiders, termites, ticks, wasps, whip scorpions or "vinegaroons", and wildcats. See also: As

1036-625: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . California State Route 111 The highway begins near the Calexico West Port of Entry , where Calexico connects with the Mexican city Mexicali . Prior to the port of entry's 2018 realignment, SR 111 directly connected to the border crossing, with northbound traffic entering from Mexican side of the border via Avenida Cristóbal Colón, and southbound traffic exiting onto Mexican Federal Highway 5 . Since then, traffic heading to

1110-607: Is about one-quarter, each having above averages of LGBT people for a U.S. city. Many faiths and denominations are represented in the area. Protestants and Catholics are the most numerous. According to the Jewish Federation of the Desert based in Palm Springs , the Coachella Valley has one of California's largest Jewish communities, estimated at 35,000, a result of being a major retirement destination and connections to

1184-565: Is also dotted with casinos owned by the local Indian tribes. As of 2024, there are six standalone casinos in the Coachella Valley. The valley is home to resort hotels built around spas with natural mineral water wells, specifically in Desert Hot Springs . The Palm Springs Aerial Tramway takes visitors from the valley floor to the San Jacinto Peak mountain station 8,516 feet (2,596 m) above sea level. Palm Springs

1258-487: Is also home to a number of gay resorts, bars, restaurants and clubs. Many establishments along a stretch of Arenas Road in downtown Palm Springs are gay-oriented and serve as the center of the annual White Party . According to an interview with former Palm Springs mayor Ron Oden , perhaps at the time the United States' only openly gay African-American mayor, a large number of people living with HIV (PWH) have moved to

1332-951: Is also known for a number of annual events, including the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival , the Stagecoach Country Music Festival , and the Riverside County Fair and National Date Festival , all held in Indio . Other events include the Palm Springs Modernism Week , Palm Springs International Film Festival , the ANA Inspiration and Desert Classic golf tournaments, and the Indian Wells Open tennis tournament. The Coachella Valley

1406-701: Is due to irrigation: water was drawn from an underground aquifer created when the valley was under a fresh water lake in the last ice age (over 10,000 years ago); and from the Coachella Canal , a concrete-lined aqueduct built between 1938 and 1948 as a branch of the All-American Canal , which brings water from the Colorado River to the Valley. The Colorado River Aqueduct , which provides drinking water to Los Angeles and San Diego , crosses

1480-514: Is home to one of the country's largest collections of mid-century architecture. Thousands of homes, apartments, hotels, businesses and other buildings were designed in this fashion across the city. International mid-century enthusiasts come to Palm Springs to admire the design. Changing exhibits of sculptures can be found along El Paseo Drive in Palm Desert. Palm Springs has the annual Palm Springs International Film Festival every January and

1554-518: Is home to the cities of Cathedral City , Coachella , Desert Hot Springs , Indian Wells , Indio , La Quinta , Palm Desert , Palm Springs , and Rancho Mirage . Summers in the valley are extremely hot and valley winters are mild. As such, the valley's population tends to fluctuate; from nearly 500,000 in April, to around 300,000 in July and August, to around 600,000 by January. It was stated in 2013 by

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1628-474: Is included within the Desert Empire to differentiate it from the broader Inland Empire of Southern California. The area had been surveyed by Edward Fitzgerald Beale in 1857, whose survey party used camels to cross the desert, primarily along the path of the historic Bradshaw Trail . It was not until the coming of the Southern Pacific Railroad and the discovery of abundant artesian wells later in

1702-615: Is known as the San Gorgonio Pass and is the second windiest place in the country. Cool coastal air is forced through the pass and mixes with the hot desert air, making the San Gorgonio Pass one of only three ideal places in California for steady, wind-generated electricity. At the San Gorgonio Pass Wind Farm , thousands of huge wind turbines spread across the desert and hills on either side of

1776-473: Is located in Palm Desert and has a collection of animals mostly from North America and Africa and hosts the annual Wild Lights Christmas light display. The Coachella Valley History Museum in Indio is devoted to the preservation and interpretation of the Coachella Valley's historical artifacts. Other activities include: Arid Aridity is the condition of a region that severely lacks available water, to

1850-731: Is part of the California Freeway and Expressway System and the portions south of SR 78, and in the city of Indio are part of the National Highway System , a network of highways that are considered essential to the country's economy, defense, and mobility by the Federal Highway Administration . SR 111 is eligible to be included in the State Scenic Highway System , but it is not officially designated as

1924-644: Is surrounded on the southwest by the Santa Rosa Mountains , by the San Jacinto Mountains to the west, the Little San Bernardino Mountains to the east and San Gorgonio Mountain to the north. These mountains peak at around 11,000 feet (3,400 m) and tend to average between 5,000 and 7,000 feet (1,500 and 2,100 m). Elevations on the valley floor range from 1,600 feet (490 m) above sea level at

1998-727: The San Gorgonio Pass to the northern shore of the Salton Sea and the neighboring Imperial Valley , and is approximately 15 mi (24 km) wide along most of its length. It is bounded on the northeast by the San Bernardino and Little San Bernardino Mountains , and on the southwest by the San Jacinto and Santa Rosa Mountains . The Coachella Valley is notable as the location of several wintertime resort cities that have become popular destinations for full time retirees and seasonal residents known as snowbirds . The valley

2072-519: The Sonoran Desert to the southeast, and as such, is extremely arid. Most precipitation falls during the winter months from passing mid-latitude frontal systems from the north and west, nearly all of it as rain, but with snow atop the surrounding mountains. Rain also falls during the summer months as surges of moisture from both the Gulf of Mexico and the Gulf of California are drawn into the area by

2146-486: The desert monsoon . Occasionally, the remnants of a Pacific tropical cyclone can also affect the valley. In 1976, Tropical Storm Kathleen brought torrential rain and catastrophic flooding to the Coachella Valley as it swept in from the Pacific, traversing the region from south to north. A haboob powerful enough to have a significant impact on the Coachella Valley can happen every two years. This desert environment hosts

2220-562: The 1890s, there was a large Irish and Scottish presence in the region, after Palm Springs was an established agricultural colony called "Palm Valley" cofounded by Welwood Murray, a Scottish immigrant and John Guthrie McCallum, an American from the U.S. East Coast. The two men widely advertised the colony to settlers with an interest in a warm climate and the ideal winter residence. Hispanic Americans are long established in Palm Springs' central and eastern sections, and have constituted

2294-442: The 1950s before the construction of the freeway that visitors returning home to Los Angeles might have waited as long as two hours to make the left turn on the two-lane road that was once multiplexed as US Highways 60 , 70 and 99 . In 1995, Caltrans was allowed to relinquish any portion of Route 111 through a city for that city to maintain. The legislature opted to make the act an "urgency statute", effective immediately, so that

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2368-598: The 1990s. Today nearly all of the date groves are in the "East Valley" area south of Indio, near Coachella and east of La Quinta. Other agricultural products cultivated in the Coachella Valley include fruits and vegetables, especially table grapes, citrus fruits such as lemons, limes, oranges and grapefruit; onions and leeks; and peppers. The valley floor served to grow bounties of alfalfa, artichokes, avocados, beans, beets, cabbage, carrots, corn, cotton, cucumbers, dandelions (salad greens), eggplant, figs, grains (i.e. barley, oats, rye and wheat; plus rice fields kept wet or moist in

2442-399: The 19th century that the area began to expand. The coming in 1926 of U.S. Route 99 northward through Coachella and Indio and westward toward Los Angeles , more or less along the present route of Interstate 10 , helped further open agriculture, commerce and tourism to the rest of the country. So too did the coming of State Highway 111 in the early 1930s, which cut a diagonal swath through

2516-899: The Cahuilla Basin, which includes the Salton Sea, and the Imperial Valley in the United States , as well as the Mexicali Valley and Colorado River Delta in Mexico . The trough is a result of combined tectonic activity of the San Andreas Fault , which follows the northeastern side of the valley, and the East Pacific Rise that runs up through the Gulf of California to the Salton Sea. The area

2590-434: The Coachella Valley had a population of approximately 370,000 at the 2020 Census. State projections estimate that the valley's population will pass 1 million by 2066. Demographers believe the total population already surpassed the 500,000 mark, plus 100,000 temporary seasonal residents known as "snowbirds" arriving to stay during the winter months (from the end of October to the end of April). The city of Palm Springs sits at

2664-459: The Coachella Valley residents were born/raised in the area, according to the 2000 census, a much lower percentage than found in most parts of the U.S. Agriculture is a founding block of the majority of the residents whose parents and grandparents came to the area as farmers and laborers transformed the eastern parts of the valley from a hot sandy desert into a fertile place with a year-round growing season. The Coachella Valley's agricultural development

2738-624: The Hollywood film industry. There has also been a sizable Latter-Day Saints community since the early 1900s, with three stakes , formerly branches , which experienced rapid growth. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints form a large population in the Inland Empire and High Desert regions. The Islamic Society of the Coachella Valley has a mosque in the city of Coachella. The Coachella Valley contains nine cities and several unincorporated communities. The incorporated cities of

2812-514: The Middle East were involved in the area's agriculture in the early 1900s. In recent years, the area (especially Palm Desert and Palm Springs) became popular for Iranian , Israeli , East Indian , Yugoslav (Former) and Korean home buyers, with most purchasing increasingly high-valued properties for investment purposes. In mid-2000, Palm Springs city officials and business leaders discussed making an unofficial declaration of Palm Springs as

2886-761: The Palm Springs International Short Film Festival (or ShortFest ) held in June, at the Palm Springs Cultural Center. The Indian Wells Tennis Garden , opened in 2000, hosts the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament annually in March. Each February, Indio hosts the Riverside County Fair and National Date Festival . Indio is also the site of the annual Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival ,

2960-428: The Palm Springs area to take advantage of the extensive health-support systems that have been developed in recent years (such as DAP Health). For this reason, the area has one of the highest per capita rates of HIV in the nation. The area has a large percentage of Mexican American political figures, plus the state assembly representative Bonnie Garcia of La Quinta is of Puerto Rican parentage. The Coachella Valley

3034-772: The Riverside County HR Department that "Palm Springs and the Desert Communities " were being visited by 3.5 million conventioneers and tourists annually. The Coachella Valley connects with the Greater Los Angeles area to the west via the San Gorgonio Pass , a major transportation corridor, traversed by Interstate 10 and by the Union Pacific Railroad . The valley is considered part of the Low Desert and

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3108-537: The Salton Sea area), hops, kohlrabi, lettuce, mangoes, nectarines and peaches, persimmons, plums and prunes, pomegranate, potatoes, radishes, spinach, strawberries, sugar cane, tomatoes, a variety of herbs and spices, and other vegetable crops. The Coachella grapefruit originated in the region. The city of Coachella is the primary shipping point for agricultural goods. Domesticated grasses, flowers and trees are widely grown for warm-weather or desert climates, and sold for use in golf courses and landscape. Only 10 percent of

3182-497: The Valley since the early 20th century has allowed widespread agriculture. In its 2006 annual report, the Coachella Valley Water District listed the year's total crop value at over $ 576 million or almost $ 12,000 per acre. As of 2010 the valley produced agricultural products worth about $ 600 million. The valley is the primary date -growing region in the United States, responsible for nearly 95 percent of

3256-470: The agricultural communities of Holtville , Brawley , Calipatria and Niland . A nearly 40-mile (64 km) length of the highway dotted with date and citrus groves follows both the old Southern Pacific "Sunset Route" (now the main Union Pacific line between Los Angeles and Yuma, Arizona ) and the eastern shore of the Salton Sea . Though some small settlements and a California state park line

3330-751: The border diverts from SR 111 onto westbound East Second Street to the port of entry's new facilities at Cesar Chavez Boulevard. The segment of the highway from East Second Street south to the site of the former border crossing at East First Street remains under state control, pending any relinquishment by Caltrans. SR 111 then intersects with SR 98 in Calexico before heading north to SR 86 in Heber . As SR 111 continues further north through Imperial County , it enters El Centro . There, it intersects with Interstate 8 (I-8), which runs east to Yuma and west to San Diego , before passing through

3404-518: The early 20th century, less than 1,000 full-time residents lived in the "village" of Palm Springs, surrounding farms and ranches, and on the Indian reservation. The 1930 U.S. census found less than half the Coachella Valley's population was "white", the rest were Mexicans especially in the eastern ends when traqueros arrived to maintain the area's railroads, and Native Americans of local tribes in what were then impoverished reservations. Starting in

3478-400: The extent of hindering or preventing the growth and development of plant and animal life. Regions with arid climates tend to lack vegetation and are called xeric or desertic . Most arid climates are located in the subtropics ; these regions include parts of Africa , Asia , South America , North America , and Australia . The distribution of aridity at any time is largely the result of

3552-484: The fields and groves of the desert cities were replaced by homes and golf courses. Agriculture thrived in the eastern or lower part of the Coachella Valley in Indio, Coachella, Thermal, Mecca, and Oasis thanks in part to a large underground aquifer to sustain a year-round green environment. Roughly 125 golf courses blanket the area, making it one of the world's premier golf destinations and the most popular golf vacation destination in California. The Merrill Lynch Skins Game

3626-529: The general circulation of the atmosphere . The latter does change significantly over time through climate change . For example, temperature increase by 1.5–2.1 percent across the Nile Basin over the next 30–40 years could change the region from semi-arid to arid, significantly reducing the land usable for agriculture . In addition, changes in land use can increase demands on soil water and thereby increase aridity. This climatology -related article

3700-417: The ground. These natural water sources made habitation and development possible in the otherwise inhospitable desert environment of the Coachella Valley. Major earthquakes have affected the Coachella Valley. For instance, the 1992 Landers earthquake caused some damage in the valley. An earthquake of local origin which caused considerable damage was the 1986 North Palm Springs earthquake , which registered at

3774-415: The highway enters Palm Springs , then swings north and then west to bypass downtown, while SR 111 Business passes through the congested downtown area. The highway transitions from an arterial road to a divided expressway as it exits Palm Springs just northwest of San Rafael Drive. It ends at an interchange with I-10 near the foot of San Jacinto Peak , just east of the San Gorgonio Pass . SR 111

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3848-546: The highway greet visitors as they approach the crest of the pass and have become somewhat of a symbol of the area. The state's other wind farms are in the Tehachapi Pass between Mojave and Bakersfield and in the Altamont Pass near Livermore . With warm winters and more than 350 days of sunshine per year, recreational hiking and horseback riding are popular in the many canyons in the mountains that surround

3922-473: The local governments could improve traffic bottlenecks along the route as soon as possible. The legislative definition of the route was amended in 1996 to exclude the portions in Rancho Mirage and Cathedral City , which had both been relinquished. Cathedral City completed a pedestrian-friendly redesign in 1998. The stretch through Rancho Mirage, which the city still calls "Highway 111" regardless of

3996-459: The local population. The area is home to 10,000 Indian Americans (mostly from Sri Lanka ), descendants of agricultural workers in the 1930s and 1940s. Additionally, Palm Desert is the home of 1,000 Tahitians , a Pacific Islander people from French Polynesia . Other ethnic groups in the area like Asian Americans (i.e. Chinese , Japanese and Filipinos ), followed by a small wave of Armenians and Arabs (esp. Lebanese and Syrians ) from

4070-791: The majority of local tribal members (Cahuilla pertaining to the Agua Caliente band and the Cabazon/Twentynine Palms bands) are in upper-income brackets. According to the Southern California National Congress of American Indians , less than 5 percent of the area's residents are Native Americans. African Americans are concentrated in Palm Springs' northern and eastern ends, as well as in small sections of Indio and Desert Hot Springs, but local African Americans live everywhere in middle-class and wealthy areas and comprise less than 5 percent of

4144-579: The majority of the populations of Indio and Coachella for many decades. In the 2000 U.S. census, about 35 percent of Coachella Valley residents were Latino. But according to the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce , an estimated half (50–60 percent) of the residents are Latino. A large portion of Latinos moving into the area are from the Los Angeles-Orange County and San Diego metro areas. Most of

4218-932: The nation's crop and is celebrated each year in Indio during the Riverside County Fair and National Date Festival. The earliest attempt at growing dates came about in 1890 when the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) imported date palm shoots from Iraq and Egypt. Sixty-eight shoots were distributed across the Southwest U.S. in Las Cruces, New Mexico , Yuma, Arizona , Phoenix, Arizona , and several California cites: Indio, Pomona near Los Angeles, Tulare and National City near San Diego. The imports were almost all male seedlings and produced poor fruit. The Coachella Valley showed promise, so USDA horticulturist Bernard Johnson planted

4292-706: The north end of the Valley to 250 feet (76 m) below sea level around Mecca. The San Andreas Fault traverses the valley's east side. Because of this fault, the valley has many hot springs. The Santa Rosa Mountains to the west are part of the Elsinore Fault Zone . The results of a prehistoric sturzstrom can be seen in Martinez Canyon. The Painted Canyons of Mecca feature smaller faults as well as Precambrian, Tertiary and Quaternary rock formations, unconformities, badlands and desert landforms. Fault lines cause hot water springs or geysers to rise from

4366-628: The northeast end of the Valley along the base of the Little San Bernardino Mountains (the Joshua Tree National Park ). Recent growth of fish farming or aquaculture in Mecca near the Salton Sea brings new promise to the local economy, especially to efforts to restore the ailing ecology of the large saltwater lake. The valley's northwest entrance from the San Bernardino - Riverside along Interstate 10

4440-418: The northwest end of the valley. Unincorporated areas and towns include Cabazon in the San Gorgonio Pass, and Bermuda Dunes and Thousand Palms in the east end of the valley. Others include Carver Tract, a county island between the cities of Indio and Coachella, Indio Hills , Sky Valley , North Palm Springs and Garnet along the northern rim along with Thermal , Vista Santa Rosa , Oasis and Mecca to

4514-399: The officer. In September 2019 Caltrans began a three-phase $ 19 -21.5 million mitigation project to protect SR-111 from a moving mud pot called the Niland Geyser , southeast of the Salton Sea near the junction with Davis and Gillespie Roads. The plans included using steel walls to divert water into a gravel wash , digging drainage under the road to direct subsurface water to a wash west of

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4588-442: The original routing of the parent route. In 1993, SR 111 was rerouted out of Palm Springs and onto the current alignment. Except where prefixed with a letter, postmiles were measured on the road as it was in 1964 , based on the alignment that existed at the time, and do not necessarily reflect current mileage. R reflects a realignment in the route since then, M indicates a second realignment, L refers to an overlap due to

4662-461: The relinquishment, has the Coachella Valley's only synchronized traffic lights; they are set to 45 mph (70 km/h). A 2003 law did not change the route, but clarified that the former highway through those cities could not be taken back by the state, and repealed the section added in 1995 allowing relinquishment to any city. Subsequently, in 2005, the legislature allowed relinquishment within Indian Wells , Indio , and Palm Desert , subject to

4736-463: The rest of California or the country, but the national trend slowed down due to the late 2000s recession. Most Hispanic immigrants came to obtain work in the area's year-round agriculture, but today many find employment in construction and home remodeling, the resort hospitality industry, landscaping firms, and retail. The prominence of Native Americans of the Cahuilla tribe is represented in local life; because of casino gambling and land ownership,

4810-473: The road, and building a five-mile temporary road 50 feet to the west to divert around the geyser, with the original road being rebuilt once the geyser had passed. Work continued into 2021. After being Imperial Avenue in Calexico , the road is known as the Imperial Pioneers Expressway and the Victor Veysey Expressway in Imperial County . Several parts of the route are at or under sea level , similar to SR 86 outside of Brawley . Except where prefixed with

4884-485: The same conditions, and to the condition that the cities must maintain signs for the route. La Quinta was added to the list of eligible cities in 2007. As of late 2007, none of these four cities have taken over maintenance of Route 111. In November 2005, signs on Verbenia Avenue at the highway's northern terminus and along Interstate 10 were replaced to reflect the street's name change to "Haugen-Lehmann Way", honoring two Riverside County sheriff's deputies gunned down by

4958-420: The shore, the area is eerily empty due to the sea's rapidly declining water quality. The small town of North Shore is all but abandoned as a tourist destination, though more than 3,400 residents were counted at the 2010 census. SR 111 enters the southeast corner of the Coachella Valley as a two-lane highway. It used to run concurrently with SR 86 in Coachella , but SR 86 has since been moved to

5032-450: The southeast. The native Cahuilla tribe represented in the Cabazon Band of Mission Indians , Twentynine Palms Band of Mission Indians , Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians and the Torres-Martinez Band of Cahuilla Indians , the Mission Creek Band in unincorporated Painted Hills , and the Santa Rosa Indian Reservation south of Palm Desert, each have reservations in the area. The irrigation of over 100,000 acres (40,500 ha) of

5106-410: The start and end postmiles in each county are given in the county column. State Route 111 Business ( SR 111 Bus. ) is a business route of SR 111 in Palm Springs . It follows the original routing of SR 111 through Palm Springs. The route is almost unsigned. There are only two business route signs on the southern and northern termini. Like many other business routes, it follows

5180-405: The valley and connected all of its major settlements. Dr. June McCarroll , then a nurse with the Southern Pacific whose office fronted U.S. 99 in Indio, is credited with being the first person to delineate a divided highway by painting a stripe down the middle of the roadbed in response to frequent head-on collisions. The standard was refined and adopted worldwide. Doctor McCarroll is memorialized by

5254-424: The valley's Hispanics are Mexican from a multi-generational community (see Chicano ), but Central American immigrants (especially in Indio and Cathedral City), Cuban Americans , Puerto Ricans , and South Americans are also numerous (esp. in Rancho Mirage and Palm Desert). Since the late 1980s, the large wave of immigration from neighboring Mexico has culturally impacted the Coachella Valley in many more ways than

5328-438: The valley. Thousand Palms Canyon is a popular destination, amongst many. The Coachella Valley was once a safe haven for hay fever allergy sufferers before the surge of golf courses and year-round lawns, and people with bronchitis, emphysema and asthma chose to relocate for health reasons in the early half of the 20th century. In the early 20th century, the town of Palm Springs was ideal for an agricultural economy. Today, many of

5402-580: Was held in La Quinta each Thanksgiving and drew some of the biggest names in golf. The PGA has a major presence in La Quinta as well with the PGA WEST golf and residential complex. One of the host courses of the aforementioned Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, a PGA WEST fairway represents the area in Soarin' Over California , an IMAX -based attraction at Disney California Adventure Park theme park. The area

5476-503: Was settled by a diverse array of races and ethnicities. Once viewed as predominantly Caucasian, the Coachella Valley has features of a diverse history. As of 2004, the Claritas study found that 373,100 people resided in the region. The racial makeup was 44.7% Non-Hispanic White, 49.9% Hispanic, 1.8% Black/African American, 2.1% Asian/Pacific Islander, 0.4% American Indian and Inuit, 0.1% from other races, and 1.1% from two or more races. In

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