Financial Guide

Rancho Mirage

By Joanna Beresford

Rancho Mirage is moving forward, with fiscal, physical, and social balance, into the next decade of the 21st century.

Palm Springs

By Amy Blaisdell

Palm Springs leads the way in Riverside County when it comes to creating successful community economic development programs.

Palm Desert

By David Hermann

Palm Desert has relied on thoughtful planning and thriving commerce to build a solid civic foundation that generates a superior quality of life for residents and an unforgettable experience for visitors.

La Quinta

By Andrea Carter

People are embracing life’s most basic values — healthy living, time with family and friends, and simple pleasures. This has inspired the city of La Quinta to focus on what makes life in this community so gratifying — an exceptional quality of life.

Indio

By Ellen Paris

“Indio remains a city on the move with positive present and future growth,” notes Mayor Gene Gilbert. “There are examples of all types showcasing this around the city.”

Indian Wells

By Jan Silver Maguire

Whether you want to visit, raise a family, relocate your business, or retire, this desert paradise situated in the heart of the Coachella Valley offers a top-caliber quality of life.

Desert Hot Springs

By Pamela Bieri

Desert Hot Springs, experiencing a resurgence of energy from within, is truly a “City on the Move” that is growing into its potential.

Coachella

By Gayl Biondi

“We continue to set the bar higher,” says Mayor Eduardo Garcia about his city’s outlook for the future.

Cathedral City

By Ellen Paris

Cathedral City continues to make economic strides through innovative planning and expediting key business and residential development to grow the City.

Infrastructure

By Janice Kleinschmidt

In the planning stages since 1994, the Ramon Road project was “shovel ready” — and thus received $39.4 million in federal stimulus funds.

Healthcare

By Janice Kleinschmidt

The desert area’s strengths are the number and quality of medical facilities, the availability of clinics, a commitment to improving health, and good dissemination of information.

Sports

By Mona de Crinis

With more than 130 courses sprawling from one end of the Coachella Valley to the other, golf generates a lot of money for the desert. But other sports also are making their mark on the local scene.

Preservation

By Alex Altman

Preservationists suggest close links between past and present and often must dispel the myth that conserving the region’s distinctive heritage creates a bad environment for local business.

Tourism

By Janice Kleinschmidt

Increasingly, people come to the Coachella Valley come for the world-class events.

Education

By Janice Kleinschmidt

Educational Programs are designed to help create a Coachella Valley workforce able to not only fill local needs, but also attract technology-based, green industries that diversify the local economy.

Arts

By Steven Biller

Institutions throughout the valley persevere to communicate an abundance of enriching experiences to desert audiences.

Retail

By Mona de Crinis

This fall’s opening of El Paseo Village delighted expectant shoppers hungry for hip, high-end stores. Techies in town rejoiced with the announcement of a much-desired Apple store entering the mix — just in time for the holidays.

Agriculture

By Janice Kleinschmidt

After a dip in 2008, the value of Coachella Valley’s agricultural yields rose in 2009.

A Valley Rising

By Steven Biller

In a demonstration of solidarity behind a set of ideals, a cross section of stakeholders — including nine municipalities — has literally bought into a plan to grow and strengthen the desert economy.

Riverside County In Focus

“EDA’s mantra is simple: Increase jobs, wages, and investment in the county,” says Sarah Mundy, assistant director of economic development and cultural services.