By Gayl Biondi

Talk about a boomtown — Coachella’s population has grown 90 percent since 1990 to approximately 30,000 in 30 square miles. The demographics of the community show a stable, family-oriented citizenry where 60 percent of residents own their home — a rate well above the national average.

Look at a map of the growing population centers of the Southwest and you’ll find Coachella at the busy crossroad between Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Mexicali. Riverside County’s expansion of nearby Jacqueline Cochran Regional Airport and the Coachella Valley Economic Partnership’s pursuit of business relationships along the NAFTA highway into Northern Mexico’s business parks put Coachella squarely in the driver’s seat.

Mayor Jesse Villarreal is positively overjoyed with the pace of new activity in Coachella. “The City Council is very excited,” he beams. “Everywhere we go, we hear people talking about how things are really happening. There’s a dynamic interaction with the residents and council members. The growth is just beginning, with record-breaking numbers of new homes being built. With the new homes comes increased business activity, providing new jobs for our residents.”

For its part, city staff is literally and figuratively paving the way for Coachella’s future. New commercial and residential projects are being approved throughout the city, bringing with them street and infrastructure improvements. Four separate redevelopment project areas are being merged into one to allow the city to consider larger-scale projects. Within city limits, nearly 1,700 acres are zoned for clean industry with available parcels ranging in size from one to 250 acres.

City Manager Jerry Santillan puts it this way, “The construction of a freeway interchange at I-10 and Avenue 50 will make Coachella the first valley stop coming from Phoenix. We’ve put out the welcome mat to a new Coachella with an outlook that respects our heritage and celebrates our potential. We believe in preserving a small-town atmosphere that provides big-city advantages.”

At the cornerstone of Coachella’s view of the future is a visioning process being conducted by a team of consultants. The result will be an updated vision for Coachella’s 4,500-acre entertainment and commercial district that encompasses the area from just north of Dillon Road to Avenue 52 and Highway 86 Expressway to Interstate 10. The district is zoned for development of commercial and hotel projects, golf courses, recreational facilities, and a wide variety of entertainment venues.

“Our Entertainment Commercial District offers a great opportunity for high-profile leisure activities in a self-contained destination. With proper planning, we can provide value to residents and visitors alike without creating needless urban sprawl,” says Carmen Manriquez, Coachella director of community development.

The direction Coachella is taking is music to the ears of employers like Sterling Ball, president of Ernie Ball, Inc., a leading manufacturer of guitar strings and other guitar accessories. Ball is building a 60,000-square-foot facility that will employ 275 people when it opens after the first of the year. Ball relocated the company founded by his late father from San Luis Obispo to take advantage of state enterprise and federal empowerment zone benefits.

The red-hot real estate market has helped fuel business for a myriad construction trades. Coachella is becoming recognized as an efficient location for business. Companies like California Plastering with 150 employees, and Precision Gunite, a supplier for California Pools and Spas (which made its own move to Coachella recently with a 10,000-square-foot complex on three acres), are in the process of constructing new facilities here. Residential home builder Sedona Homes is also coming to Coachella with its cabinet manufacturing operation.

Coachella is also an active agribusiness center for growers, harvesters, processors, shippers, and produce brokers. Agriculture pumps over a half billion dollars into the Coachella Valley economy annually. Access to cross-country trucking routes and rail systems, along with affordable land prices for distribution facilities, continues to make Coachella a major player in the nation’s food supply chain.

New home projects in Coachella are keeping pace with the demand for quality neighborhoods catering to families, empty-nesters, and seasonal residents who enjoy being close to three of the Coachella Valley’s bustling Indian Casinos.

New housing developments are springing up all over town, built by premier residential developers with household names like Lennar Homes, Rilington Communities, Centennial Homes, KB Homes, and Beazer Homes.

Some 5,000 housing units have been through the entitlement process. Construction is averaging 1,000 homes per year. In addition, community-based nonprofit organizations like the Desert Alliance for Community Empowerment and Coachella Valley Housing Coalition are overseeing the construction of senior, low- and moderate-income housing.

Chuck Topalian, principal of The Construction Zone, is helping to fulfill a community health-care need with the construction of a professional office plaza encompassing 20,000 square feet. Tenants are set to include an OB/GYN physician, other medical services, and an on-site café where patrons can relax while waiting for appointments.

The supply of goods and services available to Coachella residents grows daily. Two national grocery store chains will anchor a combined 30 acres of mixed-use retail designed to complement the residential neighborhoods nearby. Sales tax generated by the retail purveyors is earmarked to fund enhanced public services as the city grows.

As the second-fastest-growing city in the valley, Coachella is hitting its stride as a friendly hometown with plenty of shopping and services for residents, a great place to work or operate a business, and a destination for vacationers and travelers pausing to enjoy the Southern California desert resorts.

Story from the 2005/2006 Edition of FOCUS on the Coachella Valley, produced by Palm Springs Life Magazine for the Riverside County Economic Agency. Distributed in the Palm Springs Life October 2005 Magazine. More information available at http://www.rivcoeda.org/