By Linda Furbee

The secret is out. La Quinta is a great place to live, play, shop, and work. Its unsurpassed beauty, nestled in the shadows of the Santa Rosa Mountains, has long made La Quinta a fabulous vacation spot for golfers and those wanting to escape from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. The amenities available to residents make it a sought-after location for families, country club living, and second-home dwellers.

Golf continues to be La Quinta’s legacy with the opening of SilverRock Resort and its Arnold Palmer Classic Course earlier this year. The breathtaking views enhance the magnificently designed course with its tournament-quality features. In November, the golf carts will be equipped with GPS units, which provide the players with accurate yardages, graphics of each hole, and tips on how to play each hole. On December 12-13, SilverRock’s Arnold Palmer Classic Course will host the Jim Murray SilverRock Alumni Challenge, which will be broadcast on the Fox Sports Network. SilverRock is open to the public and offers discounted golf to residents of La Quinta.

With the completion of the Arnold Palmer Classic Course, the City of La Quinta is focusing on the next phases of development of the SilverRock site. Recently, the Redevelopment Agency approved a concept plan for SilverRock, outlining potential future development, including a boutique hotel, a resort hotel, resort casitas and villas, retail, a permanent clubhouse, a second golf course, and other community and hospitality amenities. The Redevelopment Agency is in negotiations with DDC Desert Development Inc. for development of SilverRock Resort. The first project would be a luxurious, boutique hotel between the second and seventh holes of the Arnold Palmer Classic Course.

Other future hospitality development in La Quinta includes Homewood Suites by Hilton, which will be located at the corner of Miles Avenue and Washington Street in the Centre Pointe development. Centre Pointe will also include casitas, medical space, and restaurant pads. In addition, Vista Santa Rosa has recently opened with a casitas project, which includes vacation rentals and a proposed Embassy Suites. New hotel developments assist in expanding the city’s transient occupancy tax base, which is used to pay for such services as public safety, street improvements, and parks and recreation.

With ever-increasing property values, some of the best schools in the Coachella Valley, and one of the lowest crime rates among Valley cities, La Quinta continues to ensure a high quality of life for its residents. Parks and recreational opportunities abound throughout La Quinta, including a new skate park at the La Quinta Park, which also includes soccer fields, baseball fields, a basketball court, walking paths, and a tot lot. Other recreational amenities include a community pool, skate park and dog park at Fritz Burns Park, additional neighborhood parks, hiking trails, bike paths, mountain biking, and more. And this past spring, the Civic Center Campus served as the perfect location for the La Quinta Arts Festival, with its meandering sidewalks, lovely lakes and fountains, gazebo, and its own fabulous art pieces. The gazebo at the Civic Center Campus can even be rented out as an ideal wedding location. All this happens in the midst of a national monument — the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument.

The new La Quinta Public Library is now open and is housed within 10,000 square feet of a spectacular 20,000-square-foot city facility. This state-of-the-art library is located on Calle Tampico across from City Hall, and was designed to complement and complete La Quinta’s Civic Center Campus. The library hosts a children’s section, tutoring rooms, and 37 computers with Internet access, as well as a variety of collections, including sign language instruction, magazines and newspapers, adult and juvenile reference, fiction and nonfiction, videos and DVDs, large-print books, Spanish language, and more. Programs include weekly story time for children. Adult programs are in the planning stages and look to include topics such as financial planning, art demonstrations, and book signings by local authors. The library is open to the public. Library cards are free to California residents and $10 for non-California residents. Non-library uses include a space for the La Quinta Chamber of Commerce and community rooms available for rent.

La Quinta offers a range of community and leisure activities for residents and nonresidents of all ages. The activities, classes, and lessons are available at the La Quinta Senior Center and other locations and include yoga, watercolor lessons, ballroom dancing, a variety of computer classes, tai chi, guitar, cooking, and more.In addition, special trips and holiday activities are planned throughout the year.

With the extensive leisure and recreational activities available and the new and expanding retail opportunities, La Quinta living is convenient and unparalleled. Over the last several years, La Quinta has grown into a shopping and retail hub with the thriving Highway 111 corridor and the charm of the La Quinta Village. New shopping and restaurant choices continue to grow with the recent openings of Kohl’s department store on Highway 111 and nearby Thai Smile, Patios Plus at Valley Plaza on Highway 111, Office Depot and Circuit City on the south side of Highway 111, Louise’s Pantry and Bobbie J’s BBQ along Washington Street, and Let’s Imagine Home and Ultimate Point in Old Town La Quinta.

Highway 111 continues to attract popular retail and restaurant development, with the long-awaited Trader Joe’s under construction in the Washington Park center, Lamp Post Pizza will open soon in the One Eleven Center, and Coldstone Creamery and Okura Restaurant are near completion at Point Happy. Grading is underway on the south side of Highway 111 for Henry’s Market; Best Buy; Chick-fil-A; Bed, Bath & Beyond and more. And, to the delight of residents and nearby shoppers, La Quinta will soon be home to Sam’s Club (in the Wal-Mart center), and Costco has recently filed an application for a new facility west of Jefferson along Highway 111. In addition, professional office and medical office space continue to expand along Washington Street and in the La Quinta Village.

As La Quinta’s legacy of golf continues to shine and its legacy as a great place to live and play is enhanced, it has quickly become the ideal place to shop and do business.

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/