 |
Greater Palm Springs Living and working in the Greater Palm Springs area brings with it a quality of life hard to find in other parts of California and the United States. The Coachella Valley is a large stretch of land in Southern California that includes the famed tourist mecca, Palm Springs. Geographically it is the agricultural and recreational desert valley in southern California east of Riverside and San Bernardino. The valley extends for approximately 45 miles (72 km) in Riverside County southeast from the San Bernardino Mountains to the saltwater Salton Sea, the largest lake in California. It is approximately 15 miles (24 km) wide along most of its length, bounded on the west by the San Jacinto Mountains and the Santa Rosa Mountains and on the north and east by the Little San Bernardino Mountains. The Coachella Valley is one of the fastest-growing areas in the country, due in part to its location in Riverside County, California and to real estate booms in the 1990s. The area, consisting of nine incorporated cities, has a total population of over 400,000 – twice the number of 1990 (185,000) and three times that of 1980 (80,000). State projections estimate that the valley's population will pass 600,000 by the year 2020 and 1.1 million by 2066. With more than 350 days of sunshine per year and warm, mild winters (though summers can be quite hot) recreational hiking and horseback riding are popular in the many canyons in the mountains that surround the valley. One of the most visited outdoor sports areas is Thousand Palms Canyon. More than 200 golf courses blanket the area, making it one of the world's premier golf destinations. The Merrill Lynch Skins Game is held in La Quinta each Thanksgiving and draws 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 Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, a PGA WEST fairway represents the Palm Springs area in Soarin' Over California – an IMAX-based attraction at Disney's California Adventure theme park. The area is also dotted with classy, Las Vegas-style casinos run by local Indian tribes, as well as resort hotels and spas with natural mineral water wells, making it a prime vacation destination as well. The Palm Springs Aerial Tramway, considered to be one of the greatest engineering feats of the 20th Century, takes visitors from the valley floor to the San Jacinto Peak mountain station, 8,516 feet (2,595 m) above sea level. Palm Springs 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.
|
|