Indio, California
Encyclopedia : I : IN : IND : Indio, California
Indio, California, is a U.S. city located in the Coachella Valley of Southern California's desert region. The population was 49,116 at the 2000 census. According to the book History of the Coachella Valley Water District, the word indio is Spanish for Indian.
Indio has hosted the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival since 1999 as well as other regularly-scheduled festivals. Notable among these are the Riverside County Fair and National Date Festival held each February and the Indio International Tamale Festival held each December. The largest festival of its kind in the US, the Tamale Festival earned Indio the official nickname of "The City Of Festivals."
The town was laid out in 1894 by A.G. Tingman, a Southern Pacific Railroad construction boss. Tingman was also Indio's first storekeeper and postmaster. Indio was chosen as a railroad stop because it was the halfway point between Los Angeles and Yuma, Arizona. Tingman Avenue, once downtown Indio's main street was named in his honor; it was removed during the construction of a highway overpass on Jackson Street designed to eliminate a railroad grade crossing and traffic congestion along Indio Boulevard (old Highway 99, which see). Today, the Southern Pacific's successor, the Union Pacific Railroad maintains that original rail corridor as the main transcontinental line between Los Angeles and New Orleans, Louisiana. Indio's growth over the years was attributable both to the railroad and the coming of U.S. Highway 99 in 1926. Once California's main north-south highway, US 99 was decommissioned in 1964. Its present-day replacements are California State Highway 111, California State Highway 86 and Interstate 10. The original 1903 railroad station, a two-story wooden structure unique to the Southern Pacific, burned to the ground in 1966. Some of the station's artifacts were salvaged and can be viewed at the Coachella Valley Museum and Cultural Center in downtown Indio. The aforementioned present-day Indio Boulevard was the site of the world's first use of a painted line to delineate lanes of traffic and was spearheaded by Dr. June McCarroll for whom a stretch of Interstate 10 through the city is named.
Indio is one of Southern California's most important agricultural regions as well, responsible for an overwhelming percentage of the nation's date crop. The city's nurseries produce a large share of the nation's palm trees, as well.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 69.2 km² (26.7 mi²). 69.1 km² (26.7 mi²) of it is land and 0.04% is water.
The official elevation of Indio is below sea level, the city hall is on 14 feet below sea level (6 meters below sea level), as the Eastern half of the Coachella valley drops as low as 150 feet/50 meters below sea level (the lake shore of the Salton Sea) is 15 miles/10 km South of Indio).
Demographics
As of the census[Geographic references#2GR2] of 2000, there were 49,116 people, 13,871 households, and 11,069 families residing in the city. The population density was 710.5/km² (1,840.3/mi²). There were 16,909 housing units at an average density of 244.6/km² (633.6/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 48.67% White, 2.77% Black or African American, 1.04% Native American, 1.51% Asian American, 0.10% Pacific Islander, 42.02% from other races, and 3.89% from two or more races. 75.39% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.There were 13,871 households out of which 48.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.9% were married couples living together, 16.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 20.2% were non-families. 16.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.48 and the average family size was 3.88.
In the city the population was spread out with 35.3% under the age of 18, 11.1% from 18 to 24, 29.4% from 25 to 44, 15.2% from 45 to 64, and 9.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 27 years. For every 100 females there were 101.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.8 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $34,624, and the median income for a family was $35,564. Males had a median income of $25,651 versus $21,093 for females. The per capita income for the city was $13,525. About 16.8% of families and 21.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 28.2% of those under age 18 and 12.0% of those age 65 or over.
As the golf resort towns of Palm Springs become built-up and pricey, Indio and neighboring Coachella and La Quinta are popular selections for new movers and year-round residents sought a moderately-priced home. In 2005, the city's population may grown to 65,000 residents, while other estimates ranged from 75,000 to 85,000 alone. Indio ranks as one of the 10 fastest growing cities in California, the majority of new residents are Hispanic and immigrants from Mexico arrived in high proportions to the town population.
External links
- [Maps and aerial photos]
- * Street map from [Google Maps] or [Yahoo! Maps]
- * Topographic map from [TopoZone]
- * Aerial image or topographic map from [TerraServer-USA]
- * Satellite image from [Google Maps] or [Windows Live Local]
- [City of Indio website]
- [Palm Springs Desert Resorts Convention and Visitors Authority]
- [Official Tamale Festival site]
- [Official Date Festival site]
- [Official Music and Arts Festival site]
- [The Desert Sun, Coachella Valley Newspaper]
- [Cannibal Scene: Guide to Indio's music scene]
- [Official Coachella Valley Museum and Cultural Center site]
- [Clark's Travel Center and Route 99 Museum]
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