La Quinta, California
Encyclopedia
La Quinta is a resort city in Riverside County
Riverside County, California
Riverside County is a county in the U.S. state of California. One of 58 California counties, it covers in the southern part of the state, and stretches from Orange County to the Colorado River, which forms the state border with Arizona. The county derives its name from the city of Riverside,...

, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, USA, specifically in the Coachella Valley
Coachella Valley
Coachella Valley is a large valley landform in Southern California. The valley extends for approximately 45 miles in Riverside County southeast from the San Bernardino Mountains to the saltwater Salton Sea, the largest lake in California...

 between Indian Wells
Indian Wells, California
Indian Wells is a city in Riverside County, California, in the Coachella Valley , in between Palm Desert and La Quinta. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 4,958....

 and Indio
Indio, California
Indio is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, located in the Coachella Valley of Southern California's Colorado Desert region. It lies east of Palm Springs, east of Riverside, and east of Los Angeles. It is about north of Mexicali, Baja California on the U.S.-Mexican border...

. The population was 37,467 at the 2010 census, up from 23,694 at the 2000 census. The Robb Report
Robb Report
The Robb Report is an American, English-language, luxury-lifestyle magazine featuring products — including automobiles, real estate and watches — for affluent connoisseurs.-History:...

credits La Quinta as the nation's leading golf destination. Among those destinations is the La Quinta Resort and Club
La Quinta Resort and Club
The La Quinta Resort and Club is a historic resort which opened in 1926 in present-day La Quinta, California.Originally built as a series of adobe bungalows on 45 acres of fruit trees at the foot of the Santa Rosa Mountains in an area originally named "Marshall's Cove" and now referred to simply...

, a resort dating to 1926 and famous as the spot in which director Frank Capra
Frank Capra
Frank Russell Capra was a Sicilian-born American film director. He emigrated to the U.S. when he was six, and eventually became a creative force behind major award-winning films during the 1930s and 1940s...

 penned the screenplay of Lost Horizon. The Tom Fazio
Tom Fazio
Thomas Fazio, ASGCA is a golf course architect.Fazio graduated in 1962 from Lansdale Catholic High School and was inducted into its "Hall of Fame" in 2007. He began his career in golf course design with his family's firm in suburban Philadelphia, which he left in the 1960s; he established his own...

-designed golf course at The Quarry at La Quinta
The Quarry at La Quinta
The Quarry at La Quinta is a private golf club and gated residential community situated at the base of the Santa Rosa Mountains and Coral Mountains in La Quinta, California. Its scenic eighteen-hole golf course, designed in 1994 by Tom Fazio, features 7,083 yards from the longest tees for a par of...

 is ranked among the top 100 golf courses in the United States. In January 2008, the Arnold Palmer
Arnold Palmer
Arnold Daniel Palmer is an American professional golfer, who is generally regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of men's professional golf. He has won numerous events on both the PGA Tour and Champions Tour, dating back to 1955...

 Classic Course at the city's SilverRock Golf Resort, became one of the four host golf courses for the annual Bob Hope Chrysler Classic
Bob Hope Chrysler Classic
The Bob Hope Classic is a professional golf tournament played each January in California's Coachella Valley. Part of the PGA Tour's early season West Coast Swing, this tournament is well known for its celebrity pro-am, as well as having five daily 18-hole rounds of competition vs. the Tour standard...

 PGA golf tournament.

Colonial history

The area of La Quinta was first established in the early 18th century (est. 1776) by Spanish
Spanish people
The Spanish are citizens of the Kingdom of Spain. Within Spain, there are also a number of vigorous nationalisms and regionalisms, reflecting the country's complex history....

 conquistadores under the command of Captain
Captain (OF-2)
The army rank of captain is a commissioned officer rank historically corresponding to command of a company of soldiers. The rank is also used by some air forces and marine forces. Today a captain is typically either the commander or second-in-command of a company or artillery battery...

 Juan Bautista De Anza
Juan Bautista de Anza
Juan Bautista de Anza Bezerra Nieto was a Novo-Spanish explorer and Governor of New Mexico for the Spanish Empire.-Early life:...

, as the fifth resting point for travellers along the route from present-day Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

 to the San Gabriel Missions of Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...

 and present-day Riverside
Riverside, California
Riverside is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, and the county seat of the eponymous county. Named for its location beside the Santa Ana River, it is the largest city in the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario metropolitan area of Southern California, 4th largest inland California...

 and San Bernardino
San Bernardino, California
San Bernardino is a city located in the Riverside-San Bernardino metropolitan area , and serves as the county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States...

 60–100 miles away. The words "la quinta" are Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...

, translating to "the fifth". More specifically, the word "quinta" is known in Mexico as a type of hacienda
Hacienda
Hacienda is a Spanish word for an estate. Some haciendas were plantations, mines, or even business factories. Many haciendas combined these productive activities...

. Spanish and later Mexican settlement in the "East Valley" (Eastern Coachella Valley) was sparse, most residents were members of the indigenous Cahuilla
Cahuilla
The Cahuilla, Iviatim in their own language, are Indians with a common culture whose ancestors inhabited inland areas of southern California 2,000 years ago. Their original territory included an area of about . The traditional Cahuilla territory was near the geographic center of Southern California...

 tribe. The earliest records of any inhabitation of La Quinta and other communities was in 1823, after Mexico declared independence from Spain, prior to California's annexation by the United States in 1848.

Modern development and incorporation

In the late-19th century and early-20th century (1880–1920), agriculture developed in present-day La Quinta and "East Valley" by pre-modern (mountain water runoff or open water springs) and modern irrigation techniques. At the time, California and federal land surveyors declared the sand dunes uninhabitable, only the hard rock ground of the "Marshall Cove" held potential farming and residential development.

In 1927, Walter Morgan established the La Quinta Resort
La Quinta Resort and Club
The La Quinta Resort and Club is a historic resort which opened in 1926 in present-day La Quinta, California.Originally built as a series of adobe bungalows on 45 acres of fruit trees at the foot of the Santa Rosa Mountains in an area originally named "Marshall's Cove" and now referred to simply...

 at the northern section of "Marshall Cove", as a type of secluded hideaway for nearby Hollywood's celebrities and socialites. The Resort was the site for the Coachella Valley's first golf course
Golf course
A golf course comprises a series of holes, each consisting of a teeing ground, fairway, rough and other hazards, and a green with a flagstick and cup, all designed for the game of golf. A standard round of golf consists of playing 18 holes, thus most golf courses have this number of holes...

, coinciding with the construction and pavement of State Route 111
California State Route 111
State Route 111 is a state highway in the U.S. state of California. It is the main north/south state highway and retail corridor through the Coachella Valley, a part of the Colorado Desert in the southeastern corner of the state and famous as a resort destination...

 in the 1930s. Further expansion of Washington Street in the 1950s and 1960s connected La Quinta with US Highways 60 and 99 (became Interstate 10 in the 1970s).

As nearby desert cities grew to capacity, La Quinta's growth rose dramatically by the mid-1990s, which led to its incorporation as a city in Riverside County in 1982. In the 1980 census, La Quinta had 4,200 residents, then increased to 11,215 by 1990 in the city's early phases of residential area growth. Once predominantly a part-time community until the early-1990s, more full-time residents live in La Quinta to make it possibly more populous than Palm Springs by 2006, according to some demographers.

Geography

La Quinta is located at 33°40′31"N 116°17′51"W (33.675373, −116.297391). According to the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...

, the city has a total area of 35.6 square miles (92.2 km²), of which, 35.1 square miles (90.9 km²) of it is land and 0.4 square miles (1 km²) of it (1.22%) is water. The city's elevation is 56 feet (20 m) above sea level.

The landscape was formerly a lake shore of prehistoric Lake Cahuilla
Lake Cahuilla
Prehistoric Lake Cahuilla was an extensive freshwater lake that filled the Coachella, Imperial, and Mexicali valleys of southeastern California and northeastern Baja California during the centuries prior to Spanish entry into the region...

 which evaporated about 5,000 years ago.

Santa Rosa Mountains

The most prominent feature of the La Quinta area is its Santa Rosa Mountains
Santa Rosa Mountains (California)
The Santa Rosa Mountains are a short mountain range in the Peninsular Ranges system, located east of the Los Angeles Basin and northeast of the San Diego metropolitan area of southern California, in the Southwestern United States.-Geography:...

. Visitors to Disney's California Adventure
Disney's California Adventure
Disney California Adventure, or simply California Adventure, is a theme park in Anaheim, California, adjacent to Disneyland Park and part of the larger Disneyland Resort. It opened on February 8, 2001 as Disney's California Adventure Park. The park is owned and operated by the Walt Disney Parks and...

 in Anaheim, California
Anaheim, California
Anaheim is a city in Orange County, California. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city population was about 365,463, making it the most populated city in Orange County, the 10th most-populated city in California, and ranked 54th in the United States...

 can be treated to a brief glimpse of the foothills in one of the park's attractions: Soarin' Over California
Soarin' Over California
Soarin' Over California is a simulator attraction at Disney California Adventure . It debuted with the park on February 8, 2001...

. The "Palm Springs
Palm Springs, California
Palm Springs is a desert city in Riverside County, California, within the Coachella Valley. It is located approximately 37 miles east of San Bernardino, 111 miles east of Los Angeles and 136 miles northeast of San Diego...

" segment of Soarin' Over California
Soarin' Over California
Soarin' Over California is a simulator attraction at Disney California Adventure . It debuted with the park on February 8, 2001...

 was actually shot at the world-famous PGA West golf complex in La Quinta. The Santa Rosa Mountains (California)
Santa Rosa Mountains (California)
The Santa Rosa Mountains are a short mountain range in the Peninsular Ranges system, located east of the Los Angeles Basin and northeast of the San Diego metropolitan area of southern California, in the Southwestern United States.-Geography:...

 are nestled against the golf course and can be seen easily in the segment.

The area is very close to the earthquake-causing San Andreas Fault
San Andreas Fault
The San Andreas Fault is a continental strike-slip fault that runs a length of roughly through California in the United States. The fault's motion is right-lateral strike-slip...

, with some companies offering jeep tours to the fault line.

Climate

The climate of the Coachella Valley is influenced by the surrounding geography. High mountain ranges on three sides contribute to its unique and year-round warm climate, with the some of warmest winters west of the Rocky Mountains. La Quinta has a warm winter/hot summer climate: Its average annual high temperature is 89.5 °F (31.9 °C) and average annual low is 62.1 °F (16.7 °C) but summer highs above 108 °F (42.2 °C) are common and sometimes exceed 120 °F (48.9 °C), while summer night lows often stay above 82 °F (27.8 °C). Winters are warm with daytime highs often between 68–86 °F (20–30 °C). Under 4 inches (101.6 mm) of annual precipitation are average, with over 348 days of sunshine per year. The hottest temperature ever recorded there was 125 °F (51.7 °C) on July 6, 1905. The mean annual temperature is 75.8 °F (24.3 °C).

Surrounding cities

The estimated population being above 50,000, more than Palm Springs, La Quinta has grown at a higher rate than virtually any city in California during the 1990s and 2000s.

La Quinta is in the Coachella Valley
Coachella Valley
Coachella Valley is a large valley landform in Southern California. The valley extends for approximately 45 miles in Riverside County southeast from the San Bernardino Mountains to the saltwater Salton Sea, the largest lake in California...

 and is relatively close to all major cities in that valley, including:
City Population (2000 census) Population (2010 census)
Cathedral City
Cathedral City, California
Cathedral City is a city in Riverside County, California, United States. The population was 51,200 at the 2010 census. Sandwiched between Palm Springs and Rancho Mirage, it is one of the cities in the Coachella Valley of southern California...

42,647 51,200
Coachella
Coachella, California
Coachella is a city in Riverside County, California; it is the easternmost city in the region collectively known as the Coachella Valley...

22,724 40,704
Desert Hot Springs
Desert Hot Springs, California
Desert Hot Springs, also known as DHS, is a city in Riverside County, California, United States. The city is located within the Coachella Valley geographic region, sometimes referred to as the Desert Empire. The population was 25,938 at the 2010 census, up from 16,582 at the 2000 United States...

16,582 25,938
Indian Wells
Indian Wells, California
Indian Wells is a city in Riverside County, California, in the Coachella Valley , in between Palm Desert and La Quinta. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 4,958....

3,816 4,948
Indio
Indio, California
Indio is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, located in the Coachella Valley of Southern California's Colorado Desert region. It lies east of Palm Springs, east of Riverside, and east of Los Angeles. It is about north of Mexicali, Baja California on the U.S.-Mexican border...

49,116 76,036
La Quinta 23,694 37,467
Palm Desert
Palm Desert, California
Palm Desert is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, in the Coachella Valley, approximately east of Palm Springs. The population was 48,445 at the 2010 census, up from 41,155 at the 2000 census...

41,155 48,445
Palm Springs
Palm Springs, California
Palm Springs is a desert city in Riverside County, California, within the Coachella Valley. It is located approximately 37 miles east of San Bernardino, 111 miles east of Los Angeles and 136 miles northeast of San Diego...

42,807 44,552
Rancho Mirage
Rancho Mirage, California
Rancho Mirage is a resort city in Riverside County, California, United States. The population was 17,218 at the 2010 census, up from 13,249 at the 2000 census, but the seasonal population can exceed 20,000. In between Cathedral City and Palm Desert, it is one of the eight cities of the Coachella...

13,249 17,218

Tourism

The city enjoys a healthy tourism industry, especially during the cooler winter months in which "snowbird
Snowbird (people)
The term snowbird is used to describe people from the U.S. Northeast, U.S. Midwest, or Canada who spend a large portion of winter in warmer locales such as California, Arizona, Florida, Texas, the Carolinas, or elsewhere along the Sun Belt region of the southern and southwest United States,...

" tourists arrive. The most prominent industry is golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....

ing with more than twenty golf courses, including the world-famous PGA West, which has hosted prestigious tournaments such as The Skins Game, Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, The Grand Slam of Golf, The Legends of Golf, as well as the PGA Tour Qualifying School
Qualifying school
In professional golf the term qualifying school is used for the annual qualifying tournaments for leading golf tours such as the U.S. based PGA and LPGA Tours and the European Tour. A fixed number of players in the event win membership of the tour for the following season, otherwise known as a...

. La Quinta has increased the number of retail shopping centers, both discount (Target
Target Corporation
Target Corporation, doing business as Target, is an American retailing company headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the second-largest discount retailer in the United States, behind Walmart. The company is ranked at number 33 on the Fortune 500 and is a component of the Standard & Poor's...

 and Home Depot), and high-end retailers (Kohl's
Kohl's
Kohl's Corporation is an American department store chain headquartered in the Milwaukee suburb of Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, operating , 1,089 stores in 49 states. In 1998, it entered the S&P 500 list, and is also listed in the Fortune 500...

 and Stein Mart
Stein Mart
Stein Mart is a nationwide department store based in Jacksonville, Florida. The company reported a profit of nearly $24 million in 2009 with operation of 264 stores in 30 states and the District of Columbia. Stein Mart has locations primarily in the Southeast and Texas. Stein Mart's stores carry...

) brought millions of revenue dollars to the city, and the city council hopes for La Quinta to share a reputation for shoppers like Palm Desert (El Paseo) and Palm Springs (the Village and Palm Canyon) by the end of the decade.

Service industries

In addition to standard service industries, La Quinta is the site of the first Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. , branded as Walmart since 2008 and Wal-Mart before then, is an American public multinational corporation that runs chains of large discount department stores and warehouse stores. The company is the world's 18th largest public corporation, according to the Forbes Global 2000...

 Supercenter in California. Moreover many residents work for the tourist industries in hotels, resorts, golf courses, and nearby Vegas-style casinos, such as: Spa Resort Casino, Agua Caliente Casino, Spotlight 29, Fantasy Springs and Augustine Casino. There are many service industry jobs related to the construction, hotel, landscaping, and retail industries. La Quinta has sought to bring in high-paying professional businesses to the city and has benefited from neighboring cities' growth (Indio, Palm Desert and Palm Springs). The city's downtown commercial district is officially known as "The Village." The Village District includes private commercial developments such as "Old Town" and "Plaza Calle Tampico," and contains many professional offices, the City museum, small tourist-oriented shops and boutiques, and several restaurants.

Top employers

According to La Quinta's 2010 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the top employers in the city were:
# Employer # of Employees
1 La Quinta Resort and Club
La Quinta Resort and Club
The La Quinta Resort and Club is a historic resort which opened in 1926 in present-day La Quinta, California.Originally built as a series of adobe bungalows on 45 acres of fruit trees at the foot of the Santa Rosa Mountains in an area originally named "Marshall's Cove" and now referred to simply...

1,500
2 PGA West Stadium Course
PGA West Stadium Course
The PGA West Stadium Course is a golf course located in La Quinta, California.The PGA West Stadium Course was designed by Pete Dye and is viewed as the sequel to the TPC at Sawgrass...

1,200
3 Desert Sands Unified School District
Desert Sands Unified School District
The Desert Sands Unified School District is a public school district located in La Quinta, California. The district was founded in 1964 after the state of California department of education consolidated all of Indio public schools at the time...

764
4 Walmart 350
5 The Home Depot
The Home Depot
The Home Depot is an American retailer of home improvement and construction products and services.The Home Depot operates 2,248 big-box format stores across the United States , Canada , Mexico and China, with a 12-store chain...

210
6 The Hideaway
Discovery Land Company
Discovery Land Company is a Scottsdale, Arizona-based developer and operator of resort communities and private clubs in North America. The Company has been noted as one of the world’s finest developers of resort communities by Robb Report Vacation Homes and Luxury...

150
7 Lowe's
Lowe's
Lowe's Companies, Inc. is a U.S.-based chain of retail home improvement and appliance stores. Founded in 1946 in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, the chain now serves more than 14 million customers a week in its 1,710 stores in the United States and 20 in Canada. Expansion into Canada began in...

150
8 The Madison Club
Discovery Land Company
Discovery Land Company is a Scottsdale, Arizona-based developer and operator of resort communities and private clubs in North America. The Company has been noted as one of the world’s finest developers of resort communities by Robb Report Vacation Homes and Luxury...

150
9 Stater Bros.
Stater Bros.
Stater Bros. Markets is a privately held supermarket chain, based in San Bernardino, California, consisting of over 167 stores located throughout Southern California. Founded in Yucaipa, California in 1936 by Cleo and Leo Stater , it consisted of 167 stores as of February 23, 2009...

130
10 Tradition Golf Club 101

2010

The 2010 United States Census reported that La Quinta had a population of 37,467. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...

 was 1,053.9 people per square mile (406.9/km²). The racial makeup of La Quinta was 29,489 (78.7%) White, 713 (1.9%) African American, 230 (0.6%) Native American, 1,176 (3.1%) Asian, 41 (0.1%) Pacific Islander, 4,595 (12.3%) from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

, and 1,223 (3.3%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 11,339 persons (30.3%).

The Census reported that 37,410 people (99.8% of the population) lived in households, 50 (0.1%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 7 (0%) were institutionalized.

There were 14,820 households, out of which 4,329 (29.2%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 8,672 (58.5%) were opposite-sex married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...

 living together, 1,442 (9.7%) had a female householder with no husband present, 595 (4.0%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 787 (5.3%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships
POSSLQ
POSSLQ is an abbreviation for "Persons of Opposite Sex Sharing Living Quarters," a term coined in the late 1970s by the United States Census Bureau as part of an effort to more accurately gauge the prevalence of cohabitation in American households....

, and 182 (1.2%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 3,164 households (21.3%) were made up of individuals and 1,522 (10.3%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.52. There were 10,709 families
Family (U.S. Census)
A family or family household is defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes as "a householder and one or more other people related to the householder by birth, marriage, or adoption. They do not include same-sex married couples even if the marriage was performed in a state...

 (72.3% of all households); the average family size was 2.93.

The population was spread out with 8,208 people (21.9%) under the age of 18, 2,509 people (6.7%) aged 18 to 24, 7,696 people (20.5%) aged 25 to 44, 11,238 people (30.0%) aged 45 to 64, and 7,816 people (20.9%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 45.6 years. For every 100 females there were 93.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.3 males.

There were 23,489 housing units at an average density of 660.7 per square mile (255.1/km²), of which 11,152 (75.2%) were owner-occupied, and 3,668 (24.8%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 6.5%; the rental vacancy rate was 16.5%. 27,386 people (73.1% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 10,024 people (26.8%) lived in rental housing units.

2000

As of the census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...

of 2000, there were 23,694 people, 8,445 households, and 6,553 families residing in the city. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...

 was 746.2 people per square mile (288.1/km²). There were 11,812 housing units at an average density of 372.0 per square mile (143.6/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 78.5% White, 1.4% African American, 0.7% Native American, 1.9% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 13.9% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

, and 3.5% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 32.0% of the population.

La Quinta has developed a culturally diverse community, as large ancestry groups include Mexicans, British
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...

, French
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...

, Germans, Italians
Italian people
The Italian people are an ethnic group that share a common Italian culture, ancestry and speak the Italian language as a mother tongue. Within Italy, Italians are defined by citizenship, regardless of ancestry or country of residence , and are distinguished from people...

, Poles and Jews of multiple nationalities.

There were 8,445 households out of which 38.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 64.6% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...

 living together, 9.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.4% were non-families. 17.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.8 and the average family size was 3.2, above national average of 2.4 according to the 2000 United States Census.

In the city the population was spread out with 29.1% under the age of 18, 6.0% from 18 to 24, 29.0% from 25 to 44, 22.4% from 45 to 64, and 13.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 96.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.1 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $54,552, and the median income for a family was $56,848 (these figures had risen to $72,452 and $82,168 respectively as of a 2007 estimate). Males had a median income of $40,553 versus $31,627 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...

 for the city was $27,284. About 5.0% of families and 7.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.1% of those under age 18 and 4.8% of those age 65 or over.

Temporary population known as snowbirds
Snowbirds
Officially known as the Royal Canadian Air Force's 431 Air Demonstration Squadron, the Snowbirds are Canada's military aerobatics or air show flight demonstration team whose purpose is to "demonstrate the skill, professionalism, and teamwork of Canadian Forces personnel". The squadron is based at...

 from Coastal California
Coastal California
Coastal California refers to the coastal regions of the US state of California. The term is not primarily geographical as it also describes an area distinguished by sociological, economical and political attributes...

 urban areas, the Pacific Northwest
Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest is a region in northwestern North America, bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains on the east. Definitions of the region vary and there is no commonly agreed upon boundary, even among Pacific Northwesterners. A common concept of the...

 and/or Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 increase the local population by 50–90% in the winter months from November to April.

Politics

In the state legislature
California State Legislature
The California State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of California. It is a bicameral body consisting of the lower house, the California State Assembly, with 80 members, and the upper house, the California State Senate, with 40 members...

 La Quinta is located in the 37th Senate
California State Senate
The California State Senate is the upper house of the California State Legislature. There are 40 state senators. The state legislature meets in the California State Capitol in Sacramento. The Lieutenant Governor is the ex officio President of the Senate and may break a tied vote...

 District, represented by Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 Bill Emmerson
Bill Emmerson
William "Bill" Emmerson is a Republican California State Senator, representing the 37th district in Riverside County, having been elected in a June 8, 2010 special election and sworn into office the next day...

, and in the 80th Assembly
California State Assembly
The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature. There are 80 members in the Assembly, representing an approximately equal number of constituents, with each district having a population of at least 420,000...

 District, represented by Democrat Manuel Perez
Manuel Perez (politician)
V. Manuel Pérez is a Democratic Assemblymember from California's 80th State Assembly district from Coachella, California, United States.-Biography:...

. Federally, La Quinta is located in California's 45th congressional district
California's 45th congressional district
California's 45th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of California based in Riverside County. The district includes the communities of Palm Springs, Moreno Valley, Palm Desert, Hemet, Cathedral City, Temecula, Blythe, Rancho Mirage, Murrieta, Indio, Indian Wells,...

, which has a Cook PVI
Cook Partisan Voting Index
The Cook Partisan Voting Index , sometimes referred to as simply the Partisan Voting Index , is a measurement of how strongly an American congressional district or state leans toward one political party compared to the nation as a whole...

 of R +3 and is represented by Republican Mary Bono Mack.

Public safety

Police services are provided under contract with the Riverside County Sheriff's Department through the regional Indio Station. That station also serves the city of Coachella.

La Quinta contracts out for fire protection and emergency medical services (EMS) with the Riverside County Fire Department through a cooperative agreement with CAL FIRE (California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection
California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection
The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection is the State of California's agency responsible for fire protection in State Responsibility Areas of California as well as the administration of the state's private and public forests. It is often referred to as The California Department of...

).

American Medical Response
American Medical Response
American Medical Response, Inc. or is an American provider of emergency and non-emergency medical transportation, operating in 38 states and the District of Columbia. It employs around 17,000 personnel and has a fleet of 4,400 vehicles...

 provides ambulance services to La Quinta.

Transportation

The city is part of the SunBus line, which services much of the Coachella Valley.

There is a proposed commercial airport in the community of Thermal 10 miles (16.1 km) to the east.

Public schools

The Desert Sands Unified School District
Desert Sands Unified School District
The Desert Sands Unified School District is a public school district located in La Quinta, California. The district was founded in 1964 after the state of California department of education consolidated all of Indio public schools at the time...

 services the entire city of La Quinta, and maintains the following public schools:

Elementary

  • John Adams Elementary School
  • Harry S. Truman Elementary School
  • Benjamin Franklin Elementary School
  • Amelia Earhart Elementary School of International Studies, an IB World School

Middle school

  • La Quinta Middle School
    La Quinta Middle School
    La Quinta Charter Middle School is a middle school in La Quinta, California in the Desert Sands Unified School District. The school first opened in the Fall of 1988 in a temporary site North of the current campus. Its present site finished construction in the summer of 1990, in time for its...

    , opened in 1987, a charter school
    Charter school
    Charter schools are primary or secondary schools that receive public money but are not subject to some of the rules, regulations, and statutes that apply to other public schools in exchange for some type of accountability for producing certain results, which are set forth in each school's charter...

    .
  • Colonel Mitchell Paige Middle School
    Colonel Mitchell Paige Middle School
    Colonel Mitchell Paige Middle School is a middle school in La Quinta, California which was established at the beginning of the 2006-07 school year....

     on the city limits with Palm Desert.
  • John Glenn Middle School of Intermediate Studies in nearby Indio.

High school

  • La Quinta High School
    La Quinta High School (La Quinta, California)
    La Quinta High School is one of six public high schools, grades 9-12, in the Desert Sands Unified School District. It is located in the La Quinta, California. The school was a California Distinguished Schools award winner in 1999, 2003 and 2011.-History:...

    , an IB World School
  • Summit High School
    Summit High School
    Summit High School is a four-year public high school in Summit, in Union County, New Jersey, United States, and is operated by the Summit Board of Education as a part of the Summit Public Schools...

    , an alternative/independent studies school

Alternative schools

  • Summit High School, a continuation high school opened in 2006, next to Mitchell Paige Middle School.
  • Horizon High School and Horizon Middle School located next to the Desert Sands Unified School District administration building.

Notable residents

The city has been home to a number of celebrity residents, including the late Merv Griffin
Merv Griffin
Mervyn Edward "Merv" Griffin, Jr. was an American television host, musician, actor, and media mogul. He began his career as a radio and big band singer who went on to appear in movies and on Broadway. From 1965 to 1986 Griffin hosted his own talk show, The Merv Griffin Show on Group W Broadcasting...

. Griffin was the driving force behind the annual La Quinta Arts Festival, one of the country's leading plein air art shows, and was instrumental in the development of Griffin Ranch, La Quinta's first equestrian-oriented resort residential neighborhood.

Three city restaurants are owned by notable residents including professional golfer Arnold Palmer
Arnold Palmer
Arnold Daniel Palmer is an American professional golfer, who is generally regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of men's professional golf. He has won numerous events on both the PGA Tour and Champions Tour, dating back to 1955...

, The Arnold Palmer Restaurant, one co-owned by actor Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastwood
Clinton "Clint" Eastwood, Jr. is an American film actor, director, producer, composer and politician. Eastwood first came to prominence as a supporting cast member in the TV series Rawhide...

, The Hog's Breath Inn, and Devane's Old Town, owned and operated by actor William Devane. All three restaurants are located in the La Quinta Village.

Additionally, the musician/actor Tyler Hilton
Tyler Hilton
Tyler James Hilton is an American singer-songwriter and actor. Hilton began his professional career in music in 2000. Rolling Stone Magazine compared him to his contemporary, Howie Day, while others have compared Hilton to Elton John, both vocally and instrumentally...

 was a former resident of La Quinta, and attended La Quinta High School
La Quinta High School (La Quinta, California)
La Quinta High School is one of six public high schools, grades 9-12, in the Desert Sands Unified School District. It is located in the La Quinta, California. The school was a California Distinguished Schools award winner in 1999, 2003 and 2011.-History:...

.

La Quinta is said to be the hometown of actress Vanessa Marcil
Vanessa Marcil
Vanessa Marcil is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Brenda Barrett Corinthos on General Hospital, Gina Kincaid on Beverly Hills, 90210 and Sam Marquez on Las Vegas....

, but her official web site states Indio is her birthplace and attended Indio High School
Indio High School
Indio High School is a public high school for grades 9-12. It is located in Indio, California and has a current enrollment of about 2,375 students. Its mascot is a Rajah . The school is part of the Desert Sands Unified School District. Indio High School has one of the largest student pupil...

.

Colonel Mitchell Paige
Mitchell Paige
Mitchell Paige was a recipient of the Medal of Honor from World War II...

 is a World War II Medal of Honor
Medal of Honor
The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration awarded by the United States government. It is bestowed by the President, in the name of Congress, upon members of the United States Armed Forces who distinguish themselves through "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his or her...

 veteran resided in nearby Palm Desert had a middle school in La Quinta named for him.

NFL Football player Jeff Webb
Jeff Webb
Jeffrey Leon Webb is a gridiron football wide receiver for the Omaha Nighthawks of the United Football League. He was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in the sixth round of the 2006 NFL Draft...

 of the Kansas City Chiefs
Kansas City Chiefs
The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. They are a member of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Originally named the Dallas Texans, the club was founded by Lamar Hunt in 1960 as a...

 went to La Quinta High School, though he lived in Indio. Another local and pro football player, Oscar Lua
Oscar Lua
Oscar Lua is former American football linebacker. He was originally drafted by the New England Patriots in the seventh round of the 2007 NFL Draft. He played college football at Southern California.-Early years:...

 played for the New England Patriots
New England Patriots
The New England Patriots, commonly called the "Pats", are a professional football team based in the Greater Boston area, playing their home games in the town of Foxborough, Massachusetts at Gillette Stadium. The team is part of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National...

.

Olympic ice figure skater Dorothy Hamill
Dorothy Hamill
Dorothy Stuart Hamill is an American figure skater. She is the 1976 Olympic champion in Ladies' Singles and 1976 World Champion.-Early life:...

 lived in La Quinta.

Singer Jack Jones
Jack Jones (singer)
John Allan "Jack" Jones is an American jazz and pop singer. He was one of the most popular vocalists of the 1960s.-Overview:...

 now lives in La Quinta.

The late Anna Nicole Smith
Anna Nicole Smith
In 1992 Smith was chosen by Hugh Hefner to appear on the cover of the March issue of Playboy, where she was listed as Vickie Smith, wearing a low-cut evening gown. The centerfold was photographed by Stephen Wayda. Smith said she planned to be "the next Marilyn Monroe". Becoming one of Playboys...

 filmed one of the episodes of The Anna Nicole Show
The Anna Nicole Show
The Anna Nicole Show is an American reality sitcom starring former model and Playboy Playmate Anna Nicole Smith. The series debuted on August 4, 2002 on the E! entertainment television network and ran for two seasons.-Synopsis:...

in Lake Cahuilla and rumored to own a home in Indio.

Also rumor has it on Sarah Palin
Sarah Palin
Sarah Louise Palin is an American politician, commentator and author. As the Republican Party nominee for Vice President in the 2008 presidential election, she was the first Alaskan on the national ticket of a major party and first Republican woman nominated for the vice-presidency.She was...

 bought one of two wintering homes in La Quinta or Palm Desert, or to be used for presidential campaigning in the 2012 elections. But her in-laws (Todd Palin
Todd Palin
Todd Mitchell Palin is the husband of former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, the 2008 vice-presidential nominee of the Republican Party. He is an American oil field production operator, commercial fisherman and champion snowmobile racer, winning the Tesoro Iron Dog race four times.-Early life:Palin...

's parents) own a winter home in Palm Desert.

Other famous seasonal residents include motivational speaker Tony Robbins
Tony Robbins
Anthony "Tony" Robbins is an American self-help author and motivational speaker. He became well known through his infomercials and self-help books, Unlimited Power: The New Science Of Personal Achievement and Awaken The Giant Within...

, 1970's-80's singing couple Captain & Tennille
Captain & Tennille
Captain & Tennille are American pop music recording artists who achieved chart success from 1975 to 1980. The duo consists of husband and wife duo "Captain" Daryl Dragon , and Cathryn Antoinette "Toni" Tennille . They are best known for their singles "Love Will Keep Us Together" and "Do That to Me...

 (Daryl Dragon and Toni Tennille), and a number of professional golfers including Fred Couples
Fred Couples
Frederick Steven Couples is an American professional golfer who competes on the PGA Tour and the Champions Tour. A former World No. 1, he has won numerous events, most notably the 1992 Masters Tournament. In August 2011 he won his maiden senior major at the Senior Players Championship...

 and Monte Scheinblum
Monte Scheinblum
Monte Scheinblum is an American professional golfer, and the son of former Major League Baseball All Star outfielder Richie Scheinblum. While he competed on the Nike Tour, he became known especially for his long driving, where success is achieved by a golfer hitting a golf ball the farthest...

.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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