Do you consider the Coachella Valley (Greater Palm Springs) its own metro area?

[jfs1988]

Separate from the vast Greater Los Angeles Area (Los Angeles County, Orange County, Ventura County, southwestern San Bernardino County, western Riverside County).

Southwestern San Bernardino County & western Riverside County are known as the Inland Empire region. Some maps include the Coachella Valley as part of the IE. Some maps include the entire counties as the IE.

The two main cities in the Coachella Valley are Palm Springs & Indio. I always consider the Coachella Valley (Greater Palm Springs) as its own metropolitan area. The town of Whitewater & the San Jacinto Mountains are the dividers between Los Angeles & Palm Springs.

[jfs1988]

Similar to Los Angeles & San Diego being in Southern California, but both its own metropolitan area. The town of Rainbow (those rocky hills) along I-15 as well as Camp Pendleton Marine Base is the divider between those areas.

[NE2]

It's not a metro area. It's a bunch of single-house islands that grudgingly interact with others.

[agentsteel53]

no.  not everything has to be a metro area, regardless of how many shitty casinos you build.

there is one out there whose name adequately sums up traffic on I-10 sometimes: "moron! go!"

[cpzilliacus]

The two main cities in the Coachella Valley are Palm Springs & Indio. I always consider the Coachella Valley (Greater Palm Springs) as its own metropolitan area. The town of Whitewater & the San Jacinto Mountains are the dividers between Los Angeles & Palm Springs.

Not sure.

"The Desert" has its own TV stations, and in my experience KNX-880 KNX-1070 cannot be received there on a car radio, so by those metrics it is its own world.

But plenty  of people in the Coachella Valley drive west along I-10 to employment centers as far away as Los Angeles County (and yes, that is a brutal commute).

[nexus73]

LA County is Jupiter.  PS is a moon orbiting it.  With about 9 million people, there is a larger population in LA County than in any state from the Rockies to the Pacific.  Call the city of San Diego Saturn...LOL!  It is the 8th largest city in the nation. 

Rick

[emory]

I'd never consider the Coachella Valley, or anything on/east of the US 395 corridor, part of Greater LA. If I had to commute to LA from Palm Springs, I'd have to buy a tank of gas every day.

[myosh_tino]

"The Desert" has its own TV stations, and in my experience KNX-880 cannot be received there on a car radio, so by those metrics it is its own world.

Isn't KNX 1070AM?  That's the station I listen to when I'm traveling around southern California because of their extensive traffic reports.  At night I can get KNX on my car's radio all the way up here in the S.F. Bay Area.

[Indyroads]

"The Desert" has its own TV stations, and in my experience KNX-880 cannot be received there on a car radio, so by those metrics it is its own world.

Isn't KNX 1070AM?  That's the station I listen to when I'm traveling around southern California because of their extensive traffic reports.  At night I can get KNX on my car's radio all the way up here in the S.F. Bay Area.

KNX is 1070 am and is a true clear channel radio station that broadcasts at a higher power at night time than most am stations are allowed to broadcast at (Similar to KFBK 1530 in Sacramento) It also depends on the orienting of the antenna array of the station as to where the am radio signal propagates.

Also if you are able to pick up 1070am in the bay area it is likely skipping off of the ionosphere at nighttime, this is why sometimes the station tends to fade in and out somewhat cyclically. I believe there is also a clear channel station in SFO also.

[Mark68]

Hell, growing up in SoCal, I always thought of LA megalopolis ending at the Badlands heading east on 60, then Beaumont/Banning/Cherry Valley/Cabazon being by themselves, then another gap between Cabazon and Whitewater/SR 111 to Coachella Valley.

Now, it's hard to tell the difference (heading east on I-10) between Yucaipa, Calimesa, and Beaumont...except for the left turn at the 60 interchange. However, I still think of Coachella Valley as being separate from the Megalopolis, just as I do the Victor Valley. You head northeast on 62, and I think of Joshua Tree, Morongo Valley, Yucca Valley, and Twentynine Palms as separate, as well.

[myosh_tino]

Also if you are able to pick up 1070am in the bay area it is likely skipping off of the ionosphere at nighttime, this is why sometimes the station tends to fade in and out somewhat cyclically. I believe there is also a clear channel station in SFO also.

KNBR 680AM sometimes advertises itself as the "50,000 watt Flamethrower" and I've been able to pick them up as far north as Seattle at night.  Before the advent of internet streaming, Sportsphone 680, KNBR's evening/night sportstalk show routinely got phone calls from listeners as far east as Salt Lake City and as far west as Hawaii.

If I'm not mistaken, KCBS 740AM (sister station of KNX 1070AM) is also a clear channel station.

[nexus73]

KGO 810 AM is also clear channel.  It is the strongest DX signal at night on the southern Oregon coast.

Rick

[Desert Man]

I grew up in Indio and the Palm Springs area my whole life, and seen rapid growth with a whole lot of suburban sprawl cover the desert landscape between Palm Springs and Indio over the past 2 or 3 decades. Indio happens to be the larger city than Palm Springs when it comes to population, but be in mind the seasonal population comes in the winter time and the year-round population of 400,000 increases to 500,000. The Palm Springs area is part of the megalopolis of Southern California with 16 million people includes Riverside-San Bernardino, the LA- OC area, San Diego with Tijuana across the border, and pretty much extends to Ventura-Santa Barbara.

However, small vacant lots and some open space can be found in the Coachella Valley, although I expect more development to come to have new homes and other features like businesses and schools. Indio used to be a smaller town, my parents arrived in Indio from the OC in the 1970's when it was surrounded by desert and agriculture and home to 14,000 residents. Palm Springs back then had 20,000 and the incorporated cities had less than 10,000 (More like 4-digits) residents: Coachella, Desert Hot Springs and Indian Wells, and later came Palm Desert and Rancho Mirage incorporated. In the early 1980s, Cathedral City and La Quinta was incorporated to have 1,000-under 10,000 residents at the time. Today, all the 9 cities except Indian Wells have 5-digit populations.

[cpzilliacus]

"The Desert" has its own TV stations, and in my experience KNX-880 cannot be received there on a car radio, so by those metrics it is its own world.

Isn't KNX 1070AM?  That's the station I listen to when I'm traveling around southern California because of their extensive traffic reports.  At night I can get KNX on my car's radio all the way up here in the S.F. Bay Area.

Pardon me, I was thinking of the New York City sister station of KNX, WCBS-880.  You are absolutely right.  It's 1070.

[cpzilliacus]

I'd never consider the Coachella Valley, or anything on/east of the US 395 corridor, part of Greater LA. If I had to commute to LA from Palm Springs, I'd have to buy a tank of gas every day.

I agree.  But when  I spent a week in "metropolitan" Palm Springs, I got the distinct impression that many people I spoke with  had to head west along I-10 to employment as far away as L.A. County. 

[formulanone]

there is one out there whose name adequately sums up traffic on I-10 sometimes: "moron! go!"

I just saw the ad for said casino this morning, and I nearly spit up my coffee. I thought you were kidding...

[skluth]

I'm resurrecting this topic because I wanted to discuss some of the traffic issues in the Coachella Valley, but first I wanted to discuss some issues mentioned above.

There is some commuting from the Coachella Valley to LA and the IE. But the vast majority who work, work in the Coachella Valley. It is mostly a service economy; hospitality, health, entertainment, landscaping, etc. The east end of the valley also has a large agriculture industry, largely dates and citrus. However, a huge amount of the population is retired. That's why there are so many service jobs. Here's the 2010 census numbers:

• Palm Springs - 11,800 26.5%
• Cathedral City - 7,300 14.4%
• Rancho Mirage - 1,700 19.4%
• Palm Desert - 15,900 32.9%
• Indian Wells - 2,700 55.1%
• Indio - 9,400 12.4%
• Coachella - 1,800 4.5%
• La Quinta - 1,500 10.3%
• Thousand Palms - 1,900 25%
• Desert Hot Springs - 2,500 9.6%

As you can see, at least 1/4 of the population at the west end of the valley is retired. I know some over 65 are working, but there are probably even more who are 55-64 and also retired. (I'm one of them.) This doesn't include the approximately 100K snowbirds who are only here part-time (also mostly from PS to Indian Wells). La Quinta is also becoming older with resorts opening and expanding. There are also several large tracts of land that can still be developed; a good 1/4 square mile area is being developed by Del Webb on the north side of Rancho Mirage right now which will add several hundred new homes.

I would doubt the Coachella Valley would be part of the LA metro area if Riverside County didn't extend east of the San Gorgonio Pass. There's just not enough people commuting between the areas. It would still fall within the megalopolis which essentially extends from Santa Barbara to Tijuana. I'd say the same is true with Yucca Valley (Joshua Tree, Twentynine Palms) which would likely be its own small metro area if San Bernardino County didn't extend east of Big Bear.

[nexus73]

I'm resurrecting this topic because I wanted to discuss some of the traffic issues in the Coachella Valley, but first I wanted to discuss some issues mentioned above.

There is some commuting from the Coachella Valley to LA and the IE. But the vast majority who work, work in the Coachella Valley. It is mostly a service economy; hospitality, health, entertainment, landscaping, etc. The east end of the valley also has a large agriculture industry, largely dates and citrus. However, a huge amount of the population is retired. That's why there are so many service jobs. Here's the 2010 census numbers:

• Palm Springs - 11,800 26.5%
• Cathedral City - 7,300 14.4%
• Rancho Mirage - 1,700 19.4%
• Palm Desert - 15,900 32.9%
• Indian Wells - 2,700 55.1%
• Indio - 9,400 12.4%
• Coachella - 1,800 4.5%
• La Quinta - 1,500 10.3%
• Thousand Palms - 1,900 25%
• Desert Hot Springs - 2,500 9.6%

As you can see, at least 1/4 of the population at the west end of the valley is retired. I know some over 65 are working, but there are probably even more who are 55-64 and also retired. (I'm one of them.) This doesn't include the approximately 100K snowbirds who are only here part-time (also mostly from PS to Indian Wells). La Quinta is also becoming older with resorts opening and expanding. There are also several large tracts of land that can still be developed; a good 1/4 square mile area is being developed by Del Webb on the north side of Rancho Mirage right now which will add several hundred new homes.

I would doubt the Coachella Valley would be part of the LA metro area if Riverside County didn't extend east of the San Gorgonio Pass. There's just not enough people commuting between the areas. It would still fall within the megalopolis which essentially extends from Santa Barbara to Tijuana. I'd say the same is true with Yucca Valley (Joshua Tree, Twentynine Palms) which would likely be its own small metro area if San Bernardino County didn't extend east of Big Bear.

Coming back to Oregon from Louisiana in February 1999, I took I-10 all the way to the Southland.  With my younger brother and his family living in Chino Hills, I also had a place to spend the night.  Upon approaching the last crest after desert driving, all I could see was a sea of lights and soon enough they were accompanied by 4 lanes in each direction with plenty of traffic.  The megapolis had spread!

Now how far will it go?

Rick

[djsekani]

The San Gorgonio Pass is a traffic bottleneck all on its own, and likely would still be one without the help of the Coachella Valley's growing population.

As far as the influence of the L.A. megalopolis, arguably right now it ends around Yucaipa/Moreno Valley. I don't think many people living further out than that are still making a commute far westward, it would take too long to be reasonable.

[Mark68]

I'm resurrecting this topic because I wanted to discuss some of the traffic issues in the Coachella Valley, but first I wanted to discuss some issues mentioned above.

There is some commuting from the Coachella Valley to LA and the IE. But the vast majority who work, work in the Coachella Valley. It is mostly a service economy; hospitality, health, entertainment, landscaping, etc. The east end of the valley also has a large agriculture industry, largely dates and citrus. However, a huge amount of the population is retired. That's why there are so many service jobs. Here's the 2010 census numbers:

• Palm Springs - 11,800 26.5%
• Cathedral City - 7,300 14.4%
• Rancho Mirage - 1,700 19.4%
• Palm Desert - 15,900 32.9%
• Indian Wells - 2,700 55.1%
• Indio - 9,400 12.4%
• Coachella - 1,800 4.5%
• La Quinta - 1,500 10.3%
• Thousand Palms - 1,900 25%
• Desert Hot Springs - 2,500 9.6%

As you can see, at least 1/4 of the population at the west end of the valley is retired. I know some over 65 are working, but there are probably even more who are 55-64 and also retired. (I'm one of them.) This doesn't include the approximately 100K snowbirds who are only here part-time (also mostly from PS to Indian Wells). La Quinta is also becoming older with resorts opening and expanding. There are also several large tracts of land that can still be developed; a good 1/4 square mile area is being developed by Del Webb on the north side of Rancho Mirage right now which will add several hundred new homes.

I would doubt the Coachella Valley would be part of the LA metro area if Riverside County didn't extend east of the San Gorgonio Pass. There's just not enough people commuting between the areas. It would still fall within the megalopolis which essentially extends from Santa Barbara to Tijuana. I'd say the same is true with Yucca Valley (Joshua Tree, Twentynine Palms) which would likely be its own small metro area if San Bernardino County didn't extend east of Big Bear.

Coming back to Oregon from Louisiana in February 1999, I took I-10 all the way to the Southland.  With my younger brother and his family living in Chino Hills, I also had a place to spend the night.  Upon approaching the last crest after desert driving, all I could see was a sea of lights and soon enough they were accompanied by 4 lanes in each direction with plenty of traffic.  The megapolis had spread!

Now how far will it go?

Rick

I think there are certainly geographic limits as to how far it will go. The valley is surrounded on three sides by steep mountain ranges and by the Salton Sea to the south. The only possible spillover is along I-10, both to the west (Whitewater/San Gorgonio Pass) and to the east (the long grade up toward Chiriaco Summit--although I doubt that we would ever see creeping civilization that way).

There is also the limitation of water. There's only so much to go around in an area that averages 4-5 inches of rain per year.

[Max Rockatansky]

Definitely not, when I worked there it felt like the furthest outward sprawl of the Los Angeles Area and Inland Empire.  Personally I haven't found much in modern times to even class the Inland Empire as anything more than suburban Metro Los Angeles.  If it wasn't for a little slice of desert in Cabazon it would be solid city all the way from Santa Monica east to Coachella.

[JustDrive]

I've long considered Banning to be the eastern end of the IE, and even then that's iffy because Riverside/Moreno Valley/Redlands/San Bernardino have always ignored the San Gorgonio Pass communities, despite having a not insignificant amount of commuters to those cities.

Also, would Cabazon even be considered part of the Coachella Valley metro area?

[djsekani]

The weigh station on I-10 marks the border between the IE and the Coachella Valley as far as I'm concerned. That's where surface street access is interrupted.

[Gnutella]

Palm Springs is almost equidistant between Los Angeles and Blythe. The Palm Springs conurbation strikes me as spillover from the crowded L.A. Basin and Inland Empire, similar to the Palmdale and Victorville conurbations. Whenever I see the development in those areas, I take it as a sign that I'm getting closer to the action, but not quite there yet.

[StogieGuy7]

The Coachella Valley region is it's own television and radio DMA (designated market area), which would pretty much define it as it's own metro area - much as Santa Barbara is.  However, Santa Barbara shares it's rather sprawling media market with San Luis Obispo while Palm Springs/Indio/Palm Desert/etc. is more self-contained.

That said, there's no question that there is a ton of interaction between this area and the greater LA market (especially the Inland Empire). Still, I'd have to say yes.