A year ago, population projections for the Inland Empire and for the Coachella Valley in particular were dynamic. The Coachella Valley was growing at a rate of 29.5 percent compared to 9.7 percent for California as a whole and 4.9 percent for the U.S. as a whole.The Coachella Valley real estate was growing by 47 people per day. In the Temecula Valley real estate, the rise in the past six years has been even more dramatic, rising by 62.7 percent.
So what effect has the stagflation of the housing market in California had on the Inland Empire and the Coachella Valley? These two areas, both in the fast-growing area of the Inland Empire, now have so much to offer, they are likely to keep growing just as rapidly if not more so in the coming years.
For the two decades from 2000 to 2020, the Inland Empire's population is expected to rise from 3.26 million to 5.28 million, up more than 2 million people. This is more people than most entire states expect to grow in the same period, and more than Los Angeles alone or most of the other areas of Southern California combined.
So what is happening in the Inland Empire and in particular, in cities such as Temecula which has risen from 57, 716 in the year 2000 to a figure that may now be close to or exceeding 100,000 people? In part, the Inland Empire's population explosion is the result of the fact that the area still has large amounts of undeveloped land, land that other counties such as Orange County, have run out of, for the most part. Land, space, housing, are all less expensive and easier to get to. People will work for less in areas where they don't have to drive three hours through rush hour traffic and employers recognizing this have started to make the move to the Inland Empire.
The Inland Empire has also become Southern California's logistics hub. Cargo flowing in and out of Southern California must, by necessity pass through the Inland Empire either through the Cajon Pass, the San Gorgonio Pass and through the area's freeways.
The demand for rail shipments is reportedly forcing the BNSF Railroad to double their capacity and Union Pacific Railroad may need to seek an intermodal site in addition to its main switching yard in Colton. Container traffic in the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles is soaring. Southern California's trucking firms have their major cargo sorting facilities in the Inland Empire. And UPS, Federal Express Ground and DHL have major hubs now in Southern California at Ontario International Airport, in Rialto and at March Air Force Base, respectively.
Ontario International Airport is already the second largest cargo airport in Southern California and March Air Reserve Base is expected to rank third by 2030.
As areas such as San Diego feel the same growing pains and traffic problems that Orange County suffered before them, cities such as Temecula are reaping the rewards with its equally pleasant weather and its setting among the wineries of the Temecula Valley. As with other cities in the Inland Empire compared with San Diego County and Orange County cities, Temecula offers an educated population and labor force, lower lease rates for space, lower home costs, lower crime rates, and less traffic congestion. While not as inexpensive as it was before, land is still less expensive in the Inland Empire than in San Diego or Orange County and the Inland Empire has a logistics advantage being close to logistics hubs.
The Coachella Valley, once much more of a seasonal area, is now comprised primarily of full-time residents. New buyers have made the move either because of the lower cost of housing or because people who previously purchased vacation homes in the Palm Springs area have now moved there permanently.
The Coachella Valley has only begun to focus its attention on a younger segment of the State's population with its affordable wealth and as more cutting edge developments, recreation and nightlife come to the area such as the Hard Rock Hotel planned for Palm Springs and the large scale casino developments with the entertainment and concerts they can attract, the Coachella Valley will almost certainly continue to grow at the same rapid pace if not faster. Further down valley, La Quinta has perhaps the most spectacular mountain settings that are common to all of the Coachella Valley cities, combined with new developments such as the Griffin Ranch which offers equestrian estates to horse lovers.
Clearly, with population increases of nearly 30 percent in the last 6 years in the Coachella Valley and 62.7 percent in the Temecula Valley, and with the advantages that these areas have to offer, certain areas of the Inland Empire will continue to do extremely well, even in this time of stagflation for the housing market in California. What may also be common to each of these growing areas is the intangible attraction of nature. In the Temecula Valley it is the natural setting of the vineyards that gives the area it's feeling of peacefulness. In the Coachella Valley, it is the mountains populated with bighorn sheep that offer both desert views and snow-capped peaks in winter.