Indio is the only place in the desert where you can attend an international polo match and drink a date shake before returning to your estate home to go water-skiing from your private boat dock.

   Indio is the Valley’s oldest and most populated city. It began as an agricultural city when in 1886, C.P. Huntington, president of Southern Pacific Railroad, brought back date shoots from a vacation in Algeria and gave them to Pat Gale, the first agriculturist in Indio. Today over 27 million pounds of dates are produced annually. Indio is world famous as the Date capital of the world, producing 80 percent of America’s date crops. Indio is also famous for table grapes. Another agricultural crop shipped everywhere in the United States.

   Also known as the “City of Festivals,” Indio is the home of an array of festivals celebrating everything from tamales to techno-rock music. The longest running festival has been held here every year since 1947, it is called The Riverside County Fair & National Date Festival– complete with an Arabian Nights Pageant.

   More than 60,000 visitors come to attend the various events held in Indio. After hosting nearly every U.S. polo tournament, it is known as “The polo capital of the Western United States.” There are fifteen expansive polo fields spanning the Eldorado and Empire Polo clubs, with stables to hold more than 1,200 horses.

   Luxury RV owners flock to Indio with 6 resorts that cater to these well-to-do snowbirds. Outdoor Resorts, a national chain catering to million dollar motor coaches, and Fiesta RV are two resorts that have been awarded national recognition for their quality.

   Housing opportunities are abundant and they cross the price range of a broad spectrum of buyers. Starter homes can be found along side sprawling ranches and country estate properties.

   Along with affordable housing, Indio also offers its residents and businesses affordable electricity through the Imperial Irrigation District, and through the Indio Water Authority it offers inexpensive water.

   You will find the Riverside County government administrative center in downtown Indio, as well as the Larson Justice Center court complex and College of the Desert’s East Valley Education Center.

   City officials are working with a Los Angeles consulting firm to bring the right balance of business to four main areas for commercial development. These areas are a Hospitality Corridor, the Fashion Mall, Old Town and the I-10 Corridor. Indio is fortunate to be one of 39 zones in California designated to receive economic support programs for new businesses. Along with other incentives there is one in which business owners save more than $30,000 per employee over a five-year period.

   The location of Indio by the State Highway 111 and Interstate 10 and State Highway 86 (the NAFTA Highway that serves as a direct link to Mexico) makes it destined to be a major player in the growth of Coachella Valley.

www.indio.org