| Rancho Mirage Library and Observatory | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Former names | Rancho Mirage Public Library |
| General information | |
| Coordinates | 33°44′54″N116°25′16″W / 33.74833°N 116.42111°W |
| Inaugurated | January 8, 2006 |
| Website | |
| RanchoMirageLibrary.org | |
Rancho Mirage Library and Observatory is a public library and science education complex in Rancho Mirage, California. It has been called a "cultural oasis" in the Coachella Valley. [1]
The Rancho Mirage Library was dedicated in 2006. [2] The Observatory was opened on March 25, 2018, [3] and recently celebrated its 5-year anniversary. The Library and Observatory hosts regular viewing parties and daytime observatory tours. [4]
The library also hosts the popular [5] Rancho Mirage Writers Festival every year. [6] The RMWF has featured dozens of major authors like Dave Barry, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Fran Lebowitz, James Patterson, George Saunders, Zadie Smith, Jerry Brown, Sally Field, Tom Hanks and Mike Reiss. [7]
The Rancho Mirage Library and Observatory was featured as a stargazing date location in the 18th season of The Bachelorette . [8] [9]
Cathedral City, colloquially known as "Cat City", is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. Situated between Palm Springs and Rancho Mirage, the city has the second largest population, after Indio, of the nine cities in the Coachella Valley. Its population was 51,493 at the 2020 census, a slight increase from 51,200 at the 2010 census.
Indio is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, in the Coachella Valley of Southern California's Colorado Desert region. It lies 23 miles (37 km) east of Palm Springs, 75 miles (121 km) east of Riverside, 127 miles (204 km) east of Los Angeles, 148 miles (238 km) northeast of San Diego, 250 miles (400 km) west of Phoenix, and 102 miles (164 km) north of Mexicali, Mexico.
Palm Desert is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, in the Coachella Valley, about 14 miles (23 km) east of Palm Springs, 121 miles (195 km) northeast of San Diego and 122 miles (196 km) east of Los Angeles. The population was 51,163 at the 2020 census. The city has been one of the state's fastest-growing since 1980, when its population was 11,801.
Rancho Mirage is a city in Riverside County, California, United States. The city is a low-density desert-resort community with resorts, golf courses, and country clubs within the Colorado Desert section of the Sonoran Desert. Nestled along the foothills of the Santa Rosa Mountains in the south, it is located several minutes east of Palm Springs. The city is adjacent to Cathedral City, Palm Desert, and unincorporated Thousand Palms. The population was 16,999 at the 2020 census, down from 17,218 at the 2010 census, though the seasonal population can exceed 20,000. Incorporated in 1973, Rancho Mirage is one of the nine cities of the Coachella Valley.
Coachella is an annual music and arts festival held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the Coachella Valley in the Colorado Desert. It was co-founded by Paul Tollett and Rick Van Santen in 1999, and is organized by Goldenvoice, a subsidiary of AEG Presents. The event features musical artists from many genres of music, including rock, pop, indie, hip hop and electronic dance music, as well as art installations and sculptures. Across the grounds, several stages continuously host live music.
The Coachella Valley is an arid rift valley in the Colorado Desert of Southern California in Riverside County. The valley has been referred to as Greater Palm Springs and occasionally the Palm Springs Area due to the historic prominence of the city of Palm Springs. The valley extends approximately 45 mi (72 km) southeast from the San Gorgonio Pass to the northern shore of the Salton Sea and the neighboring Imperial Valley, and is approximately 15 mi (24 km) wide along most of its length. It is bounded on the northeast by the San Bernardino and Little San Bernardino Mountains, and on the southwest by the San Jacinto and Santa Rosa Mountains.
The Desert Sands Unified School District (DSUSD) is a public school district with main offices located in La Quinta, California. The district was founded in 1964, after the California Department of Education consolidated all Indio public schools. As of 2017, DSUSD serves 28,958 students in Indio, La Quinta, Palm Desert, Indian Wells, Bermuda Dunes, and parts of Rancho Mirage and Coachella.
The Palm Springs Unified School District, or PSUSD, is one of three public education governing bodies in the Coachella Valley desert region of Southern California. PSUSD governs the western half of the valley; the Coachella Valley Unified School District and Desert Sands Unified School District oversee communities in the eastern half. Administrative offices are located in Palm Springs. The PSUSD was established in 1958 from the Palm Springs Public Schools, later included Palm Springs High School in the 1960s.
The De Anza League was a California High School sports league in San Bernardino County, California and Riverside County, California and was disbanded at the end of 2017-2018 high school sports season. Most teams joined the Desert Valley League while Rancho Mirage high school joined the newly formed Desert Empire League. It was part of the CIF Southern Section.
Palm Springs International Film Festival is a film festival held in Palm Springs, California. Originally promoted by Mayor Sonny Bono and then sponsored by Nortel, it started in 1989 and is held annually in January. It is run by the Palm Springs International Film Society, which also runs the Palm Springs International Festival of Short Films (ShortFest), a festival of short films and film market in June.
San Joaquin Valley College (SJVC) is a private for-profit college with locations in California and an online division. SJVC was founded in 1977 by Robert and Shirley Perry. The college offers certificates, Associate of Science degrees, and continuing education opportunities in the medical, dental, veterinary, criminal justice, and industrial trade fields.
Palm Springs is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately 94 square miles (240 km2), making it the largest city in Riverside County by land area. With multiple plots in checkerboard pattern, more than 10% of the city is part of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians reservation land and is the administrative capital of the most populated reservation in California.
SunLine Transit Agency is a transit operator in Riverside County, California, United States, providing bus service to more than 3.5 million passengers per year in the Palm Springs Area. Service extends into San Bernardino Transit Center during peak hours. In 2023, the system had a ridership of 2,718,100, or about 9,200 per weekday as of the first quarter of 2024.
Thelma Pressman was a pioneering microwave cooking consultant, product development consultant, and cookbook author. In 1969 she opened the first microwave cooking school in the United States. She was the author of several microwave cookbooks and was a regular columnist for Bon Appétit magazine from 1978 to 1982. After her retirement to the Palm Springs area, she was a founder of the Palm Springs chapter of Les Dames d'Escoffier International and led restaurant tours throughout the Coachella Valley. She was often called "the Julia Child of microwave cooking".
The Empire Polo Club is a 1000-acre polo club in Indio, California, in the Coachella Valley of Riverside County, approximately 22 miles southeast of Palm Springs. Founded in 1987, it has hosted international polo tournaments. It leases out its polo grounds for Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and Stagecoach Festival annually for the last three weekends in April.
The Thunderbird Country Club is a country club in Rancho Mirage in California's Coachella Valley. Its signature 18-hole golf course has hosted the Ryder Cup and the Palm Springs Golf Classic. Opened in 1951, the country club has been a favorite of many celebrities, including Bing Crosby and Bob Hope, as well as US Presidents Gerald Ford and Barack Obama. First known as the Thunderbird Ranch, it was purchased by Johnny Dawson, who established Coachella Valley's first 18-hole golf course here in 1951.
The Wildlands Conservancy is a nonprofit organization with a mission to preserve land for public recreation. It manages 25 preserves, detailed in the list of its preserves, covering over 200,000 acres (81,000 ha) across the western United States. The preserve system encompasses diverse landscapes including mountains, valleys, deserts, rivers, and oceanfront lands. The Wildlands Conservancy buys and restores land, builds public visitor facilities, and provides outdoor education programs for children. All usage is free of charge, attracting over 1.5 million visitors annually.
Bruce Fessier is an American arts and entertainment journalist based in Rancho Mirage, California.
Storyliving by Disney is a business venture and brand of The Walt Disney Company announced on February 16, 2022, to collaboratively develop master-planned communities that utilize Disney Imagineering and are staffed by Disney cast members. It operates under the company's Disney Living Development, Inc. subsidiary. Cotino, in Rancho Mirage, California, was the first Storyliving by Disney community chosen for development, where ground breaking took place in April 2022. In December 2023, plans were announced for a second such community, named Asteria, in Pittsboro, North Carolina.