Yucca Valley is an
incorporated town located in
San Bernardino CountySan Bernardino County is a county in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2010 census, the population was 2,035,210, up from 1,709,434 as of the 2000 census...
,
CaliforniaCalifornia 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...
,
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The population was 20,700 at the 2010 census, up from 16,865 at the 2000 census. Yucca Valley lies 17 miles (27.4 km) west of
Twentynine PalmsTwentynine Palms is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States. It was previously called Twenty-Nine Palms...
, 37 miles (59.5 km) north of
Palm SpringsPalm 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...
, 89 miles (143.2 km) south of
BarstowBarstow is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States. The population was 22,639 at the 2010 census, up from 21,119 at the 2000 census. Barstow is located north of San Bernardino....
via
State Route 247State Route 247 is a state highway in the U.S. state of California in San Bernardino County.This route is part of the California Freeway and Expressway System and is eligible for the State Scenic Highway System.-Route description:...
, 45 miles (72.4 km) southeast of
Lucerne ValleyLucerne Valley is a census-designated place located in the Mojave Desert of western San Bernardino County, California. It lies east of the Victor Valley, whose population nexus includes Victorville, Apple Valley, and Hesperia...
and 55 miles (88.5 km) east of
San BernardinoSan 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...
.
Bordered in the west by the
San Bernardino MountainsThe San Bernardino Mountains are a short transverse mountain range north and east of San Bernardino in Southern California in the United States. The mountains run for approximately 60 miles east-west on the southern edge of the Mojave Desert in southwestern San Bernardino County, north of the...
and in the south by the
Joshua Tree National ParkJoshua Tree National Park is located in southeastern California. Declared a U.S. National Park in 1994 when the U.S. Congress passed the California Desert Protection Act , it had previously been a U.S. National Monument since 1936. It is named for the Joshua tree forests native to the park...
, the Yucca Valley community is located in the
Mojave DesertThe Mojave Desert occupies a significant portion of southeastern California and smaller parts of central California, southern Nevada, southwestern Utah and northwestern Arizona, in the United States...
at roughly 3300 feet (1,005.8 m) above sea level.
Local
Yucca Valley is governed by a
town councilA town council is a democratically elected form of government for small municipalities or civil parishes. A council may serve as both the representative and executive branch....
whose mayor as of 2011 is George Huntington. Other Town Council members are Isaac Hagerman, Dawn Rowe, Merl Abel and Robert Lombardo. Yucca Valley contracts its police and public safety services from the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department. Fire suppression and ambulance services are provided by the San Bernardino County Fire Department.
Yucca Valley, with its 22,000 citizens rests in the middle of the Morongo Basin with proximity to Southern California’s finest vacation spots and outdoor areas. At a base elevation of 3300 feet, Yucca Valley enjoys a unique combination of mild but seasonable weather. Yucca Valley is proud of their clean air, dark night skies, spectacular vistas and casual lifestyle. The residents enjoy easy access to the Palm Springs resort communities, Big Bear mountain destinations, and the beaches of Southern California. The majestic Joshua Tree National Park, celebrating its 75th birthday in 2011, is adjacent to its southern border.
State and federal
In the
state legislatureThe 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...
Yucca Valley is located in the 31st
SenateThe 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
RepublicanThe 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...
Robert DuttonRobert D. Dutton is an American politician. He has served as the California State Senate Republican Leader since 2010 and as a Senator representing the 31st Senate District since 2004, after serving two years as a State Assemblyman for the 63rd Assembly District.-Biography:Robert Dutton was born...
, and in the 65th
AssemblyThe 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 Republican
Paul CookPaul Cook has represented California's 65th Assembly district since December 2006. Prior to his election he served as a member of the Yucca Valley city council from 1998 until 2006. He is a Republican.-Military career:...
. Federally, Yucca Valley is located in
California's 41st congressional districtCalifornia's 41st congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of California based in San Bernardino County. The district encompasses the eastern region of the Greater Los Angeles Area known as the Inland Empire...
, which has a
Cook PVIThe 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 +9 and is represented by Republican
Jerry LewisCharles Jeremy Lewis is the U.S. Representative for , and previously the 40th, 35th and 37th, serving since 2003. He is a member of the Republican Party. He is a former chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, serving in the role during the 109th Congress.-Early life, education, and...
.
Education
Public education in Yucca Valley is under the administration of the Morongo Unified School District. Yucca Valley has 3 neighborhood elementary schools—Onaga Elementary, Yucca Mesa Elementary, and Yucca Valley Elementary; one middle school—La Contenta Middle School; and two high schools--
Yucca Valley High SchoolYucca Valley High School is in the town of Yucca Valley, California. The school has 1,690 students in grades 9–12. The principal is Carl R. Phillips. The school is part of the Morongo Unified School District...
and Sky Continuation High School. Private schools in Yucca Valley include Our Lady of the Desert, a Christian school for K-12; Joshua Springs Christian School, non-denominational affiliation for PK-12; Grace Christian School, Brethren affiliation for K-12; Hi-Desert SDA Elementary, a 1-6, Seventh Day Adventist affiliation school; and Yucca Valley Christian School, affiliated with The Assembly of God, for PK-12. Adult
tutorA tutor is a person employed in the education of others, either individually or in groups. To tutor is to perform the functions of a tutor.-Teaching assistance:...
ing is also available in Yucca Valley, with tutoring information available at the Yucca Valley Public Library.
Transportation
Yucca Valley has three major means of access; State Route 62 (Twentynine Palms Highway) runs east-west and is the main thoroughfare through town. State Route 247 (Old Woman Springs Road) begins in Yucca Valley and extends north through Barstow. Interstate access is southwest 17 miles (27.4 km) to I-10 or northwest approximately 55 miles (88.5 km) to I-15. The Basin Transit Authority (MBTA)
serves the area with scheduled bus service around town and to the lower desert.
Geography and terrain
According to the
United States Census BureauThe 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 town has a total area of 40 square miles (103.6 km²). 40 square miles (103.6 km²) of it is land and none of it is covered in water. Yucca Valley is located north of the
Joshua Tree National ParkJoshua Tree National Park is located in southeastern California. Declared a U.S. National Park in 1994 when the U.S. Congress passed the California Desert Protection Act , it had previously been a U.S. National Monument since 1936. It is named for the Joshua tree forests native to the park...
, while the little
San Bernardino MountainsThe San Bernardino Mountains are a short transverse mountain range north and east of San Bernardino in Southern California in the United States. The mountains run for approximately 60 miles east-west on the southern edge of the Mojave Desert in southwestern San Bernardino County, north of the...
and many hills cover a large percentage of city area.
The "high desert" community has an elevation (city hall) at 3224 feet (982.7 m) above sea level. Snowfall occurs almost annually whenever the snow level drops to elevations under 4000 feet (1,219.2 m). The area's terrain is prone to wildfires (such as the Pioneertown fire in July 2006), resulting from plant growth during the rainy seasons and flash floods. The plants in the city and among the chaparral in the mountains outside of San Bernardino National Forest wilt and perish from the summer heat, providing ample fuel during a fire.
Geology
Yucca Valley has experienced high levels of seismic activity. Fault lines criss-cross the city and the Morongo basin.
History
In 1992, three large earthquakes occurred near the city, the magnitude 6.1 Joshua Tree earthquake on April 22, and on June 28 the 7.3
LandersThe 1992 Landers earthquake was a magnitude 7.3 earthquake that occurred on June 28, 1992 with an epicenter near the town of Landers, California...
and 6.5
Big BearThe 1992 Big Bear earthquake was an earthquake that occurred at 08:05 PDT local time on 28 June 1992 in Big Bear Lake, California, with a magnitude of 6.5. This earthquake occurred three hours after the 7.3 magnitude Landers earthquake, which was centered to the east...
earthquakes.
The 7.1 magnitude
Hector MineThe 1999 Hector Mine earthquake was a magnitude 7.1 earthquake that occurred on October 16, 1999 at 2:46:44 PDT 47 Miles ESE of Barstow, California. The earthquake occurred in a remote part of the Mojave Desert, inside the Twentynine Palms Marine Corps Base...
earthquake on October 16, 1999 had an epicenter 30 miles (48.3 km) north of town.
On July 11, 2006, a wildfire started by lightning raced through neighboring
PioneertownPioneertown, California is an unincorporated village in the Morongo Basin region of Southern California's Inland Empire Metropolitan Area. It is located approximately 56 miles east of San Bernardino.-History:...
. The blaze, named the
Sawtooth Complex fireThe Sawtooth Complex fire was a group of wildfires in San Bernardino County in the U.S. state of California in the summer of 2006. The Complex was made up of the Sawtooth, Waters, and Ridge fires, and burnt in chaparral two miles east of Yucca Valley.The Sawtooth Complex fire was started by...
, also burned into Yucca Valley and nearby Morongo Valley and destroyed roughly 64,000 acres (100 square miles) of desert landscape.
2010
The 2010 United States Census reported that Yucca Valley had a population of 20,700. The
population densityPopulation density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 517.3 people per square mile (199.7/km²). The racial makeup of Yucca Valley was 17,280 (83.5%) White, 666 (3.2%) African American, 232 (1.1%) Native American, 469 (2.3%) Asian, 44 (0.2%) Pacific Islander, 1,185 (5.7%) from
other racesRace 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 824 (4.0%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3,679 persons (17.8%).
The Census reported that 20,481 people (98.9% of the population) lived in households, 166 (0.8%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 53 (0.3%) were institutionalized.
There were 8,274 households, out of which 2,512 (30.4%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 3,661 (44.2%) were
opposite-sex married couplesMarriage 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, 1,116 (13.5%) had a female householder with no husband present, 477 (5.8%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 604 (7.3%)
unmarried opposite-sex partnershipsPOSSLQ 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 83 (1.0%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 2,387 households (28.8%) were made up of individuals and 1,163 (14.1%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.48. There were 5,254
familiesA 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...
(63.5% of all households); the average family size was 3.03.
The population was spread out with 4,937 people (23.9%) under the age of 18, 1,772 people (8.6%) aged 18 to 24, 4,676 people (22.6%) aged 25 to 44, 5,495 people (26.5%) aged 45 to 64, and 3,820 people (18.5%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40.6 years. For every 100 females there were 94.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.1 males.
There were 9,558 housing units at an average density of 238.9 per square mile (92.2/km²), of which 5,256 (63.5%) were owner-occupied, and 3,018 (36.5%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 4.6%; the rental vacancy rate was 9.6%. 12,220 people (59.0% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 8,261 people (39.9%) lived in rental housing units.
2000
As of the
censusA 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 16,865 people, 6,949 households, and 4,489 families residing in the town. The
population densityPopulation density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 421.3 people per square mile (162.7/km²). There were 7,952 housing units at an average density of 198.7 per square mile (76.7/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 87.3% White, 2.3% African American, 1.4% Native American, 1.3% Asian, 0.3% Pacific Islander, 4.6% from
other racesRace 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 3.0% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 11.4% of the population.
There were 6,949 households out of which 27.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.1% were
married couplesMarriage 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, 13.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.4% were non-families. 30.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.4 and the average family size was 2.9.
In the town 25.1% of the population was under the age of 18, 7.1% from 18 to 24, 22.6% from 25 to 44, 22.4% from 45 to 64, and 22.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The average number in the US over 65 was 12.4%. The median age was 42 years, at a time when the average age in the US was 35.3. For every 100 females there were 90.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.1 males.
Personal income
The median
incomeIncome is the consumption and savings opportunity gained by an entity within a specified time frame, which is generally expressed in monetary terms. However, for households and individuals, "income is the sum of all the wages, salaries, profits, interests payments, rents and other forms of earnings...
for a household in the town was $30,420, and the median income for a family was $36,650. Males had a median income of $35,037 versus $25,234 for females. The
per capita incomePer 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 town was $16,020, lower than most of
Southern CaliforniaSouthern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
. About 16.2% of families and 19.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 27.3% of those under age 18 and 9.3% of those age 65 or over.
Tourism
Amenities include a bowling alley,
movie theaterA movie theater, cinema, movie house, picture theater, film theater is a venue, usually a building, for viewing motion pictures ....
, various retail stores and an "Old Town" area.
On Grubstakes Day, held the day before
Memorial DayMemorial Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May. Formerly known as Decoration Day, it originated after the American Civil War to commemorate the fallen Union soldiers of the Civil War...
, there is a
paradeA parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, floats or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually celebrations of some kind...
.
The
Desert Christ ParkDesert Christ Park is a sculpture garden in Yucca Valley, California. The park was sculpted and created by Antone Martin, a former aircraft worker who died in 1961 at the age of 74. Martin started sculpting the figures during the height of the Cold War atomic bomb scare of the mid-1940s, hoping...
sculpture garden is located here.
It is also close to the world famous
Joshua Tree National ParkJoshua Tree National Park is located in southeastern California. Declared a U.S. National Park in 1994 when the U.S. Congress passed the California Desert Protection Act , it had previously been a U.S. National Monument since 1936. It is named for the Joshua tree forests native to the park...
.
External links