Indio city officials evaluate Coachella

Music lovers from all over the world left the second weekend of the Coachella music festival happy after an electric series of performances. As the guests leave the desert, the city of Indio can evaluate their own performance. “Everybody I talked to at the venue, around the venue, including the residents were ecstatic at how much better it was this year compared to other years,” said Indio mayor Glenn Miller.

Miller and his staff agree the festival was not only better run,it was also safer. “There’s definitely some young kids, sixteen, seventeen,eighteen year old,” said Jim Curtis, the Indio Human Services Manager. “There’s some even younger than that, but they can feel safe and secure in the venue.

While there were lots of positive responses from the two weekends, there was also some negative feedback. “It was definitely louder, I don’t know about last year, but louder than what the residents expected,” said Curtis.

The city plans to work with Goldenvoice to deal with the noise. In the meantime though, they made some serious changes to the traffic plan to alleviate traffic for residents near the festival grounds. “We used to see a lot of traffic on 50, but now all the traffic goes to 52, so it’s kind of lonely here,” said Itzel Barroso, who’s lived nearby for 12 years.

Another part of the plan to alleviate traffic included the addition of more bus and shuttle stops around the valley. “All of those busses that came in, we created space for them at Indian Wells Tennis Garden and various hotels throughout the city,” said Elaine Holmes, Indio mayor pro tem. “There were busses and transportation available for anyone and everyone.”

The city went a step further to invite some of the neighbors for a behind-the-scenes look at the concert. “They hear the sound, they see the kids walking around,” said Curtis. “They say what is this, but to get them inside really really opened their eyes.”
The city hopes to continue to invite neighbors in coming years.