Life in Paradise

San Luis Obispo (Spanish for St. Louis, the Bishop) is a city in California, located roughly midway between San Francisco and Los An-geles on the Central Coast. The city, referred to locally as SLO or “San Luis,” is the county seat of San Luis Obispo County and is adjacent to California Polytech-nic State University (Cal Poly). As of the 2000 census, the city population was 44,174.

by Joe Shmoe

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Photo by Rhiannon Montgomery

Bishop Peak rises more than 1500 ft above San Luis Obispo and is a popular hiking spot for locals and visitors. - Photo by Rhiannon Montgomery

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There are many caves to explore along the coast line in San Luis Obispo County like those below Mallagh Land-ing. - Photo by Rhiannon Montgomery

Outdoor activities are a part of everyday life in this county of diverse environments - Photo by Rhiannon Montgomery

Boardwalks can be found throughout San Luis Obispo County recreational areas allowing handicap accessibility to the amazing views. - Photo by Rhiannon Montgomery

Hiking trails are a great way to see the local floral life. Photos by Rhiannon Montgomery

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The city is home to San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport which offers private and com-mercial air service to several major cities in the west. Amtrak The The city is home to San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport which offers pri-vate and commercial air service to several major cities in the west. Amtrak provides daily rail service here as the terminus of the Pacific Surfliner line and a stop on the Coast Starlight line. Greyhound also maintains a bus ter-minal in San Luis Obispo. Public transportation includes the city-wide SLO Transit bus lines as well as the county-wide SLO Regional Transit sys-tem. Rideshare encour-ages the use of the local public transit, as well as carpooling and biking.

Cycling is occasionally used as a mode of trans-portation in San Luis Obispo. Bike lanes are maintained on a few of the streets and the number of bike stands are increasing, especially in the downtown area.

Parking in the down-town area can be a chal-lenge for those interested in finding a spot directly in front of their final des-tination. The city provides parking in three multi-story parking structures throughout downtown at: Chorro and Marsh

street intersection; Palm Street between Chorro and Morro streets; on Palm Street between Chorro and Osos streets. Street park-ing downtown is metered. The structures are free for the first hour and 75 cents per hour thereafter.

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Because of San Luis Obispo’s location halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco, it has long been a stopping point for travelers. In fact, the word motel was coined here when the Motel Inn of San Luis Obispo was established in 1925. Since then, the pleas-ant year-round climate, pretty scenery, and well-preserved, walkable downtown have made the city a tourist destination in itself.

Downtown San Luis Obispo is centered around the carefully restored Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa, origi-nally built in 1772. It is one of the best preserved examples of Spanish Mission architecture and among the oldest build-ings in California. Its bells are unique in that, unlike other California missions, the bell ringer stands in the bellroom with the bells when ringing the cadences. The downtown

area also boasts many eclectic shops and bou-tiques.

Another big tour-ist attraction is Hearst Castle, the vast estate of publishing magnate Wil-liam Randolph Hearst, 43 miles to the north of San Luis Obispo. The Madonna Inn is another famous local landmark. Established by Alex Madonna in 1958, the inn is a famously eccen-tric building known for its generous helping of

pink, wildly kitschy decor, themed guest rooms, and a waterfall urinal in a men’s restroom.

The Fremont Theater is a historic Art Deco the-ater from the 1940s. It has appeared in many movies including a three second clip in My Blue Heaven.

One famous tourist des-tination is Bubble Gum Alley. Since about 1960, people have been sticking their chewed gum on the walls of this alley located on Higuera Street, be-

Los Osos Oaks State Nature Preseve is one of many areas of protected land in San Luis Obispo County - Photo by Rhiannon Montgomery

The Stats on San Luis Obispo

Average Income:$42,526

Population:44,948

Family Home:$472,500

2 Bedroom Rental:$1,473

4 Year University:Cal Poly SLO

2 Year College:Cuesta College

UnemploymentRate:9.7 percent

Crime Index:241.2U.S. Avg = 319.1

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tween Broad and Garden streets. Bubble Gum Alley has even appeared on national television.

Another big attraction is the development of Edna Valley into a well-known wine region. Just south of the city, people can spend an afternoon wine tasting several wineries in the area with a very short drive. Some of these wineries have won awards and acclaim for their vintages. The wine region extends north beyond Paso Robles (30 miles north) and Santa Ynez (70 miles south).

A field station of the Marine Mammal Cen-ter is located in San Luis Obispo to support sea res-cue and beach stranding rescue operations for this section of the California coast.

One of the main draws is Farmers’ Market, a large festival held down-town on Higuera Street every Thursday evening year-round from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.. About three-quarters of a mile of the street is closed to cars. Live entertainment is

featured and local farm-ers and vendors sell goods and produce. The Farm-ers’ Market was created in 1983 to make use of downtown streets blocked off to end a tradition of teen/collegiate cruising. Farmers and vendors were allowed to set up be-tween barricades as a way to bring people back to the downtown area. Later, all traffic was blocked off, making the downtown Farmers’ Market one long “mall,” even rerouting part of a state highway to accommodate the street closures. The Farmers’ Market brought a great deal of revenue and has become internationally known.

San Luis Obispo has been home of several other events, includ-ing a stop on the way of the Olympic Torch, the Tour of California bicycle race, Cinco de Mayo celebrations, as well as a long-standing Christmas Parade. A Mardi Gras parade that was well at-tended has been fraught with difficulties related to crowd control and alco-

hol consumption. Debate about the cost of the parade, and the associated crowd control, continues.

Mardi Gras has not been the only local event reined in after gaining acceptance. Cal Poly’s open house, Poly Royal, was held every April until a 1990 riot of drunken revellers, many visitors to town, caused damage throughout residential neighborhoods and the business district. The uni-versity cancelled the event for several years before reintroducing a scaled-down Open House. While Poly Royal welcomed the community for hikes, carnivals, “magic” shows put on by the Chemistry Department, and other public performances, the revamped version is designed for students and parents.

Jamba Juice, famous for its fruit smooth-ies, was founded in this town. Formerly called Juice Club, Jamba Juice is now a national chain. Although Juice Club was not a Cal Poly senior proj-ect as some claim, three

of the four co-founders, Joe Vergara, Kevin Peters, and Linda Olds did graduate from the university. Jamba Juice still exists at the original Juice Club location: 17 Chorro Street #C.

City ordinance pre-vents businesses of any sort (including fast-food restaurants) from con-structing new drive-up or drive-through win-dows or services. Two branches of one local bank are the only loca-tions in the entire city with drive-up service; their drive-up service existed before the ordi-nance became law.

The dentist office on the corner of Santa Rosa and Pacific streets is one of very few commercial buildings designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.

A horse race on turf named the San Luis Obispo Handicap is run at the Santa Anita Park in honor of this city.

San Luis Obispo was the first American town to ban indoor smoking in all locations, including bars and restaurants.

There is much beauty to be found in random back road travels. - Photo by Rhiannon Montgomery