Slo TownSlo TownS

an Luis Obispo (Span-ish for St. Louis, the Bishop) is a city in Cali-fornia, located roughly midway between San

Francisco and Los Angeles 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 Polytechnic State Uni-versity (Cal Poly). As of the 2000 census, the city population was 44,174. The city is home to San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport which offers private 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 terminal in San Luis Obispo. Public transpor-tation includes the city-wide SLO Transit bus lines as well as the county-wide SLO Regional Transit

system. Rideshare encourages the use of the local public transit, as well as carpooling and biking. Cycling is occasionally used as a mode of transportation 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 down-town area. Parking in the downtown area can be a challenge for those in-terested in finding a spot directly in front of their final destination. The city provides parking in three multistory 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

parking downtown is metered. The structures are free for the first hour and 75 cents per hour thereafter. Because of San Luis Obispo’s loca-tion 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 pleasant year-round climate, pretty scenery, and well-preserved, walkable downtown have made the city a tourist desti-nation in itself.Downtown San Luis Obispo is cen-tered around the carefully restored

Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa, originally built in 1772. It is one of the best preserved examples of Spanish Mission architecture and among the oldest buildings in Cali-fornia. Its bells are unique in that, unlike other California missions, the bell ringer stands in the bell-room with the bells when ringing

The happieST place in americaText by Brady Tuefel

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a brief hiSTory of Slo Town

10,000 years BC. Native Chumash Indians occupied the greater San Luis Obispo Area.

September 1st, 1772 Junipero Serra held the first mass at what would become the site of the still standing San Luis Obispo Mission.

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1925 Arthur Heineman created the first ever motel in San Luis Obispo. SLO’s location in the middle of the state provided a perfect resting place for early automobile travelers.

Today SLO Town is home to 44,075 residents, roughly 19,000 of which attend Cal Poly State University. SLO remains an acclaimed tourist destination for west coast travelers.

the cadences. The downtown area also boasts many eclectic shops and boutiques.Another big tourist attraction is Hearst Castle, the vast estate of publish-ing magnate William Randolph Hearst, 43 miles to the north of San Luis Obispo. The Madonna Inn is another famous local landmark. Estab-lished by Alex Madonna in 1958, the inn is a famously eccentric 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 theater from the 1940s. It has appeared in many movies including a three second clip in My Blue Heaven.One famous tourist destination is Bubble Gum Alley. Since about 1960, people have been sticking their chewed gum on the walls of this alley lo-cated on Higuera Street, between 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 Center is located in San Luis Obispo to support sea rescue 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 farmers and vendors sell goods and produce. The Farmers’ Market was created in 1983 to make use of downtown streets blocked off to end a tradition of teen/collegiate cruis-ing. Farmers and vendors were allowed to set up between 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 clo-sures. The Farmers’ Market brought a great deal of revenue and has

Photo: Teddy MillerThe top of SLO’s famous Bishop’s Peak

Photo: Teddy MillerOne of SLO’s many beau-tiful hikes.

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become internationally known.San Luis Obispo has been home of several other events, including 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 Christ-mas Parade. A Mardi Gras parade that was well attend-ed has been fraught with difficulties related to crowd control and alcohol 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 dam-age throughout residential neighborhoods and the business district. The university 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 Chem-istry Department, and other public performances, the revamped version is designed for students and parents. Jamba Juice, famous for its fruit smoothies, was founded in this town. Formerly called Juice Club, Jam-ba Juice is now a national chain. Although Juice Club

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was not a Cal Poly senior project 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 prevents businesses of any sort (in-cluding fast-food restaurants) from constructing new drive-up or drive-through windows or services. Two branches of one local bank are the only locations in the entire city with drive-up service; their drive-up service existed before the ordinance 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 Hand-icap 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.

Photo: Tyler BenhamNight view of San Luis Obispo from the top of Bishops Peak.

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