The SLO Life

Photo by John WiWith rolling hills and a close community, no wonder San Luis Obispo is the happiest place in America San Luis Obispo (Spanish for St. Louis, the Bishop) is a city in California, located roughly midway between San Francisco and Los Angeles on the Central Coast. !e 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 University (Cal Poly). As of the 2000 census, the city population was 44,174. !e city is home to San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport which o"ers private and commercial air service to several major cities in the west. Amtrak pro-vides daily rail service here as the terminus of the Paci#c Sur$iner line and a stop on the Coast Starlight line. Greyhound also maintains a bus terminal in San Luis Obispo. Public transportation 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 downtown area. Parking in the downtown area can be a challenge for those interested in #nd-ing a spot directly in front of of their #nal destination. !e city provides parking in three multistory parking structures throughout downtown at: Chorro and Marsh 50

Well known downtown places in San Luis Obis-po where tourists go

Photo by Evan L

Text courtesy of Wikipedia

SLO is located ten minutes away from Avila Beach

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Half the population of SLO are college students

!e Central Coast has a lot of land for agriculture, especially in SLO51 Photos by Brady T

SLO is located ten minutes away from Avila Beach

street intersection; Palm Street between Chorro and Morro streets; on Palm Street between Chorro and Osos streets. Street park-ing downtown is metered. !e structures are free for the #rst hour and 75 cents per hour thereaf-ter. 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

Spanish Mission architecture and among the oldest buildings 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 ca-dences. !e downtown area also boasts many eclectic shops and boutiques. Another big tourist attraction is Hearst Castle, the vast estate of publishing magnate William Randolph Hearst, 43 miles to the north of San Luis Obispo. !e Madonna Inn is another famous

local landmark. Estab-lished by Alex Madonna in 1958, the inn is a fa-mously eccentric building known for its generous helping of pink, wildly kitschy decor, themed guest rooms, and a wa-terfall urinal in a men’s restroom. !e Fremont !eater is a historic Art Deco the-ater from the 1940s. It has appeared in many movies including a three second

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clip in My Blue Heaven. One famous tour-ist destination is Bubble Gum Alley. Since about 1960, people have been sticking their chewed gum on the walls of this alley located on Higuera Street, between Broad and Garden streets. Bubble Gum Alley has even ap-peared on national televi-sion. Another big attrac-tion is the development of Edna Valley into a well-known wine region. Just south of the city, people can spend an a%ernoon wine tasting several win-eries in the area with a very short drive. Some of these wineries have won awards and acclaim for

!e historic San Luis Mission that is located on Palm Street

Bubble Gum Alley is a big spot for tourists

Photos by Josh P

What can a person eat or buy at farmers?

their vintages. !e wine region extends north beyond Paso Robles (30 miles north) and Santa Ynez (70 miles south).A #eld 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 downtown on Higuera Street every !ursday 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. !e Farmers’ Market was created in 1983 to make use of downtown streets blocked o" 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 tra&c was blocked o", making the downtown Farmers’ Market one long “mall,” even rerouting part of a state highway

to accommodate the street closures. !e Farmers’ Market brought a great deal of revenue and has be-come 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 attended has been fraught with di&culties 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 a%er 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 neighbor-hoods and the business district. !e university can-celled the event for several years before reintroducing a scaled-down Open House. While Poly Royal wel-comed 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 smoothies, was founded in this town. Formerly called Juice Club,

Graphic by Lauren Bennett

Above: Cyclists make their way through the Central CoastBelow: Logo of the Amgen Tour

Photos Courtesy of Amgen53

Jamba Juice is now a national chain. Although Juice Club 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 (including 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. !e dentist o&ce on the corner of Santa Rosa and Paci#c 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 #rst American town to ban indoor smoking in all locations, including bars and restaurants.

54 Photos by Lauren Bennett!e Olympic size Hearst Castle Neptune Pool

Looking down upon Pirates Cove