S SLOcals. SLOmance.

The SLO life. Residents

of the San Luis Obispo

County do things a little

differently. Discover how

people on the Califor-

nia Central Coast find a

happy medium

the coasters

SB

Photos by Brady Teufel & Natalie Dee

Words by Wikipedia

ASan Luis Obispo (Spanish for St. Louis, the Bishop) is a city in California, located roughly midway between Los Angeles and San Francisco on the Central Coast. Founded in 1772 by Spanish Fr. Junípero Serra, San Luis Obispo is one of California’s oldest communities. The city, referred to lo-cally as San Luis or SLO, is the county seat of San Luis Obispo County and is adjacent to California Polytechnic State University. The population was 45,119 at the 2010 census.

History

The earliest human inhabitants of the local area were the Chumash peoples. One of the earliest villages lies south of San Luis Obispo, and reflects the landscape of the early Holocene when estuaries came farther inland. These Chumash people exploited marine resources of the inlets and bays along the Central Coast and inhabited a network of villages including sites at Los Osos and Morro Creek. San Luis Obispo was also a popular stop on both U.S. Route 101 and California State Route 1 with the rise of car culture. Due to its popularity as a stop, it was the location of the first motel, the Milestone Mo-Tel.Among San Luis Obispo’s historical buildings is the for-mer San Luis Obispo Carnegie Library, located at 696 Monterey Street. The San Luis Obispo Carnegie Library was built in 1905 with a grant of $10,000 from Andrew Carnegie, who funded the establishment of 142 California libraries in the early 1900s. The Romanesque style build-ing was designed by architect W. H. Weeks of Watson-

1

2

3

4

5

San Luis Obispo was the location of the first motel,

the Milestone Mo- Tel.. 1. A typical homeowner's veiw in SLO. 2. Ocean meets agriculture. 3. The Pismo Dunes are popular sites for camping and off- roading. 4. Wary of its wild past, SLO has taken extra steps towards safety by increasing law enforcement on popular holidays. 5. The sunset sizzles in winter.

4

VAville, California and was built by contractor Joseph Maino of San Luis Obispo.

Demographics

The 2010 United States Census reported that San Luis Obispo had a population of 45,119. The population density was 3,489.4 people per square mile (1,347.3/km²). The racial makeup of San Luis Obispo was 38,117 (84.5%) White, 523 (1.2%) African American, 275 (0.6%) Nativ1.6%; the rental vacancy rate was 5.7%. 17,225 people (38.2% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 26,712 people (59.2%) lived in rental housing units.

Culture

The Madonna Inn is a famous local landmark. Established by Alex Madonna in 1958, the inn is famously eccentric. The Fremont Theater, a historic Art Deco theater from the 1940s, still plays first run movies on the huge screen. Mu-rals adorn the walls of the main theater while neon swirls light the ceiling. The Palm Theatre boasts solar heating and is home to the San Luis Obispo International Film Festival. Another destination is Bubblegum Alley. Since about 1960, people have been sticking chewed gum on the walls of this alley. The doctor’s office on the corner of Santa Rosa and Pacific streets is one of very few commer-cial buildings designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. San Luis also has a Carnegie Library which is now home to the San Luis Obispo County Historical Museum. A sculpture of a child and bear at the Mission in down-town San Luis Obispo. A fish was added after the photo-

7

9

10

Lots of mystery surrounds the series of tunnels that exists be-

neath the city. 6. Local teens like to stage photo shoots around many of the city's characteristic abandoned lots. 7 A Cal Poly student enjoying a three- day week-end by windsurfing in Pismo Beach. 8. Visitors travel to Shell and Avila beach to explore natural caves and geologic anomalies. 9. A Morro Bay harbor seal is king of the beach. 10. Bouldering at the base of Bishops' Peak is popular among outdoor adventure types.

6

8

F

F

graph was taken.Lots of mystery surrounds the “underground city”, or the series of tunnels that exists beneath the city.One of the largest Mardi Gras parades West of the Mississippi used to be held in San Luis Obispo, but it has been canceled recently because of difficulties related to crowd control and alcohol consumption.

Cal Poly’s open house, Poly Royal, was held annually from 1933 to 1990. It was canceled in 1945 due to war rationing. It began as a show-and-tell for students to display their projects. It traces its origins to the 1904 Farmer’s Institute and Picnic Basket. By the 1980s, as the col-lege became “the most popular...university in

the 19-campus CSU system”, Poly Royal began

drawing over 100,000 people from throughout the state, including 126,000 people in 1985. Concerts, parties, and other entertainment were added and it earned $3–4 million in revenue for the city every year.

Following a “mini-riot” in 1989 at an off-campus apartment during Poly Royal, the events in 1990 would cancel the event “indefinitely.” Two nights of rioting on April 28–29 led to 127 arrests, over 100 injuries and 14 police injuries on top of “sev-eral hundred thousand dollars” worth of damage. A liquor store near campus, Campus Bottle, was destroyed by revelers demanding alcohol. The

the CAL POLY

Experience Every year, students at Cal Poly vote on the best businesses, services, and experiences for students in San Luis Obispo, Here are some of thier top picks:

Best BBQ, Best Outdoor Din-ing Spot, Best Sports Bar & Restaurant:Firestone Grill, 1001 Higuera

Best First Date: Bishop's Peak

“The hiking trail al-lows for the perfect mix of eye contact, conversation start-ers and first kiss-

es”- Hayley Vierna, Journalism major

Best Central Coast Event: Wildflower Triathalon“The students at Cal Poly are who, in large part, make the Wildflower Festival possible.” Natalie Feltcher, business ad-ministration major and Wildflower intern

Best Place to be spoiled by your parents:El Corral at the Cal Poly University Union“Who does’t want to wear cool Cal Poly clothes?” Paige Mon-talbo, General Engineering student. Students buy caps and gowns at El Corral (right)

The restaurant serves around 2,000 patrons per day, said manager Ross Sprague

H

Best Dessert, Best Frozen Treat: Yogurt Creations, 1075 Court Street

H

H

JFVWho's Trucking? Surfers and news crews

Investigate reckless driving on Cesar Chavez Day,

second night was much larger than the first as people were leaving a concert on campus and parties off-campus were broken up and revel-ers flooded the streets. Mayor Dunin called the events “the worst experience in the history of San Luis Obispo.” After a meeting between Mayor Dunin and University President Warren Baker the following Monday, Poly Royal was canceled from that point forward. The name Poly Royal returned in 2001 as “Open House Presents Poly Royal”, a scaled down version that was designed for students and parents. San Luis Obispo has been home of several other events, including a stop on the way of the Olympic Flame Relay, the Tour of California bicycle race, Cinco de Mayo celebra-tions, an annual Mozart festival, held every July, and a long-standing Christmas Parade. Another 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 sev-eral wineries in the area with a very short drive. The wine region extends north beyond Paso Robles (30 miles north) and south to Santa Ynez (70 miles south).

During Summer months, local residents

and visitors congregate in the Mission Plaza for a free outdoor concert every Friday evening. The event is called Concerts in the Plaza. Other noteworthy events include the San Luis Obispo International Film Festival, Festival Mosaic, and the Plein Air Festival. San Luis Obispo hosts a Farmer’s Market every Thursday night from 6-9PM on Higuera Street, between Osos and Nipomo Streets. During this weekly event, the street is closed to vehicle traffic while vendors sell food and goods and various visual and music artists perform for the crowds.Since June 2000, the first Thursday of every month is The Bike Happening (also known as Bike Nite) in San Luis Obispo. People gather after the Farmer’s Market at the Mission Plaza with their bikes. The bikers then go around on multiple circuits on the main streets of downtown adhering to the traffic laws (for the most part). The ride is considered a fun/social ride meant to encourage people to get back on their bikes and to have fun. Each Bike Happening has a theme and a large portion of the crowd is in some cos-tume adherent to the theme. One of the cultural focal centers of San Luis

Obispo is the Christopher Cohen Performing Arts H

H

"I didn't realize that when I came to Cal Poly, I was moving to paradise."-Nikola Noxan, SLO local

"I didn't realize that when I came to Cal Poly, I was moving to paradise."-Nikola Noxan, SLO local S

S

Center built on the Cal Poly Campus, which was constructed utilizing the donations of local busi-nesses and individuals. The Performing Arts Cen-ter consists of multiple venues, including the original Spanos Theatre. The largest venue, Har-mon Hall, seats 1,300. Many high school and college programs are scheduled. Local artists perform plays, music and dance. The addition of the Performing Arts Cen-ter attracts many touring performances which are usually not found in com-munities of comparable size to San Luis Obispo. The Summer of 2007 was the opening concert of the Forbes Pipe Organ, which was built elevated into a side wall of Har-mon Hall and required the donation of a further $3 million for purchase and installation. (

Sunday Morning gets new meaning wiith rays of light at Pismo Beach