Where are they?

San Luis Obispo (Span-ish for St. Louis, the Bishop) is a city in California, 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 University (Cal Poly). As of the 2000

census, the city popula-tion was 44,174.

How do you get there?

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 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 termi-

nal 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 en-courages the use of the local public transit, as well as carpooling and biking. Cycling is occa-sionally 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.

Where do you stay once you get there?

Parking in the downtown area can be a challenge for those interested in finding a spot directly in front of their final desti-nation. 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

San Luis Obispo

A Background into a Central Valley City

Compiled and Written By Katelyn Smith

1

Photo By BRADY TEUFEL

San Luis Obispo is home to rolling hills of colorful wildlife. Visitors come to San Luis Obispo during every season to see the landscape, as well as to experience the fresh, open air life that is essential aspect of SLO.

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 Fran-cisco, it has long been a stopping point for travel-ers. In fact, the word mo-tel was coined here when the Motel Inn of San Luis Obispo was established in 1925. Since then, the pleasant year-round cli-mate, pretty scenery, and well-preserved, walkable downtown have made the city a tourist destination in itself.

What about the mission?

Downtown San Luis Obispo is centered 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 ar-chitecture and among the oldest buildings in Cali-fornia. Its bells are unique in that, unlike other California missions, the bell ringer stands in the bellroom with the bells when ringing the cadenc-es. The downtown area also boasts many eclectic shops and boutiques.

What are the attractions?

Another big tourist attrac-tion is Hearst Castle, the

vast estate of publishing magnate William Ran-dolph 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 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. 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 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-tween Broad and Garden streets. Bubble Gum Al-ley 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

2

Photo By BRADY TEUFEL

Surfing is essential to try when you come to San Luis Obispo, because of the waves, as well as the culture. Pismo Beach, as well as Morro Bay is where visitors can take surfing lessons, or at least watch the experts as they take on the waves.

3

Photo By K

ATELYN

SMITH

Ynez (70 miles south). A field station of the Marine Mammal Center is lo-

cated in San Luis Obispo to support sea rescue and beach stranding rescue operations for this section of the California coast.

What is Farmers’Market?

One of the main draws is Farmers’ Market, a large festival held downtown on Higuera Street every Thursday evening year-

round from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.. About three-quar-ters of a mile of the street

is closed to cars. Live entertain-ment is featured and local farmers and vendors sell goods and pro-duce. The Farm-ers’ Market was created in 1983 to make use of downtown streets blocked off to end a tradition of teen/collegiate cruising. Farm-ers 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 closures. The Farmers’ Market brought a great deal of revenue and has become internationally known.

What other events happen here?

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 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

4

Photo By BRADY TEUFELPh

oto B

y BRA

DY T

EUFE

L

San Luis Obispo is well known for its many tourist spots, including Farmers’ Market, Bubble Gum Alley, the many beaches, and the Madonna Inn. Visitors should check out all spots, and get a complete look at what SLO has to offer.

San Luis Obispo is well-known for beautiful, colorful sunsets.

about the cost of the parade, and the asso-ciated crowd control, contin-ues. Mardi Gras has not been the only local event reined in after gain-ing 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 busi-ness district. The univer-sity 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.

What about Jamba Juice?

Jamba Juice, famous for its fruit smoothies, was founded in this town. For-

merly called Juice Club, 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 Ver-gara, Kevin Peters, and Linda Olds did gradu-ate from the university. Jamba Juice still exists at the original Juice Club location: 17 Chorro Street #C.

What about ordinances and other stuff?

City ordinance prevents businesses of any sort (including fast-food restaurants) from con-structing 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 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.

5

Photo By BRADY TEUFEL

Photo By BRADY TEUFEL

Shell Beach is also another great place to check out when visiting SLO. It is about fifteen minutes away, but is known for its beach and great eating places.

Even spending a day in San Luis Obispo, will be worthwhile to understand why it was named the “Happiest City in America.”