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LIVING IN

A L L P H O T O S B Y B R A D Y T E U F E L

By Brady Teufel (AKA WIKIPEIDA)

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. 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). 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 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 theells when ringing the cadences.

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 finding a spot di-rectly 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

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There are 44,174 residents in San Luis Obispo according to the 2000 census.

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ABOVE: A bike trail in Los Osos. BELOW: Panorama from Poly Canyon Village

TransportationThe city is home to San Luis

Obispo County Regional Airport

which offers private and commer-

cial air service to several major

cities in the west. Amtrak provides

daily rail service here as the ter-

minus of the Pacific Surfliner line

and a stop on the Coast Starlight

line. Greyhound also maintains a

bus terminal in San Luis Obispo.

Cycling is occasionally used as a

mode of transportation in San Luis

Obispo.

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

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ABOVE: A bike trail in Los Osos. BELOW: Panorama from Poly Canyon Village

ABOVE: A truck drives on a back road in northern SLO county

ABOVE: A bus makes its stop at Perimeter Ave. on Cal Poly SLO’s campus.

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LocationBecause 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 pleasant year-round climate,

pretty scenery, and well-pre-

served, walkable downtown have

made the city a tourist destina-

tion in itself.

Jamba Juice, famous for its fruit smoothies, 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 project as some claim, three of the four co-founders, Joe Ver-gara, Kevin Peters, and Linda Olds did gradu-ate from the univer-sity. Jamba Juice still exists at the original Juice Club location: 17 Chorro Street #C.

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ABOVE: The view of Pismo Beach from Avila ridge

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History & Tourism

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The

Ah

Loiu

s S

tore

on

Pal

m S

t.

Bridge above the railroad station.

Another big tourist attraction is

Hearst Castle, the vast estate of pub-

lishing magnate William Randolph

Hearst, 43 miles to the north of San

Luis Obispo. The Madonna Inn is

another famous local landmark. Es-

tablished by Alex Madonna in 1958,

the inn is a famously eccentric build-

ing 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 includ-

ing 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 located on Higuera Street,

between Broad and Garden streets.

Bubble Gum Alley has even ap-

peared on national television.

Another big attraction is the de-

velopment 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 opera-

tions for this section of the California

coast.

EvEnts One of the main draws is Farmers’ Market,

a large festival held downtown on Higuera Street

every T Media Entrepreneurs Alliance hursday

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

cruising. 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 ac-

commodate the street closures. The Farmers’ Market

brought a great deal of revenue and has become

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City ordinance prevents 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.

QUICK FACT!

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ABOVE: Community members dance to the tunes of Siko at the Mission. RIGHT: Drummer from the local band Siko plays in the Mission Plaza

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 Christmas Pa-

rade. A Mardi Gras parade

that was well attended has

been fraught with difficul-

ties 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 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 com-

munity for hikes, carnivals,

“magic” shows put on by the

Chemistry Department, and

other public performances,

the revamped version is

designed for students and

parents.

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ABOVE: SLO residents unite every Friday in the summer for Concerts in the Plaza.