San LuisOBISPO

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Layout by KRISTIN KENNEYText from WIKIPEDIA.COM

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San Luis Obispo (Spanish for St. Louis, the Bishop)

is a city in California, lo-cated 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 ad-jacent to California Poly-technic State University (Cal Poly). As of the 2000 census, the city popula-

tion 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 transporta-tion 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 lo-cal 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.

Parking in the down-town area can be a chal-lenge for those interested in finding a spot directly in front of their final des-tination. The city provides parking in three multi-story parking structures throughout downtown at: Chorro and Marsh street intersection; Palm Street between Chorro and Mor-ro streets; on Palm Street between Chorro and Osos streets. Street parking downtown is me-

SAN LUIS OBISPO is the city that time forgot. Located halfway between California’s two metro centers - Los Ange-les and San Francisco - it’s a bit of heaven that’s far too easy to escape to. Nestled among rolling mountain ranges and a short drive from stun-ning beaches, it’s easy to see why those who visit find it hard to leave.

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Sunset surf at Cayucos State Beach, located just 20 minutes north of San Luis Obispo. Previous page: A stun-ning view from Bishops Peak. Photos by KRISTIN KENNEY.

tered. The structures are free for the first 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 estab-lished in 1925. Since then, the pleasant year-round climate, pretty scenery, and well-preserved, walk-able downtown have made the city a tour-ist destination in itself.Downtown San Luis Obispo is centered around the carefully restored Mis-sion 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 California. Its bells are unique in that, unlike oth-er California missions, the

bell ringer stands in the bellroom with the bells when ringing the cadenc-es. The downtown area also boasts many eclec-tic shops and boutiques.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. Established by Alex Madonna in 1958, the inn is a famously ec-

centric building known for its generous helping of pink, wildly kitschy decor, themed guest rooms, and a waterfall uri-nal in a men’s restroom.The Fremont Theater is a historic Art Deco theater from the 1940s. It has ap-

peared 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 stick-ing their chewed gum on the walls of this alley lo-cated on Higuera Street, between Broad and Gar-den 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 tast-ing several wineries in the area with a very short drive. Some of these win-eries have won awards and

“Downtown San Luis Obispo is centered around the carefully

restored Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa, originally built in 1772.”

Parade-goers gather outside the Performing Arts Center at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, located to the north of town. Photo by BRADY TEUFEL.

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 Ma-rine 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.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-quarters of a mile of the street is closed to cars. Live enter-tainment 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 tra-dition 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

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downtown Farmers’ Mar-ket one long “mall,” even rerouting part of a state highway to accommodate the street closures. The Farmers’ Market brought a lot of revenue and has become well known.San Luis Obispo has been home of several other events, including a stop on the way of the Olympic Torch, the Tour of Califor-nia bicycle race, Cinco de Mayo celebrations, as well as a long-standing Christ-mas Parade. A Mardi Gras parade that was well at-tended has been fraught with difficulties related to crowd control and alco-hol consumption. Debate about the cost of the pa-rade, and the associated

crowd control, continues.Mardi Gras has not been the only local event reined in after gaining accep-tance. 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 residen-tial neighborhoods and the business district. The university cancelled the event for several years before reintroducing a scaled-down Open House. While Poly Royal wel-comed the community for hikes, carnivals, “mag-ic” shows put on by the Chemistry Department, and other public perfor-mances, the revamped

version is designed for students and parents. Jamba Juice, fa-mous for its fruit smooth-ies, was founded in this town. Formerly called Juice Club, Jamba Juice is now a national chain. Al-though 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 graduate from the university. Jam-ba Juice still exists at the original Juice Club loca-tion: 17 Chorro Street #C.City ordinance prevents businesses of any sort (in-cluding fast-food restau-rants) from constructing new drive-up or drive-through windows or ser-

vices. Two branches of one local bank are the only locations in the en-tire 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 commer-cial 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 Obis-po was the first Ameri-can town to ban in-door smoking in all locations, including bars and restaurants. ///

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Visitors to San Luis Obispo revel in that fact that they can enjoy a lively downtown but easily escape to nearby peaks, trails and valleys for some one-on-one time with nature. Photo by BRADY TEUFEL.