Sarah Parr Magazine

8/14/2019 Sarah Parr Magazine

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San Luis Obispo has beautiful sunsets.

an Luis Obispo



A Central Coatreasure ...San Luis Obispo

(Spanish for St.

Louis, the Bishop)

is a city in Califor-

nia, located roughlymidway between

San Francisco and

Los Angeles on the

Central Coast. The

city, referred to lo-

cally as SLO or

“San Luis,” is the

county seat of San

Luis Obispo Coun-

ty and is adjacent to

California Polytech-

nic State Univer-

sity (Cal Poly). As

of the 2000 census,

the city population

was 44,174.

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 Pa-

cic Suriner line

and a stop on the

Coast Starlight line.

Parking in the

downtown area can be

a challenge for those

interested in nding a

spot directly in frontof their nal destina-

tion. 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 Streetbetween Chorro and

Osos streets.

Street parking down-

town is metered. The

structures are free for

the rst hour and 75

cents per hour there-

after. Because of San

Luis Obispo’s location

halfway between Los

Angeles and San Fran-

cisco, it has long been a

stopping point for trav-

elers. In fact, the word

motel was coined here

when the Motel Inn of

San Luis Obispo was

established in 1925.

Since then, the pleas-

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 sys-

tem. Rideshare encour-

ages the use of the local

public transit, as well as

carpooling and biking.Cycling is occasion-

ally 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.

By Sarah Parr

All photos by Brady Teufel

Shell Beach is one of the more elegant beaches in

San Luis Obispo County.

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ant year-round climate,

pretty scenery, andwell-preserved, walk-

able downtown have

made the city a tour-

ist destination in itself.

Downtown San Luis

Obispo is centered

around the carefully re-

stored Mission San Luis

Obispo de Tolosa, origi-

nally built in 1772. It is

one of the best preserved

examples of Spanish

Mission architecture and

among the oldest build-

ings in California. Its

bells are unique in that,

unlike other California

missions, the bell ringer

stands in the bellroom

with the bells when ring-

ing the cadences. Thedowntown area also

boasts many eclectic

shops and boutiques.

Another big tourist at-

traction is Hearst Castle,

the vast estate of pub-

lishing magnate Wil-

liam Randolph Hearst,

43 miles to the north of

San Luis Obispo. TheMadonna Inn is another

famous local landmark.

Established by Alex

Madonna in 1958, the

inn is a famously eccen-

tric building known for

its generous helping of

pink, wildly kitschy de-

cor, themed guest rooms,

and a waterfall urinalin a men’s restroom.

The Fremont The-

ater 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 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 tasting several

wineries in the areawith a very short drive.

Some of these wineries

have won awards and

acclaim for their vin-

Madonna Mountain is one of the main mountains in San Luis Obispo.

Big Falls is a popular outdoors attraction to ex-

plorers.



...that

tages. The wine region

extends north beyond

Paso Robles (30 miles

north) and Santa Ynez

(70 miles south).

A eld station of the

Marine Mammal Cen-

ter is located in San

Luis Obispo to support

sea rescue and beach

stranding rescue opera-

tions for this section of

the California coast.

One of the main draws

is Farmers’ Market, a

large festival held down-

town 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 entertainment is

featured and local farm-

ers 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/colle-

giate cruising. Farmers

and vendors were al-

lowed to set up between

barricades as a way to

bring people back to the

downtown area. Later,

all trafc was blockedoff, making the down-

town Farmers’ Market

one long “mall,” even

rerouting part of a state

highway to accommo-

date the street closures.

The Farmers’ Market

brought a great deal of

revenue and has become

internationally known.

San Luis Obispo hasbeen home of several

other events, including

a stop on the way of the Olympic Torch, the

Tour of California bicy-

cle 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 difculties

related to crowd controland alcohol consump-

tion. 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

Avila Beach is one of the most popular beaches.

3

Agriculture is common in San Luis Obispo.



s ts own unique

culture

drunken revellers, many

visitors to town, causeddamage throughout

residential neighbor-

hoods and the business

district. The university

cancelled the event for

several years before rein-

troducing a scaled-down

Open House. While

Poly Royal welcomed

the community forhikes, 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, famous

for its fruit smoothies,

The architecture of many downtown busi-

nesses is dominated by the Spanish mission

style.

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 proj-

ect as some claim, three

of the four co-founders,

Joe Vergara, Kevin Pe-

ters, and Linda Olds

did graduate from the

university. Jamba Juicestill exists at the origi-

nal Juice Club location:

17 Chorro Street #C.

City ordinance prevents

businesses of any sort

(including fast-food res-

taurants) from construct-

ing new drive-up or

drive-through windows

Residents of San Luis Obispo gather every

Thursday night for the traditional Farmer’s

Market.



or services. Two branch-

es of one local bank are

the only locations in the

entire city with drive-up

service; their drive-up

Cal PolyComprising six dis-

tinct colleges, Cal Poly

offers a full spectrum

of degrees. Speci-

cally, the university’s

engineering, architec-

ture, and agriculturecolleges consistently

place at the top of

United States na-

tional academic rank-

ings. In U.S. News

& World Report’s

2008 America’s Best

Colleges report, Cal

Poly ranked as the #1

Public Master’s Uni-

versity in the Western

United States for the

15th consecutive year.

Many students applyfor admission to Cal

Poly, yielding in 2009

a freshman acceptance

rate of 36%. Cal Poly

has over 117,000 liv-

ing alumni and, in fall

2007, 19,777 students

currently enrolled.

service existed before the

ordinance became law.

The dentist ofce on

the corner of Santa Rosa

and Pacic 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

The plant life in San Luis Obispo is very diverse because of the climate of the area.

in honor of this city.

San Luis Obispo was

the rst American town

to ban indoor smoking

in all locations, includ-

ing bars and restaurants.

Bishop’s Beak is visible from any point in San

Luis Obispo.

San Luis Obispo

Sarah Parr Magazine

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