The Central Coast presents

San Luis Obispo

S an Luis Obispo (Spanish

for St. Louis, the Bishop) is a city in
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
California, located roughly midway
between San Francisco and Los Angeles a bus terminal in San Luis Obispo. Public
on the Central Coast. The city, referred transportation includes the city-wide SLO
to locally as SLO or “San Luis,” is the Transit bus lines as well as the county-wide
county seat of San Luis Obispo County SLO Regional Transit system. Rideshare
and is adjacent to California Polytechnic encourages the use of the local public
State University (Cal Poly). As of the 2000 transit, as well as carpooling and biking.
census, the city population was 44,174. Cycling is occasionally used as a
The city is home to San Luis Obispo mode of transportation in San Luis Obispo.
County Regional Airport which offers Bike lanes are maintained on a few of the
private and commercial air service to several streets and the number of bike stands are
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 the cadences. The downtown area also
boasts many eclectic shops and boutiques.
Another big tourist attraction is
Hearst Castle, the vast estate of publishing
magnate William Randolph 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 eccentric
building known for its generous helping
of pink, wildly kitschy decor, themed
increasing, especially in the downtown area. guest rooms, and a waterfall urinal in a
Parking in the downtown area can be men’s restroom.The Fremont Theater is a
a challenge for those interested in finding a historic Art Deco theater from the 1940s.
spot directly in front of their final destination. It has appeared in many movies including
The city provides parking in three multistory a three second clip in My Blue Heaven.
parking structures throughout downtown at: One famous tourist destination is Bubble Gum
Chorro and Marsh street intersection; Palm Alley. Since about 1960, people have been
Street between Chorro and Morro streets; sticking their chewed gum on the walls of
on Palm Street between Chorro 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 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-preserved, walkable downtown have
made the city a tourist destination in itself.
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
All photographs accredited to Brady Teufel
examples of Spanish Mission architecture Cover: Rolling hills surround the city of SLO.
and among the oldest buildings in California. Top Left: Montano Del Oro is one of the most
Its bells are unique in that, unlike other beautiful beaches in SLO.
California missions, the bell ringer stands Bottom Left: Cambria, a small town on the coast,
north of SLO.
in the bellroom with the bells when ringing 2
this alley located on Higuera Street, between
Broad and Garden 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 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
part of a state highway to accommodate
north) and Santa Ynez (70 miles south).A
the street closures. The Farmers’ Market
field station of the Marine Mammal Center
brought a great deal of revenue and
is located in San Luis Obispo to support sea
has become 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 Parade.
A Mardi Gras parade that was well attended
has been fraught with difficulties related to
crowd control and alcohol consumption.
Debate about the cost of the parade, and
the associated crowd control, continues.
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
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 Top Right: Bishop’s Peak is one of many great
and vendors were allowed to set up between hiking spots in SLO.
barricades as a way to bring people back Mid Left: This barn is one of many located in
this agricultureal rich county.
to the downtown area. Later, all traffic was Bottom Left: In spring these yellow flowers are
blocked off, making the downtown Farmers’ everywhere.
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Market one long “mall,” even rerouting
Mardi Gras has not been the only local event drive-up or drive-through windows or
reined in after gaining acceptance. Cal Poly’s services. Two branches of one local bank
open house, Poly Royal, was held every are the only locations in the entire city with
April until a 1990 riot of drunken revellers, drive-up service; their drive-up service
many visitors to town, caused damage existed before the ordinance became law.
throughout residential neighborhoods The dentist office on the corner
and the business district. The university
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.
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 Vergara, Kevin Peters, and Linda Olds
did graduate from the university. Jamba
Juice still exists at the original Juice Club
location: 17 Chorro Street #C.
Top: Sunsets are one of SLO’s best kept secrets.
City ordinance prevents
Bottom Right: Sunset in Montano Del Oro.
businesses of any sort (including fast-
food restaurants) from constructing new 4
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.

CAL POLY
San Luis Obispo-- For the 17th
year in a row, Cal Poly has been rated
the best public-master’s university in the
West by U.S. News & World Report, in its
2010 America ‘s Best Colleges guidebook.
Cal Poly moved up four spots from 10th to
programs, bested only by the U.S. Military
6th in the magazine’s overall list of the West’s
and Naval Academies, for schools whose
best universities, including both public and
highest degree is a bachelor’s or master’s.
private institutions, that provide “a full
A number of College of Engineering
range of undergraduate and master’s-level
programs ranked high in the Best
programs but few, if any, doctoral programs.”
Undergraduate Engineering Programs in
U.S. News ranks colleges that grant doctoral
their individual specialty categories. The
degrees, such as those in the University of
university’s industrial and manufacturing,
California system, in a separate category.
computer, electrical and mechanical
Cal Poly’s College of Engineering program
ranked third among public engineering engineering programs were each ranked
as the top program at a public university
in their respective specialty categories.
Cal Poly’s civil and environmental
engineering program was ranked the
second best program at a public university.
Top Right: A little girl watches a band at
Farmer’s Market
Mid Right: Farmer’s Market is every Thursday
night in SLO.
Bottom Left: An arial view of Cal Poly. Photo
Courtesy of Cal Poly
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