San Luis Obispo, California

San Luis Obispo is NOT the sweet, laid back town that the Chamber of Commerce is touting. It is expensive, there are gangs who come up from LA, the Mardi Gras celebration was discontinued after many years, it is downwind from the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant which is built on an earthquake fault line, beaches have been closed due to e-coli and sharks, the big box stores are moving in at a fast pace and the downtown is suffering, the traffic has gotten worse and worse and the travel time (driving) to anywhere substantial is a minimum of 3 hours. Flying is worse because there are NO direct flights to anywhere beyond, LA, SF or Salt Lake City. It might be sunny and pleasant during the day but you always have to bring an extra layer of clothes for the evening. That means you can leave your summer evening dresses in the closet. Need I go on???

Let us think of everything bad that has ever taken place in SLO county in the last twenty years and list it!! Do not forget to list off any other inactive fault lines where other safe and super-efficient and power plants may reside. I remember one time where half the town had a cold during winter- I went through half a box of kleenex myself! Who could forget the another time when a tropical storm hit, and left foliage in the middle of the streets causing chaos and panic as residents were forced to drive around such piles until they were removed and/or biodegraded.

I have noticed that no matter where I live, an attitude seems to reflect more about why YOU should or should not be there. When I was in the Navy, being from Indiana, I couldn't see how ANYONE would have living in Hawaii. The grass is truly always greener. My advice to the negative aspect people in these forums would be to list both, as people seeking new places to live are looking for an honest opinion. IF you are telling more than the article, there must be SOMETHING you like. But if you don't, please move! We all want you to be happy. I have found that people in Honolulu, San Diego, Denver, Las Vegas, Nashville, Atlanta, Indianapolis, Key West, Miami, all hate where they live. And yet, somebody idealizes that place. Not that I am a know it all, just putting in my two cents...

I can find the amount of precipitation in SLO in January and February but I can't find if this in constant drizzle, like in Seattle, or as thunderstorms and then it's over. Can anyone help? While I'm asking for help from you do you have any ideas of how to find more reasonable rentals for months of January and February for a furnished condo, house, apartment, etc? Everything I have found on-line is too high for us two senior professional women.

you HAVE to be kidding, Heath care is third world in quality. The night my father has a serious heart attach, he waited 6 hours for care. The only interventialist cardiology was covering Santa Barbara to Atascadera.Look up on a map. 100 plus miles. the once flourishing bookstores have been repaced by the chains, and the gang violence is out of control. Why someone would put this in here is beyond me.

I love it in San Luis Obispo! I lived here when I went to Cal Poly SLO and moved back ten years later. I have lived all over California and this is by far my favorite place. The weather is really stable all year round. The temp ranges at about 70 degrees. The people are great and while it has grown up a lot since I went to college, it still has a small town feel. The people are friendly and there is always something going on. The best part is that I can go to the beach, go fishing at the lake and go hiking, all in the same day if I wanted to. (I wouldn't suggest that all in one day though) I don't know where the other poster's experience is from, but I have NEVER had any problem with gang activity. (maybe about a half hour away in Santa Maria, but not here.) Houses are not cheap, even with the current economy. That is the one downfall. The median range is $599,000 right now. Sandy wanted to know if it is drizzle or thunderstorms....it is more storms than it is over. We do get the fog rolling in sometimes from the ocean, but it burns off quickly. There is no place that I would rather be.

CyberGwen is right on! This town is as close to perfect as you can find. I've lived in Wisconsin, Las Vegas & Boston enjoying all for differnt reasons, but after I first saw the ocean in 1989 I new California was where I wanted to be. About ten years ago I moved to San Luis Obispo. I will admit it took me some time to fall in love with San Luis, not because I didn't like it here, but I had come from Boston & missed the city & friends. The wheather (at first) was annoyingly perfect, I've grown to live without real seasons, see the aboved mentioned Wisconsin. The people are friendly & it's a casual town; no need to dress to impress, but there are places/occasions for that if you'd like. There are special event, of every interest, going on all the time. Cal Poly adds so much to the community with the energy of thee students, vibrant night life & countless volunteers (I work for a non-profit & we have 2-5 non-paid interns per quarter, but I know the students are volunteering all over town in a variety of capacities). The community is so active in outdoor activities including hiking, biking, surfing & kayaking. The Downtown is extreamly vibrant with many differnt types of shops, theaters, museums, special events, restaurants & people watching. I usually don't post anything, but was web surfing & came across this great article with too many negative comments. So, please take my interpretation of San Luis into consederation; you'll love San Luis or you just won't get it!

Wish I had more time to post this. San Luis Obispo has to be one of the, if not the nicest smaller cities in California I have visited. I couldn't believe how nice it was, after I had read some of the above reports about gangs (which is COMPLETELY not true). If you have any free time and want to escape the Bay area or LA, check out SLO, you won't be disappointed, and might just end up wanting to move there. It's darned near perfect. I'd recommend spending a thurday through the weekend, catch the farmers' market, stay at the Garden Street in, or Le Petit Soleil. Catch a flick at the Fremont Theater downtown, which is spectacular. The food is amazing, and the people are the nicest I've met anywhere in the country.