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Population: 42,963 (2006 estimate)
Percentage of retirees: 14.4%
Cost of living index: Substantially above average
Public libraries: 1
Public transportation: Downtown trolleys operate on a loop every 20 minutes at a cost of $.25. Buses on SLO Transit city bus line and Central Coast Area Transit offer services to Santa Maria. Amtrak offers daily services to San Francisco, LA and San Diego.
Access to airports: San Luis Obispo Airport has daily scheduled flights to nearby cities. Access to the airport is available by taxicab and shuttle bus.
Tax breaks: In California, Social Security and Railroad Retirement benefits are exempt. There is a 2.5% tax on early distributions and qualified pensions. All private, local, state and federal pensions are fully taxed.
Number of museums: 7
Number of cinemas: 4
Cultural Highlights: Focused on annual festivals and performing arts.
Access to Healthcare: Fair
Climate: Pleasant year-round
Annual precipitation: 24.36 inches
Nearby Attractions: Pacific beaches 10 minutes away, San Simeon and Hearst Castle and wine country within an hours" drive, and Santa Barbara about an hour and a half.
Useful link: City of San Luis Obispo
In the Know: "It's the downtown feel-streets, awnings, sidewalks-of 40 or 50 years ago, and people enjoy that. It's unspoiled. San Luis Obispo people have a pride. We're smart but not snobbish. We live in a rural setting, but we're worldly. San Luis has that social vibrancy. It's a very special place."
-Karen Kile, executive director of the San Luis Obispo Art Center
The fact that the town's 235-year-old mission, while no longer Spanish, continues to function in the heart of town says a lot about the character of San Luis Obispo. History and a contented small-town ambience permeate this community wedged into the Los Osos Valley. The presence of the California Institute of Polytechnics at the north edge of town adds an additional dynamism to the mix, with respected touring companies stopping in at its Performing Arts Center.
The historic downtown, threaded by San Luis Creek, is filled with galleries, shops, restaurants and venerable adobe structures from the Spanish colonial era, all of them concentrated in a walkable few blocks. These streets and the old mission plaza are the site of a number of outdoor events, including the Plein Air Painting Festival, a weekend-long gathering of artists; the month-long Mozart festival; book-and-author festivals; and the city's weekly Farmers Market. That takes place every Thursday night and spreads through eight blocks of downtown. Not only farmers but local performers and restaurateurs get into the spirit, serving up their particular specialties streetside. A further convenience in this small place is the presence of a downtown Amtrak station, with daily stops by north- and southbound trains.
The city has preserved a number of green spaces in town, and close by are several natural reserves that offer extensive trails for hiking, mountain biking, and wildlife watching. This is also serious wine country, and vineyards line the green hills north and south of town.
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???
Posted by Melissa Alter on April 23,2008 | 11:13PM
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.
Posted by Nicholas on April 25,2008 | 05:15PM
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...
Posted by Nick on May 10,2008 | 10:16AM
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.
Posted by Sandy on June 26,2008 | 08:38AM