805 LIFE IN THE
San Luis Obispo Edition
by kerynne tejada 1
the happiest city in america...
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an Luis Obispo (Spanish for St. Louis, the Bishop) is a city in California, located roughly midway between Los Angeles and San Francisco on the Central Coast. Fonded in 1772 by Spanish Fr. JunĂpero Serra, San Luis Obispo is one of California’s oldest communities. The city, referred to locally as San Luis or SLO, is the county seat of San Luis Obispo County and is adjacent to California Polytechnic State University.
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Map of San Luis Obispo.
San Luis Obispo in 1876.
History The earliest human inhabitants of the local area were the Chumash peoples. One of the earliest villages lies south of San Luis Obispo, and reflects the landscape of the early Holocene when estuaries came farther inland. These Chumash people exploited marine resources of the inlets and bays along the Central Coast and inhabited a network of villages including sites at Los Osos and Morro Creek. San Luis Obispo was also a popular stop on both U.S. Route 101 and California State Route 1 with the rise of car culture. Due to its popularity as a stop, it was
the location of the first motel, the Milestone Mo-Tel. Among San Luis Obispo’s historical buildings is the former San Luis Obispo Carnegie Library, located at 696 Monterey Street. The San Luis Obispo Carnegie Library was built in 1905 with a grant of $10,000 from Andrew Carnegie, who funded the establishment of 142 California libraries in the early 1900s. The Romanesque style building was designed by architect W. H. Weeks of Watsonville, California and was built by contractor Joseph Maino of San Luis Obispo.
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Cal Poly san Luis obispo
California Polytechnic State University or California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, also known as Cal Poly San Luis Obispo or Cal Poly, is a public university located in San Luis Obispo, California, United States. Founded in 1901 as a vocational high school, it’s currently one of only two polytechnic universities in the 23-member California State University system. Comprising six distinct colleges, the university offers 147 Bachelor’s degrees, 49 Master’s degrees, and 7 teaching credentials. The university does not confer Doctoral degrees. The university is one among a small group of polytechnic universities in the United States which tend to be primarily devoted to the instruction of technical arts and applied sciences. Cal Poly is a member of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) and the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges. Cal Poly is known for its “learn by doing” educational philosophy that encourages students to solve real-world problems by combining classroom theory with experiential laboratory exercise. Cal Poly is one of four California State Universities that parPerforming Arts ticipate in the Big West Conference in athletics.
Center at Cal Poly SLO.
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Demographics The 2010 United States Census reported that San Luis Obispo had a population of 45,119. The population density was 3,489.4 people per square mile (1,347.3/km²). The racial makeup of San Luis Obispo was 38,117 (84.5%) White, 523 (1.2%) African American, 275 (0.6%) Native American, 2,350 (5.2%) Asian, 65 (0.1%) Pacific Islander, 1,973 (4.4%) from other races, and 1,816 (4.0%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6,626 persons (14.7%).
under the age of 18 living in them, 5,690 (29.6%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 1,336 (7.0%) had a female householder with no husband present, 586 (3.1%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 1,104 (5.8%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 124 (0.6%) same-sex married couples or partnerships.
There were 20,553 housing units at an average density of 1,589.5 per square mile (613.7/km²), of which 7,547 (39.3%) were The Census reported that owner-occupied, and 11,646 43,937 people (97.4% of the (60.7%) were occupied by rentpopulation) lived in ers. The homeowner vacancy households, 967 (2.1%) lived rate was 1.6%; the rental vacanin non-institutionalized group cy rate was 5.7%. 17,225 people quarters, and 215 (0.5%) were (38.2% of the population) lived institutionalized. There were in owner-occupied housing units 19,193 households, out of which and 26,712 people (59.2%) lived 3,178 (16.6%) had children in rental housing units.
Afternoon at Mission San Luis Obispo.
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Culture
One of the largest Mardi Gras parades West of the MissisThe Madonna Inn is a famous sippi used to be held in San Luis local landmark. Established by Obispo, but it has been canAlex Madonna in 1958, the inn is celed recently because of diffamously eccentric. The Fremont ficulties related to crowd control Theater, a historic Art Deco and alcohol consumption. theater from the 1940s, still Cal Poly’s open house, Poly plays first run movies on the Royal, was held annually from huge screen. Murals adorn the 1933 to 1990. It was canceled walls of the main theater while in 1945 due to war rationing. It neon swirls light the ceiling. began as a show-and-tell for The Palm Theatre boasts solar students to display their heating and is home to the San projects. It traces its origins to Luis Obispo International Film the 1904 Farmer’s Institute and Festival. Another destination is Picnic Basket. By the 1980s, Bubblegum Alley. Since about as the college became “the 1960, people have been sticking most popular...university in chewed gum on the walls of this the 19-campus CSU system”, alley. The doctor’s office on the Poly Royal began drawing over corner of Santa Rosa and Pacific 100,000 people from throughstreets is one of very few out the state, including 126,000 commercial buildings designed people in 1985. Concerts, by Frank Lloyd Wright. San Luis parties, and other entertainment also has a Carnegie Library were added and it earned $3–4 which is now home to the San million in revenue for the city Luis Obispo County Historical every year. Museum.
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Night out during San Luis Obispo’s Farmers’ Market.
places to visit
According to the San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce and Downtown Business Improvement Association, the origin of the gum is “a little sketchy�. Some historians believe that the tradition of the alley started after WWII as a San Luis Obispo High School graduating class event. Others believe it started in the late 1950s, as rivalry between San Luis Obispo High School and California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) students. The gum graffiti survived two full cleanings in the 1970s.
The Madonna Inn is a motel in San Luis Obispo, California. Opened for business in 1958, it quickly became a landmark on the Central Coast of California. The Inn was created by Alex Madonna, a successful construction magnate and entrepreneur, and his wife Phyllis. The well-known motor inn, which includes a restaurant and bakery, is prominently located on the west side of US Route 101 and situated on the lower eastern portion of Cerro San Luis Obispo. The property is adorned with a pseudo-Swiss-Alps exterior and lavish common rooms. The Fremont Theater is a historic movie theater in San Luis Obispo, California in the United States of America. It is among the last Streamline Moderne theaters built by architect S. Charles Lee. It opened in 1942 on the eve of U.S. entry to World War II. Throughout its early years it served both as a moving pictures theater and a live theater. It hosted war bond shows in early years and later hosted such attractions as Adam Ant and Yes.
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