Anyone here from San Luis Obispo?

[Ladyhawk]

If I ever manage to get my health under control, I want to move to the coast and San Luis Obispo may be what I'm looking for. I'd like to ask some questions of folks who live on the coast.

LH

[Merlot]

1. What do you want to know?

I lived there many years ago, and have spent time there within the past few years visiting friends.

Pretty, small town feeling.

[Piedras]

2. SLO

Ladyhawk, SLO is my hometown. Maybe I can help answer some of your questions. Ask away.

[Ladyhawk]

3. What's the weather like?

What's the political makeup of the town?

Is there a lot of wildlife on the ocean there? I love marine mammals.

[petronius]

4. Politically, I'd say the county leans conservative, but given the university

the city is about evenly divided. Liberals here have no difficulty finding like-minded folks, no matter what your particular emphases are.

The weather is best described as extremely pleasant - not too hot, not too cold, not too wet, not too dry, not too windy, etc. We had a couple of 100+ days this summer, but we get by happily without AC and I doubt we'll turn the heater on this winter.

There are lots of otters, seals (inc. elephant seals), and sea lions - I beleive whale-watching is possible in season, but I'm not sure how close in they travel on this part of the coast.

The caveat is that it's a small town still - the cultural landscape is a bit limited.

[Ladyhawk]

5. I'm an atheist and I can't find atheists in Tuolumne County. :)

I've tried. It's hard.

Of course, being an atheist doesn't entail anything except a lack of belief in god(s).

Let me explain a bit about myself. I'm middle-aged, disabled and would like to get away from the county where I was born because:

1) It's extremely conservative and filled with fundamentalist Christians.
2) It is extremely tiny, unsophisticated, inbred and insular.
3) It is the site of some bad crap that happened to me and I sometimes have PTSD episodes triggered by people or places.
4) I never know when I'm going to run into a person who knows me. Either the person is involved in the events that led to PTSD and I'm triggered or they don't know I'm an atheist and I have to explain it to them or they avoid me BECAUSE I'm an atheist. Meeting people from my past is not fun.
5) I'd like a chance to do more with my music and art and don't feel this is the community for such things.
6) I feel trapped because my family are hard right-wingers and / or fundamentalists. In order to receive help, I have to be "good." If I'm not "good" I get cut off. I want some independence and some say over what happens in my own life, goddammit.
7) I've made some peace with a lot of the above, but I still feel I'd be happier elsewhere.
8) I love marine animals.
9) I love the ocean.
10) I love California.

[Piedras]

6. SLO info for Ladyhawk

Ladyhawk, Overall SLO County has more Repubs than Dems. The City of SLO is part of the county that's more liberal. There were 100's of us who called all over the country for GOTV and Obama. The climate is a mild mediterranean one. The City of SLO rarely gets down to freezing. Some summer days can get as hot as 100 or so, though it's rare. 70's and 80's are more normal summer daytime temps.Usually a cooling breeze from the ocean comes in each afternoon so even on hot days a home can easily be cooled off. Air conditioning of homes is very rare. However in North County, Atascadero up to Paso Robles, the climate is often 20 degrees hotter in summer with more freezing in winter. Snow makes headlines in the paper when it lands every decade or so.

There's quite a bit of music to enjoy here. From small house concerts to bigger concerts at the Performing Arts Center on the Cal Poly campus. http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=74131746">Red Barn Concerts http://www.slofolks.org/Default.asp">SLO Folks concerts http://kcbx.net/~sloblues/">SLO Blues Society http://www.pacslo.org/">SLO Performing Arts Center http://www.liveoakfest.org/pp/index.shtml">Live Oak Music Festival http://www.castorocellars.com/events.php">Castoro Cellars Winery events will give you a taste of what's available musically. In the summer there are weekly free outdoor concerts in cities around the county. http://www.visitslo.com/">for general information VisitSLO.com

Whale watching boats leave from Morro Bay in season. http://www.slostateparks.com/nature/wildlife/elephant_seals.asp">Elephant Seals also http://www.elephantseal.org/">Friends of the Elephant Seal is an organization of volunteers who help protect them.

We have farmer's markets year round too! http://www.slocountyfarmers.org/">farmers markets SLO has a very popular one downtown every Thursday evening. Saturday mornings there's a smaller one.

Hope this helps a little.

[MarkInCA]

7. You make me want to take a trip

How is weather now? I've been wanting to hit the coast for a day trip one of these weekends. You often have better weather than us in Fresno.

[Piedras]

8. Christmas shoppers in shorts...love the SLO Life!

The daytime weather in SLO recently has almost been spring like. In some ways better...without the springtime early morning fog. Sunny with daytime temps in the high 60's to mid 70's. Have seen a few shoppers downtown wearing shorts. So far there's little sign of rain, cold and strong winds (we get some of that in winter) coming our way. The SLO Life!

http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/getForecast?query=93401&wuSelect=WEATHER">SLO weather forecast

edit. Looks like a few more warm sunny days in the 70's are ahead. Then colder days and rain may be on its way this coming weekend.

[pinto]

9. You may want to look into Morro Bay.

On the coast, 12-15 miles from SLO on Route 1. Lots of accessible waterfront access, home to a State Park, a marina and a nice (if touristy) waterfront scene. Has a *small* local music scene, mainly of the cafe/coffee shop variety, and it is only 20 minutes from Cal Poly's Performing Arts Center, which is the biggest venue in the County.

Small town feel, about 12,000 people, iirc. A mix of retirees, young families and singles. The downtown is very walkable. There's regular bus service into SLO and up the coast to Cayucos and Cambria.

Weather's consistently mild, morning and afternoon high fog (the marine layer) in Summer, and a great Spring, Fall and Winter.

Rents are much more reasonable than in the City of SLO. Some good local markets and an active Farmers' Market, weekly. A discount theater remains in business downtown and the city has plenty of reasonable eateries, as well as pricier venues on the waterfront.

http://www.morro-bay.ca.us/

http://www.morrobay.org/cm/Home.html

http://www.ci.san-luis-obispo.ca.us/

http://www.slocounty.ca.gov/site4.aspx