Move to San Luis Obispo? (Santa Barbara, Atascadero: apartment, crime, house)

[collectivecow]

Hi,

My husband and I just had a beautiful young daughter and are hoping to move out of Bozeman, Montana in the hopes that we can do better financially elsewhere.

I work in a computer/technical related field and there have been absolutely no jobs in this area to date. I am also sick and tired of not having a social life because people here are downright nasty.

We have been considering a move to San Luis Obispo, in the hopes that I will have a better financial income (I could actually get back to work again), decent schooling and a nice little apartment.

Can anyone tell me about the area and the expected income levels and such required to make a move?

How about the people, community and public transportation out there?

Any responses would be greatly appreciated! Thank you. :>

[Sorcerer68]

Originally Posted by collectivecow

Hi,

My husband and I just had a beautiful young daughter and are hoping to move out of Bozeman, Montana in the hopes that we can do better financially elsewhere.

I work in a computer/technical related field and there have been absolutely no jobs in this area to date. I am also sick and tired of not having a social life because people here are downright nasty.

We have been considering a move to San Luis Obispo, in the hopes that I will have a better financial income (I could actually get back to work again), decent schooling and a nice little apartment.

Can anyone tell me about the area and the expected income levels and such required to make a move?

How about the people, community and public transportation out there?

Any responses would be greatly appreciated! Thank you. :>

SLO is a nice place to live. It also has a VERY tight job market. Big employers are Cal Poly State University, Cuesta College, Atascadero State Hospital, Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant and a smattering of government jobs. With 2 colleges there's lots of cheap available labor. I have family members who still live up there and they keep me abreast. I have to tell you that the job market is the biggest drawback to SLO. Other than that it's a lovely town. I've heard the same frustration over and over. I've had friends go there, not find work or find something that wasn't enough to support them and then they'd leave broke and depressed back to where they came a few months later. I saw this a lot. It's not cheap to live there either. If you're going, start looking NOW. I don't mean to discourage you, just tell you how it is.

I'm not going to take a stab at income levels. I'll leave this to someone else.

People are fairly friendly, bordering on uptight. That's a huge generalisation, I know. I think repressed was the word I was seeking. It's a fairly intelligent "college" town. There are lots of young, gorgeous people around. It's more conservative than most others in coastal California. It's very clean and very Caucasian. It's very "SLO" (opposite of fast). You won't find a lovelier walkable downtown in the whole Central Coast. Public transportation is dismal. SLO has the best weather in the county. It's very, very quiet. The sidewalks roll up early. It's got a decent sized homeless population but nothing compared to Santa Barbara.

The North County is a COMPLETELY different place. Once you go over the Cuesta Grade, it's not just the weather that changes. Stay south of the grade (ducks flying objects). I used to live up there, I can say it.

Good luck. Get the job situation in order and you may love SLO. I only moved because I'm a city boy and L.A. was calling me back.

[CADRMNDANES]

What are some good areas in San Luis Obispo? Schools?

[stellar9]

First, congratulations on your baby daughter.
Second, yes, San Luis Obispo is a great place to raise a family. The whole county is nice, but SLO city is my favorite. Nice parks, the Farmer's market on Thursdays is a great place to hang out with the kids. The Children's museum is getting totally revamped and reopening this Fall. The Parks & Rec dept. is full of activities for kids and families. 4-H is really big here, especially in North County (north of the grade). People are very friendly, in my opinion. The weather can't be beat; it's not overcast most of the time like at the coast, but its not roasting in the summer, either (current heat wave notwithstanding). The schools are all good.
I can't think of any "bad" neighborhoods in SLO, although there are some in other cities in the county.

Regarding jobs, if you can get a government job and stick with it, you'll do well. But getting a good job is a challenge here. Maybe not as challenging as Bozeman, but tech jobs often go to college students or grads willing to not be paid lots of money.

Here's link to the county job openings:
San Luis Obispo County Jobs

You can find other jobs here:
SLO Jobs - SLOJobs.com: Jobs in SLO and Careers in SLO -

The big newspaper is here for jobs and housing:
San Luis Obispo County’s website | Homepage


Rents are fairly reasonable, but still expensive. Utilities are expensive in California and so is gasoline. If you want to buy a house, plan to save loads of $$$. The market is falling, but even if the prices drop 50%, it won't be enough for some people. We are leaving the state because we'll never be able to buy a home here. The reason is a combination of the market and bad personal decisions. If you avoid the stupid mistakes, you'll eventually be a homeowner here.

[GuitarRCGG]

I live in San Luis Obispo and it is an amazing place to live. My only compaint is it is incredibly expensive to live here, ever since it has been "discovered." There isn't really any BAD places to live here in the sense of the word. There is an average of 1 murder a year for 50 thousand people, so that's not too bad. Just hope that you are going to get paid a LOT or you will be treading water, that's my only gripe.

[eekwine]

I was recently in SLO. It reminds me a lot of Santa Barbara a few decades ago. Nice town.

[CADRMNDANES]

Lots of good info!

[Muck]

San Luis Obispo sucks! Don't move there! I hear the avian bird flu is spreading like wild fire!

ok, maybe not.. but spread the rumor anyway, and maybe I'll eventually be able to move back. I am born and raised in San Luis area (north of the grade most of the time, in atascadero/santa margarita). 9 years ago when I left, there wasn't any high paying tech work to speak of, so I moved to the silicon valley.

Now, there is lots of tech there.. the salaries are not as high as the bay area, but the housing is almost as high. If you can swing the house payment, its a great place to live.

I actually prefer the areas just outside SLO. SLO is just a hair too white bread for me. Check out arroyo grande, cayucos, morro bay, oceano, nipomo, etc. If you're from a rural area, you might be more ok with atascadero, and paso robles (north of the grade). But beware the temperatures get hot.

Good luck!

[wulfruna]

You won't do better with your finances in San Luis Opispo if you are comming from Montana. It is a wonderful place if you can pull it off. Cost of housing and living are high, but as a county, the wages are quite low compared to other Californian counties fairly close by.

[Jose Montara]

SLO crime map. Shows a pretty good picture of the crime situation;San Luis Obispo County’s website | Police Report