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Old 11-17-2007, 09:03 PM
 
Location: Houston, TX
37 posts, read 312,689 times
Reputation: 46

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Anyone living in the area....can you tell me a little bit about Nipomo? I'm very curious and can't find much about the town. Would you recommend it for someone moving to the area? What do you like/dislike about it? Thanks for the help.
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Old 11-18-2007, 07:36 PM
 
110 posts, read 751,098 times
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Nipomo is booming. I have relatives who raised their family there & loved it. What is it you are looking for? Hard to know if it would appeal without more info.
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Old 11-18-2007, 09:20 PM
 
Location: Houston, TX
37 posts, read 312,689 times
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Basically I am looking for the opposite of Houston... i.e. mild weather, no traffic, low crime, nice scenery...where I live there are great elementary schools for my daughter and I see Nipomo is OK in this area, not too worried, I teach my girl at home after school anyway. I am looking at Santa Maria as well but looks like Nipomo may be smaller, somewhat less ag-based? As far as jobs I'm a consultant so I work at home...that is not a problem. Looking for scenery (hills, trees, parks, proximity to beach, etc.) and great weather - I realize the weather is probably the same as SM so I'm good there. If you were to choose...would you choose SM/Orcutt or Nipomo? Thanks.
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Old 11-18-2007, 09:46 PM
 
110 posts, read 751,098 times
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There are many microclimates within these areas (which is why there are so many variaties of successful vineyards). I would choose Nipomo, then Orcutt, then SM. But I'd really choose the Santa Ynez Valley over them all (which is where I live). It has all of what you are looking for but I"m not sure what you can afford.
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Old 11-19-2007, 05:36 PM
 
142 posts, read 522,129 times
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Nipomo is a fine little town. There is a Vons there for grocery shopping, but all other shopping would pretty much have to be done in Santa Maria, which is about 10 minutes south down HWY 101. Or you could go north up 101 about 20 minutes to San Luis Obispo. There is a very nice new high school in Nipomo called as you might guess Nipomo High School. It is rural community, although there is a lot of new housing developments. There are many oak trees, it's close to the beaches, two very nice golf courses in Black Lake and Monarch Dunes. And I would say it is cheaper then Santa Ynez. Although Santa Ynez is a beautiful place to live if you can afford it.
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Old 11-19-2007, 07:41 PM
 
Location: In a room above Mr. Charrington's shop
2,916 posts, read 11,039,242 times
Reputation: 1765
Default Bill Denneen

One of my favorite things about Nipomo is "Elder" Bill Denneen, his hostel, organic farm and guided hikes through the Nipomo Dunes and other wonderful wild spaces on the Central Coast.

Home Page of Bill Denneen, Nipomo, CA
Point Sal National Seashore
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Old 11-19-2007, 08:46 PM
 
Location: Houston, TX
37 posts, read 312,689 times
Reputation: 46
Quote:
Originally Posted by SoCalif View Post
Nipomo is a fine little town. There is a Vons there for grocery shopping, but all other shopping would pretty much have to be done in Santa Maria, which is about 10 minutes south down HWY 101. Or you could go north up 101 about 20 minutes to San Luis Obispo. There is a very nice new high school in Nipomo called as you might guess Nipomo High School. It is rural community, although there is a lot of new housing developments. There are many oak trees, it's close to the beaches, two very nice golf courses in Black Lake and Monarch Dunes. And I would say it is cheaper then Santa Ynez. Although Santa Ynez is a beautiful place to live if you can afford it.
Sounds like a good fit for us. Santa Ynez is beautiful, but a little too far south for me - need to be closer to SLO for what I do. Question: if you live in Nipomo do you have a good view of the hills - or does it depend on which part of Nipomo one lives? Also, would you consider the town liberal, conservative, neither? Demographics look like it is mostly caucasian and hispanic, is the town somewhat segregated or is it fairly heterogeneous throughout? How about 101, does it get backed up on the way to SLO or Santa Maria? Sorry so many questions, but that's what this site is for! Thanks.
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Old 11-19-2007, 09:24 PM
LDH
 
168 posts, read 585,757 times
Reputation: 106
You have a great view of the hills especially on the east side of Nipomo. In fact, there are lots of rolling hills that are just that, hills. The Santa Maria River Bridge is located on the south end of Nipomo on 101 and can back up during rush hour. This is mainly caused by stalled vehicles and no shoulder to move them off of to keep traffic flowing. Heading north on 101 can also back up during morning and evening rush hour but during other times traffic keeps moving.

I'd say the town is more on the conservative side. Because the town is so spread out because it has so much open space it doesn't really have that close-knit home town feel that one might find in some towns, but I'm sure you can find that in may of the exclusive neighborhoods. Many of the homes are on good chunks of acerage so the neighbors are on top of each other.
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Old 11-20-2007, 09:56 PM
 
Location: CA Coast
1,904 posts, read 2,419,085 times
Reputation: 350
Water problems
Quote:
.........Not with the Nipomo Community Services District playing the drought card.

Celeste Whitlow, a conservation and public outreach specialist for the CSD, recently sent out a release informing Nipomo-ites that utility workers will be patrolling neighborhoods, doling out doorknob hangers that gently remind folks that watering sidewalks and driveways is a tad unproductive. While the measure seems fairly benign, kind of like a polite cough to get someone's attention, the sprinkler brigade is marching ahead of the threat: "The District wants to avoid mandatory water conservation measures if at all possible, but if the Nipomo Mesa experiences another dry winter, and if residents have not saved enough water to offset the decreased rain recharging the aquifer, mandatory measures may be necessary."

A follow-up notice took matters a step further, with the Nipomo CSD basically saying that it's facing the worst water situation in California after hitting a "drought trifecta" made up of low rainfall, a decreasing aquifer, and a court order that could take years to fill to a point where local water users would actually see a difference.

Oh yeah. And don't forget customers who use lots of water, "more than the customers of many of the other local water suppliers."

With new development just a sneeze away, Nipomo's water problems could get a lot worse very quickly. Bracing itself for an avalanche of permits it can't hold back, the CSD is saying that its only hope is, quite frankly, you. Or me. Or whoever lives in the area and uses water.

So dehydrate your roses. Drink vodka instead of whatever comes out of your tap. Wash your car in some nearby city that has water to spare or at least more than Nipomo. Remember: You and your long showers are the reason Nipomo is facing this problem, so start taking dust baths or something.

And if all else fails, if you pave over your lawn and save your sweat and tears to fill your low-flow toilet tank and Nipomo still shrivels up like a prune, don't fret. Just blame it on the pigeons.
Quote:
Residents need to decide the real future of Nipomo

Water district officials in Nipomo should have paid more attention to the film “Chinatown,” a 1974 Oscar winner, the defining premise of which is that water is power.

“Chinatown” is fiction. The fix the Nipomo Community Services District board finds itself in is not.

The board is attempting to figure out how to meet the community’s water demands in the coming years. Plan A has been to build a pipeline from the city of Santa Maria, which has agreed to sell a portion of its state water allotment so that Nipomo can better meet the needs of growth.

But Plan A will likely have to give way to Plan B, C or even further down the list, because the cost of building the pipeline has quadrupled — from an estimated $6 million to $24 million — since the board began considering such a project.

The real, final costs won’t be known until an analysis is completed in a few months, but if the normal laws of economics apply, the pipeline project will only get more expensive. Assuming that to be the case, NCSD board members had better start working on other options — if the overriding philosophy is that the community should continue to grow. More about that in a moment.

Looking at other options is clearly a wise idea; however, it is too early to throw in the towel completely on the water pipeline. As the editors point out, we won’t know final costs for a bit longer.

The best other option mentioned so far is construction of a desalination plant, turning ocean water into potable water. But the problem is that the desal option is expensive, too. And desal plants across the nation are encountering all kinds of operational problems that push up the cost even more.

I actually think this is the best option available. Yes, desal plants are expensive; but, they are also a reliable source of unlimited water for our community. The pacific ocean isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Furthermore, Cambria, our coastal neighbors to the north are looking into the same option. We can learn a great deal from their efforts.

Another option is that the district could take a stab at tapping into the State Water Project, a notion that was widely rejected here two decades ago. That also would be the least expensive alternative.

But it’s not a viable option. For one thing, surrounding communities that participate in the state water hookup would have to agree. Santa Maria officials have already indicated they’re not interested in such a deal, in large part because of the money the city has invested in its state water connection and because of the loss of business in selling its water to Nipomo.

State Water might be a short term fix if feasible; but, I honestly don’t know the requirements for tapping into state water at this stage. If, as the editorial suggests, that surrounding communities must give their assent–then it looks like state water will be an unlikely option for the reasons cited.

This is quite a mess, one made worse by the myopia of past district officials and Nipomo residents who decided years ago they wanted no part of state water. Time and circumstances have certainly changed that outlook.

The disputes surrounding state water those many years ago were focused on cost and using water as a growth facilitator. It is now clear that inflation has made those original state water costs a bargain.

Using water as a weapon against growth, continues to this day. There are voices in this community which continue to claim Nipomo is running out of water. There are voices claiming that no further growth can occur without new water sources. While I agree that supplemental water is necessary–it is neccesary for our long term future water security, not because we need more water in order to sustain the current growth. That is simply false. Using water to control growth did not work in the past, and it will not work now.

But what of the growth issue? Nipomo is showing signs of wanting independence from county rule through incorporation. The community wants to determine its own future — and those are decisions that need to be made on a broader scale than at the NCSD board level. Perhaps the district should consider a communitywide referendum on enhancing the water supply and how that facilitates growth.

This goes beyond the board just seeking more input from citizens. These are issues that need to be voted upon by the folks who will have to live with the outcome.

While water is a very important issue facing our community, I believe incorporation is by far more critical to Nipomo’s future than is the current water debate. Though, I do not mean to suggest the water debate should be set aside or postponed. We can and should address both issues. But, the indisputable fact remains that water and growth issues will be issues in Nipomo’s forseeable future whether we are a city or not. The difference is that as a city, Nipomo will have more and better refined tools to address the issues of water and growth. Cityhood isn’t necessarily about water or growth. Rather, it is about a better way to address both of those issues.

The editors are right that growth issues should be decided on a community wide basis. Once incorporation moves forward and a petition made to LAFCO, then residents community wide will have an opportunity to vote on cityhood as well as the ability to have a say in their future growth. But, the NCSD can and should play an important local role in the incorporation movement. They are the only viable source of revenue to finance the high costs required to move forward with incorporation. (I will post more on this shortly). They are also the most equitable body to lead the community to its eventual destiny.

For now, the board has made a good decision to put the pipeline project on hold. Now the real discussions about the future need to begin.
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Old 11-24-2007, 11:41 PM
 
130 posts, read 522,869 times
Reputation: 72
everything is a matter of preference but i would choose. 1-orcutt, and 2-nipomo. i wouldnt even consider santa maria as an option. also....the traffic on the central coast has gotten alot worse in recent years, and nipomo really only has one major exit, and i hear that traffic is pretty bad in the morning and late afternoon. also....nipomo doesnt really have a "downtown" just a bunch of shops and vons. also....nipomo is known to have plenty of properties that are over 1 acre +, and this is the "big" draw to nipomo if ask me. i dont know to much about the schools in nipomo, but the orcutt school district is one of the best around from elementary to high school.
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