Atascadero (Santa Maria, San Luis Obispo, Crest: insurance, mortgage, house)

[deeptrance]

Originally Posted by grimstuff

as Paso becomes more self-supportive as a specialized community (burgeoning wine community) with lots of imported dollars and exciting new development downtown associated with the redevelopment and retrofitting of their older buildings...

I was truly stunned by how beautiful it was when I visited last summer. I mean, it was totally out in the middle of "nowhere" and we thought of it as a redneck town on the road between Santa Barbara and San Francisco, but now it's got sushi and Thai food?!?!? That might not seem like anything interesting to people who don't know the history of the area, but to me it was a total stunner. I was looking at property, you can bet on that, and walked all around the downtown area to see what was up.

But I have a complaint about Paso, which is that the residential neighborhoods surrounding the small downtown are mostly not very nice and they seem like they're constrained in terms of how much they can grow and change. Maybe that's why you see an investment potential, because it's limited and desireable, and maybe you're right about that.

Hopefully they'll get some "new urbanism" type of housing in multi-level buildings downtown where it's retail and restaurants on the bottom floor and then 2 or 3 floors of apartments upstairs. This is being done very attractively and successfully in many areas. Windsor, in Sonoma County, has a really cool new downtown that looks like something from a Dr. Seuss book --- it's not a great town culturally but in terms of design it's very progressive and appealing. I'd live there in a heartbeat if Windsor had something going for it besides being close to more interesting places.

[grimstuff]

Hopefully they'll get some "new urbanism" type of housing in multi-level buildings downtown where it's retail and restaurants on the bottom floor and then 2 or 3 floors of apartments upstairs. This is being done very attractively and successfully in many areas. Windsor, in Sonoma County, has a really cool new downtown that looks like something from a Dr. Seuss book --- it's not a great town culturally but in terms of design it's very progressive and appealing. I'd live there in a heartbeat if Windsor had something going for it besides being close to more interesting places.

Paso will see more mixed-use downtown, but not a whole lot. Nothing like SLO, anyway. I know the development you speak of in Windsor. I like to stop by and go to the candy shop!
But really, developers are doing some good things with New Urbanism, but it often depends on how true they remain to the core ideals. Often times its just another way to "green-wash" the project to make it look good. For example, they might have some interesting-looking facades, but the buildings still fail to interact with the sidewalk on the bottom level. Or the orientation might be off, so you have one of those trendy promenades with cafes in it, but the place is too windy because they didn't think about the venturi effect of channelized wind. Stuff like that. Of course, often the designers come out with a kick-ass project, but then it gets torn apart by the developer (cutting costs), the local planning staff (antiquited codes perhaps), the commissioners (Commissioner What's-her-face really, really, can't stand that color of brick you chose), and the council (Councilman Thomas's constituency hates buildings over 6 feet tall), and by the time everyone gets their grubby hands off it, the thing no longer resembles anything that could have complimented its surroundings.

If the designers and developers work with the community from the start, and the local planning staff works with them in finding ways to creatively get their project through with the least bit of bureaucracy as possible while making sure the project implements the goals and strategies in the local General Plan, and the commissioners and councilpersons don't have overriding personal agendas, you might see a nice New Urbanist project happen. But as you can imagine, it isn't often.

What is happening now are all these cities' elected officials getting the idea to sell New Urbanism to their constituencies in order to get pet-projects through and increase their tax base. Growth is growth, anyway you look at it. And one of the sad things about it, no matter how good the design is, is the fact that long-time business owners (the ones who made the downtown what it is) are rarely able to afford the new rents of their retrofitted or renovated or newly built building. So they sell out to that chain like Pottery Barn or The Gap. This puts the City in an awkward position: how do you beautify and enhance your city without pushing out all the local business owners? How do you increase your tax base without selling out your frontage road to big-box retailers?

[deeptrance]

grimstuff, that was so articulate and spot-on, it makes me wonder if you're a grad student or prof in some kind of planning dept. at Cal Poly...!

[grimstuff]

Originally Posted by deeptrance

grimstuff, that was so articulate and spot-on, it makes me wonder if you're a grad student or prof in some kind of planning dept. at Cal Poly...!

No, just an undergrad senior trying to score a job for next year.... but yes, I am in the planning dept.

[susie4]

I've lived in Atascadero since I was 21 and have just hit 50 now. People around here are into slow growth--not wanting people to build in Atascadero. They seem to want it to be a small quaint town. But unfortunately all the growth is happening in Paso Robles, Templeton, and SLO. The big thing now is the fighting for a Super Walmart to come in. Who knows what will happen with that.

There is a large diversity of people in this county.

Someone wrote at the beginnning of this thread about the people being incarcerated in Atascadero. We have the state hospital and someone said all the SVPs are gone. Thats not the case. There are less of them as some have been transferred to Coalinga State Hospital. Then of course there is CMC (prison in SLO).

[deeptrance]

Originally Posted by susie4

I've lived in Atascadero since I was 21 and have just hit 50 now. People around here are into slow growth--not wanting people to build in Atascadero. They seem to want it to be a small quaint town. But unfortunately all the growth is happening in Paso Robles, Templeton, and SLO.

Your post indicates you seem to want the growth in Atascadero. What type of growth would you like to see, and why do you want growth at all?

Here's an example of why a slow-growth policy can benefit you if you own property in Atascadero. Suppose those surrounding communities grow rapidly and without much control, yet Atascadero maintains a uniqueness and low density. The landscape is stunning, that's not going to change, so you've already got that going for you, plus you have a very nice climate, cooler than Paso but way less foggy than SLO. So what happens? Your area becomes the elite enclave in the midst of the growth in neighboring cities, and you'll see QUALITY changes in your town instead of QUANTITY.

If you're in real estate and you're worried about not having enough activity to sustain your income, there are two factors to consider:
1. your commissions will be higher on the increasingly valuable land in Atascadero, and
2. you're close enough to Santa Margarita, Paso and Templeton to work those areas in addition to Atasc. so you can participate in their boom.

I'm not advocating growth or no-growth in that area. I suppose I'm emotionally attached to the landscape and would hate to see much more growth there, but leaving out my personal bias I hope you can see a positive side to protecting what you've got and not allowing developers to destroy it.

I grew up in Santa Barbara and cut my political teeth at the age of 11 when I spoke against a large proposed development before the Planning Commission. To this day, the land I was arguing to protect is still undeveloped (between Goleta and Gaviota.) And as I look at what has happened in the intervening 40 years, I see that the uniqueness, beauty and value of Santa Barbara has been preserved by the tireless efforts of people who resisted generic development. You have a lot going for you in ALL the communities of central SLO County, and there is much to appreciate and preserve. It WILL become increasingly valuable because the climate and natural beauty are so rare and desirable.

[greatbasinguide]

My sister says you can have her place in Atascadero It was 17 last week and her pipes and animal troughs froze. Although it is fairly coastal winters are cooler than down south.

[deeptrance]

SEVENTEEN??? Yeah, that's cold for a place so close to the coast. No wonder Arnold declared a state of emergency for agriculture! But I bet that cold will make this a unique and possibly excellent year for the wine industry. Depends what happens this summer, I guess.

You're in a bit of a drought now, right?

Our local forecasters are bracing us for that type of cold blast in a week, should be arriving on Super Bowl Sunday. I dread what the pipe situation will be like, it's been a very long time since Austin was in the teens.

And I'd say "yes" to your sister's offer but I bet it's at least a half million. CA is too expensive even during this current RE slump.

[greatbasinguide]

It might be expensive, two acres pipe corrals nice little house. 17 at her house, got down to 26 in the Santa Maria vegetable fields, expect Broccoli prices to go up.

[susie4]

Your point is well taken. I just see so many people, including myself, spending money in other towns where growth is occurring. The tax money doesn't benefit our town. It would be nice to keep the tax dollars in our community. I have thought about if there is absolutely no more growth then our property will continue to rise and that will be good for those who plan on selling their property, but it sure doesn't help our young families who can't buy in this area. But their way it goes, I don't plan on staying in California. Once I retire, I plan on leaving. So I'm looking for my property to appreciate.