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Hi I am hoping that some of the locals in the area can help me in trying to find the right area in or around SLO to live. I have read a few threads about SLO and some of the surrounding areas. I will be moving with my family there next summer and would like some help in figuring out which area would be the best to live. My main concerns is finding a good neighborhood and schools for my children, one is in elementary and one is in high school. I know the cost of living is high there and may ultimately determine where we can afford to live but I would like to hear first where the best areas are and then go from there. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
I'm sorry, I don't have much information for you based on San Luis Obispo. But, I'll give you what I know. I have driven through San Luis Obispo on my way to San Fran., it is So gorgeous. The hills, and their is absolutely no congestion, the freeway is simple and moves very steadily. The area is very tucked away from the congestion of Northern and Southern California, being in the Central part of the state. There is a University in the city, University California San Luis Obispo. There's nice diversity 78.7% white, 11.7% latino, 5.3% asian, 1.3 % black. The weather stays between 45-75 all year long. I would absolutely go there. The beaches are very scenic and the deep blue ocean is easily seen. The cost of living can't be too high because the median income is around 39,000, the students and older folks might have to do with lowering it. Morro Bay, the community near SLO, is famous for having large winter waves when storms hit. (15-25) feet. Have you gone to visit the area? Hope that helps friend!
Also known as CalPoly SLO or just called "Poly" by the locals. Not a University of California campus, although there is one in Santa Barbara (UCSB). I am a recent (2006) Poly alumni
Laguna Middle School off Los Osos Valley Road is a very good, newer Middle School. San Luis Obispo High is a very good High School and they work closely with CalPoly to prep their students for entry. Also: few high schools in CA teach Ag, Home Tech, Auto Shop, Welding, Drafting, and other blue collar skills, but this High School does. API (Academic Performance Index scores can be found on the California Dept of Education's website) scores are very good.
The education in town is very good, but there is a very big thing you need to watch out for as a homeowner and that is "party central" rentals. The students form about 33% of the town's population and cause endless grief for their neighbors. A few years ago (3 or so) one man obtained a successful Superior Court judgement that paved the way for him to sue the landlord of a bad rental (result: he won $5000 in Small Claims against the landlord). The front-page story was hailed by the Tribune as a big victory for locals who were/are tortured by parties/loud noise/nudity by neighboring students. Sorry for going on about this, but its a big issue in SLO, where I live part-time between another State.
We moved from the homes over by Costco which at night becomes like Fallouja:
1. someone shot 3 native deer that would regularly come down from the Irish Hills and feed on my front yard from midnight on. Shot them all dead and my young son witnessed this occurring at 2:00 a.m.
2. Someone practiced shooting a rifle in the middle of the night in the soccer field next to the public park off the end of Madonna Road. I reported this to police, hope they have caught that person.
3. I had to warn a male neighbor that I would report him to the D.A. (who I know personally) if I caught him pulling his pants down and peeing where my kids could easily see him. (Same neighborhood.)
Many families live in Arroyo Grande since there are very few students there and the high school there is a good one too. Also, Atascadero is a good place if you don't mind the drive. One of my husband's co-workers commutes from Atascadero to Santa Maria every day (75 miles each way). Homes are more affordable in Atascadero as opposed to SLO. Los Osos has fog, but many people like it there when you disregard the sewer issue. Hopefully that situation is being resolved, but at one point, homeowners were sent Cease & Desist orders to not use their septic/wastewater systems. Headache.
It is very beautiful there, and granted I have primarily given you "the bad news." However, this community is very close knit, very safe (when you exclude Mustang Village and the surrounding areas off California where the students mainly live). The downtown is becoming more sophisticated with a newer Banana Republic and a new Sephora.
Public debate is lively and there are both extremes of right and left there with debate/voting over Measure J being the hot topic. (Conversion of a private ranch to commercial use Ernie Dalido's ranch). People really care about issues and are very protective of children, animals and the environment.
Thank you dusesean1986 and Cali-girl for your replies. I have heard that SLO has problems with college kids partying so I have thought it might be best to live in one of the neighboring communities instead. From some of the research I have done the schools in the area seem to be good. One that rated really well was Morro Bay High, of course that appears to be a expensive area to live in. I guess I'm hoping I can find some advice on good reasonably priced neighborhoods (yes I know it's CA and the coastal part so reasonably priced doesn't really exist) that have good schools also. So I appreciate any feedback, both positive and negative, because it helps me in figuring out which area would meet our needs best. I have been down to the area once for a short visit this past fall and was able to tour a bit of the area. I was thinking that Los Osos might be nice but then heard about the sewer issues so wasn't too sure about that. I also like the Morro Bay area as well as Pismo Beach and Grover Beach. I thought that Avila and Pebble Beach were nice as well but very touristy and I don't really want to deal with that in the summer but noticed there were neighborhoods up in the hills. So much to think about and consider. So thank you again for all your help.
We lived in the SLO area many years. I can tell you the best places to live. The Ferrini Heights area above Foothill Blvd is great. And Bishops Peak Elem School is fab. Our daughter went there. There are very nice homes all next to the school. Another area is San Luis Drive right next to San Luis High. Great area. A third area is Ferrini Dr. on the southeast part of town.
If you dont like wind I would stay out of the most of the south part of town esp. Laguna lake and Los OSos Valley rd areas. Its know as the wind tunnell and is brutal almost every day starting about noon. Very windy and cool even in summer. If you want any more info. just post here and I will help you. We plan on moving back this summer from the S.F. bay area. It cant compare.
Johnmarg thanks for your suggestions. I haven't really looked around SLO much as I figured it would be too expensive to buy a house there and because of trying to stay away from college neighborhoods. I'm glad you mentioned the wind tunnel on the Los Osos Valley Rd area, it seems that I remember seeing a new housing development that was off of the Los Osos Valley Rd near the city limits to Los Osos but I believe was in SLO, I thought the area was nice and a possibility. I liked the Los Osos area but have heard there are concerns and problems with sewage. Are there any other areas you would suggest looking into next time I'm there to visit? Are you familiar with the area in and around Morrow Bay? I'm used to rain, wind and cooler temperatures so being by the ocean doesn't bother me in fact I prefer to be by the water. I would love to hear more of what you have to say about the area and the schools if you have more information.
Johnmarg thanks for your suggestions. I haven't really looked around SLO much as I figured it would be too expensive to buy a house there and because of trying to stay away from college neighborhoods. I'm glad you mentioned the wind tunnel on the Los Osos Valley Rd area, it seems that I remember seeing a new housing development that was off of the Los Osos Valley Rd near the city limits to Los Osos but I believe was in SLO, I thought the area was nice and a possibility. I liked the Los Osos area but have heard there are concerns and problems with sewage. Are there any other areas you would suggest looking into next time I'm there to visit? Are you familiar with the area in and around Morrow Bay? I'm used to rain, wind and cooler temperatures so being by the ocean doesn't bother me in fact I prefer to be by the water. I would love to hear more of what you have to say about the area and the schools if you have more information.
Thanks.
Nwgal
Hello,
Morro Bay is the correct spelling.
San Luis Obispo is not within 5 minutes of the beach, the closest beach nearby is Port San Luis, near Avila Beach. It's a modest beach, but local buisnesses have already consumed most of the area around the beach.
San Luis Obispo is not a bad town overall. Cuesta College is a pretty good community college to attend. Cal Poly is very much the only thing the town overall has really to speak for itself—it breaths it. As Cali-girl mentioned, 1/3 of the population has connections to Cal Poly—which is not always positive.
I knew someone there who lived near campus. Noise and the usual college-high school commodities are in abundance—drinking (not that anything is wrong with that, but some activites are not recommended under the influence) and partying are usually in full swing from Friday night to Monday morning. The local bus transportation system can get quite crowded at peak hours—I once boarded a bus (Route 5) once only to find the bus full up to the point where the entire bus walkway inside was filled with students standing—a seriously dangerous situation in the event should a precarious situation rear its ugly head upon the road.
Higuera and Marsh streets, linking much of the downtown area, are pretty much the main action streets. Farmer's Market opens up Thursday night on Marsh, which usually annoys the unaware due to the haphazard traffic diversions. Fortuantely Poly is located a safe distance away to prevent additional snarls and bottlenecks, but lunch hour is fairly busy all through town.
Johnmarg made a point about the wind tunnel. The recent developments near the western end of Madonna are usually windy. Last I was there two mountain biking/hiking trails are there. Still, the college atmosphere brings about its wretched aura around, including one incident near the homes just mentioned where a maligorant proceded to hijack a forklift and toy with some of the building supplies there.
Morro Bay is pretty nice—went there for July 4th. You should look into that—depending, on of course, your school situation.
Hi NW girl. I think you may have the Los Osos Valley Rd area of SLO mixed up with the town of Los Osos. The town is adjacent to Morro Bay and about 12 miles from SLO on the coast. Los Osos is cheaper than Morro Bay, but it is not nearly as nice. Some of the streets are not paved, the houses are not as nice and they did have lots of sewer line problems. I\ dont know if the sewer line problem was ever resolved.
Let me know if you need anything else.
We love SLO especially the Farmers Market on Thursday nights. Its the best market we have ever been to. Entertainment, tons of food and produce. You cant beat it. It does close off the downtown for a few blocks, but we have never had a problem finding a place to park with a block or 2.
You have nothing to worry about regarding the schools around this area. They are all good. I grew up in Atascadero right outside of SLO. Attended school in Atascadero. It's slightly cheaper than SLO but not by much. Many people end up moving there due to cost of living. I'd send my children to any of the schools around here. Regarding Cal Poly being a party school and concerned about living next to college students...half of SLO is college students. I would stay away from the apts close to campus. I wouldn't live right next to the college. Los Osos is fighting over sewer problems. I would advise not to buy a house there. Templeton is nice if you like a quiet town. Paso Robles is growing and has more stuff than Atascadero. I'd stay away from the north end of Paso (24th street and down). Morro Bay is nice. It's a very nice place to live. The high school is very good there. All the places in SLO county are nice. Hopefully this helped.
Hello NWgal. I lived in San Luis Obispo for 7 years from 1996-2003. I moved from So Cal, where I had lived all my life. My husband took a job up there, thinking that it would be a wonderful place to raise our kids, who at the time were 6 and 10. Unfortunately for us SLO wasn't all it was cracked up to be. It's a small town in the middle of everything, but close to nothing. All major airports are 3 hours away, either San Francisco or Los Angeles. And to fly out of SLO airport is expensive. There are no major athletic teams (baseball, football, or basketball). The big baseball team was the Blues that played at Sinshimer Park. There are however collegiate teams to watch at Cal Poly.
The town of San Luis Obispo is bisected by the train tracks. I quickly learned this the first night I lived there when a train rolled by in the early morning (at the time we lived just across from the tracks). If it's not the trains then it is the airplanes that come and go at SLO airport. They always like to test the engines at about 6am. Somehow you do get use to the noise. The best place to avoid most of this is the area around the high school, San Luis Drive. However the prices for houses there are quite expensive. As a matter of fact housing is expensive there. You do want to avoid living close to student housing, where the majority of students live. You have to remember that the town is a college town and students make up a large amount of the population. There is cheaper housing in Atasadero and Paso Robles. However it gets very hot in the summer and the cummute over the Cresta Grade can be a dangerous one.
I found the schools there to be no better then the schools that my children left. My oldest had a hard time with the students at the school he attended. It was a terrible experience for him (to long to go into detail), but will only say harrashment (verbal & physical) was usually the norm for my son everyday. Needless to say the school did nothing about it. It did extend to the family and to my youngest son who at the time was 6. I found the high school to be only interested in students who were straight A's and really didn't have time to deal with the average students. I had my son's counselor tell him that because he was a "C" student that college just wasn't for him. Thank goodness he didn't listen to him, because my "C" student is a "A" student in college.
All the time I was there I never set one foot into the ocean. Too cold. My husband who is a surfer found the surf to be not all that great. It was too cold and not that good were his comments.
7 years for me and my family in SLO was 7 years to many. One of the happiest days of my life was moving away from that place. I knew it wasn't the place for me when I saw a licence plate with "SLO LOVER" , and "San Luis Obispo My Special Place". That about sums it up, people that like it there think that it is a special place. I remember my neighbor across the street use to say how lucky we were to be living there.........he eventually moved away to a better place.
These are just my opinions and experiences.
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California Polytechnic State University
