Morro Bay area vs Pismo Beach (Atascadero, Diablo: house, school district, pros and cons)

[NWgal]

Hi everyone. I am trying to figure out where to search for a home. I would like somewhere by the ocean and from my trips down there I like both the Morro Bay and Pismo/Shell Beach area. I'm hoping some of you can give me some pros and cons to both areas or your personal views on which you prefer. Also is anyone down there concerned with living by a nuclear power plant? I'm not quite sure how I feel about it being so close by but if you move to the SLO area I guess there's no way of avoiding living near it.

Also I would love to hear what towns in the area you would all recommend living and why.

Thanks.
NWgal

[greatbasinguide]

the power plant just sits there, doesn't bother anyone, sure beats living near a coal fired plant.

Both towns are nice places to live, the beach is warmer at Pismo, you can keep a boat at Morro Bay.

[humboldtrat]

The power plant at Morro Bay (owned by Duke Energy, not PG&E) is not nuclear, but is fired by natural gas. Maybe you're thinking of Diablo Canyon further down the coast (near SLO ??).

[greatbasinguide]

I figured that what she meant, plumb forgot about the gas plant in Morro Bay.

[stellar9]

Pismo Beach:

Has an actual beach and pier. Its a beach town. Its also less than 10 minutes' drive to Walmart and other big stores. Very crowded on the weekends in the summer and a hangout for snow birds in the winter. And more expensive than Morro Bay.


Morro Bay:
A fishing town. You can have a boat there and kayak there. There's the estuary and museum there. A more northern California feel to the town. Takes at least 20 minutes to get to a larger town like SLO or Atascadero. They have their Harbor Festival in October and a Christmas parade of boats all lit up and decorated.

So its really whatever appeals to you more.

As far as Diablo Canyon, it just doesn't directly impact a person. If you are in the danger zone, you get yearly evacuation information and siren tests.

[NWgal]

Thanks for the responses. Yes I was referring to Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power plant when I asked if anyone was concerned about it. I was more concerned because of hearing stories of cancer rates being higher in areas surrounding nuclear power plants. I realize the one in Morro Bay is natural gas powered. Are there any public concerns around that one? What is the emergency zone around the nuclear power plant, does anyone know?

It's tough figuring out where to live and harder doing it from afar. I have only had the opportunity to visit the area twice so far and didn't have as much time as I would like to figure out where I would like to live. We did narrow it down to a smaller house by the ocean rather then a larger house inland like the atascadero or templeton area. I have children so I'm looking for an area that has good schools as well and it looks like both Morro Bay and Pismo Beach have good schools. Does anyone have any experience with the schools in the area and what they would recommend? I appreciate hearing what everyone has to say.

Thanks again.
NWgal

[stellar9]

I home school so I don't have direct experience with the schools, but their reputations are good and people I know who send their children to the school are overall very happy with the experience.

Pismo Beach is part of the Lucia Mar School District and I am aware that they are having many budget issues. The superintendent is getting flak for some of her decisions. I'm sure you could google that and find out more.

Morro Bay is part of the San Luis Coastal Unified School District. I haven't heard any recent issues.

This looks like an interesting website for finding out about schools:

http://www.greatschools.net/city/Morro_Bay/CA

You can find info on PB schools there as well.

[NWgal]

Thanks Stellar9. That is the website that I looked at to get information on the schools in the area. One of the reasons I narrowed my search down to those two areas on the coast was because both had schools that were rated high. Of course it doesn't give you information about issues that have come up recently like you mentioned about the schools in PB. So thank you for passing that along to me. I'm trying to get as much information as I can before we commit to an area to move to. I'm glad I found this forum as it has helped me to get information on the area from people that live there or have in the past.

I would love to hear more from anyone that cares to share.

NWgal

[stellar9]

You can always visit sanluisobispo.com
That's the area newspaper, so local issues will be highlighted in it.

Micki

[Sorcerer68]

Shell Beach has sunnier weather than Pismo. I used to see this driving to and from my house in Pismo: thick fog that ended where Shell Beach started. SLO has better weather but it's not on the beach.