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Just inland from Pismo Beach and halfway between Los Angeles and San Fran-cisco is San Luis Obispo, a college town complete with good food, better hiking, and a bustling downtown scene. Whether your a tourist looking for a quiet beach

or busy nightlife, SLO’s got it.

:It isn’t as slow as some might think

slolife

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Photo by John McCullough

San Luis Obispo (Spanish for St. Louis, the Bishop) is a city in California, located roughly midway between San Francisco and Los Angeles on the Central Coast. The city, referred to locally as SLO or “San Luis,” is the county seat of San Luis Obispo County and is adjacent to California Polytechnic State Uni-versity (Cal Poly). As of the 2000 census, the city population was 44,174.

The city is home to San Luis Obispo County

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San Luis Obispo (Spanish for St. Louis, the Bishop) is a city in California, located roughly midway between San Francisco and Los Angeles on the Central Coast. The city, referred to locally as SLO or “San Luis,” is the county seat of San Luis Obispo County and is adjacent to California Polytechnic State Uni-versity (Cal Poly). As of the 2000 census, the city population was 44,174.

The city is home to San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport which offers private and com-mercial air service to several major cities in the west. Amtrak provides daily rail service here as the terminus of the Pacific Surfliner line and a stop on the Coast Starlight

line. Greyhound also maintains a bus termi-nal in San Luis Obispo. Public transportation in-cludes the city-wide SLO Transit bus lines as well as the county-wide SLO Regional Transit system. Rideshare encourages the use of the local public transit, as well as carpool-ing and biking. Cycling is occa-sionally used as a mode of transportation in San Luis Obispo. Bike lanes are maintained on a few of the streets and the number of bike stands are increasing, especially in the downtown area. Parking in the downtown area can be a challenge for those interested in finding a spot directly in front of their final destination. The city provides parking

in three multistory park-ing structures throughout downtown at: Chorro and Marsh street intersec-tion; Palm Street between Chorro and Morro streets; on Palm Street between Chorro and Osos streets. Street park-ing downtown is metered. The structures are free for the first hour and 75 cents per hour thereaf-ter. Because of San Luis Obispo’s location halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco, it has long been a stop-ping point for travelers. In fact, the word motel was coined here when the Motel Inn of San Luis Obispo was established

in 1925. Since then, the pleasant year-round cli-mate, pretty scenery, and well-preserved, walkable downtown have made the city a tourist destination in itself.Downtown San Luis Obispo is centered around the carefully restored Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa, originally built in 1772. It is one of the best preserved examples of Spanish Mission architecture and among the oldest buildings in California. Its bells are unique in that, unlike other California missions, the bell ringer stands in the bellroom with the

bells when ringing the cadences. The down-town area also boasts many eclectic shops and boutiques.Another big tourist at-traction is Hearst Castle, the vast estate of pub-lishing magnate Wil-liam Randolph Hearst, 43 miles to the north of San Luis Obispo. The Madonna Inn is another famous local landmark. Established by Alex Madonna in 1958, the inn is a famously ec-centric building known for its generous helping of pink, wildly kitschy decor, themed guest rooms, and a waterfall

urinal in a men’s restroom.

16Photo by Brady Teufel

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must see slo

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The View of san luis obispo from the top of cal poly

must see slo

the pismo beach pier, located just 10 miles west of san luis obispo

bubblegum alley: located be-tween higuera and marsh streets in downtown slo

All Photos from Google