San Luis Obispo was founded in 1772 by Spanish missionaries who were establishing a series of settlements along the California coast. They selected the town site because of accessible water, good soil, mild weather and available workers.
For nearly 150 years, that’s about all San Luis Obispo had going for it. The only significant industry was agriculture, with its inherent instability caused by drought, disease and market conditions. Generally, the community was poor and struggled to survive. In 1894, the Southern Pacific Railroad came to town. This ended the city’s long isolation from the rest of the state and contributed to a modicum of prosperity. But times were still tough for another 55 years until the beginning of World War II.
In 1901, a small teachers college was founded, which later became California Polytechnic State College and then California Polytechnic State University. Cal Poly and its impact on the city grew slowly, but, by the 1960s, it was bringing many San Luis Obispo citizens solidly into the middle class and beginning to transform San Luis Obispo into a modern and progressive city.
In the 1980s, Cal Poly developed a national reputation for excellence and began to dominate the city’s economic and cultural life, which it still does today. In recent years, Cal Poly has become one of the nation’s preeminent polytechnic universities — recognized
for its engineering, agriculture, architecture and business education. Tourism began slowly during the earliest days of the small settlement. Our strategic location on El Camino Real (now U.S. Highway 101) between the northern and southern portions of the state was an early reason for tourists to stop overnight.
The tourism industry didn’t become important until the 1920s when Highway 101 was improved over the Cuesta Grade and long-distance automobile travel became practical.
San Luis Obispo’s “halfway” location was virtually its only draw until 1958, when the state began operating Hearst Castle© as a tourist attraction. Since then, such factors as the development of Mission Plaza, expanded outdoor activities, a revitalized downtown, the burgeoning wine industry and the addition of excellent motels, hotels and restaurants
have continued to attract tourists.
Today, tourism remains one of the city’s most important industries. It’s only been in the recent era that San Luis Obispo has been perceived as a desirable place to live. Previously, the city was mostly thought of as a slow, backward little town. It had a limited cultural life, poor public facilities and substandard streets. Today, the city’s attributes — clean air, beautiful vistas, small town character and a charming downtown — have become rare in other places and are highly valued. Additionally, modern communications and transportation have turned our somewhat isolated location from a negative feature into a positive one.
San Luis Obispo’s current economy can be characterized several different ways. Of the $12.5 billion gross county product, tourism contributes about $1.1 billion (8.8 percent) and agriculture accounts for about $610 million (4.8 percent). All other sectors, including manufacturing, provide less than 5 percent each. From an employment point of view, more than 70 percent of local jobs are in government, retail and other services (including tourism). The political climate is affected by the fact that 25 percent of residents derive their income from sources not directly connected to the local economy, such as pensions, welfare, social security and government employment.
Lindsey Miller
lindseyinslo
