Located along the Pacific Ocean in the Central Coast of California, between Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay, is San Luis Obispo County, an area that has managed to retain some “old California” rural character. Here visitors discover a unique mix of food, wine, recreation, art and culture and the venerable Hearst Castle, all in casual and friendly surroundings. The population here is 269,637, and the county seat is San Luis Obispo.
Commonly referred to as “the Central Coast,” the San Luis Obispo County area is somewhat agricultural and offers a small-town feel. The Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa, founded in 1772, is still an active part of downtown San Luis Obispo, called SLO-town by locals; the county’s modest communities are scattered along the beaches, coastal hills, and mountains of the Santa Lucia range and provide a variety of coastal and inland hill ecologies to support many kinds of fishing, agriculture, and tourist activities.
The economy of San Luis Obispo County is a service economy; service jobs account for over one-third of the county’s jobs, including government jobs and those in the finance, insurance, hospitality and real estate sectors. Manufacturing now represents fewer than six percent of the county’s jobs.
California Polytechnic State University, with its enrollment of 20,000 students, joins tourism and agriculture as the county’s economic mainstays. San Luis Obispo County is the third-largest producer of wine in California, surpassed only by Sonoma and Napa Counties. Wine grapes are by far the largest agricultural crop in the county, and the wine production they support aids the growing wine country-vacation industry.
San Luis Obispo County offers a number of options for outdoor recreation. Residents enjoy whale watching, sport fishing and charter fishing out of Morro Bay and Port San Luis. Some of America’s most distinctive ecological niches such as the Morro Bay National Estuary and the Carrizo Plain offer exciting eco tours, and there are endless opportunities for hiking and biking.
San Luis Obispo County leans toward the Republican Party in presidential and congressional elections; there are 147,326 registered voters in San Luis Obispo County. Of those voters, 42 percent were registered Republicans, 36 percent were registered Democratic, five percent are registered with other political parties and 17 percent declined to state a preference.
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