Check out this great video called the SLO Experiment! It’s a great way to experience SLO.
The secret is out! We knew it was only a matter of time, and the time has come. In Dan Buettner’s latest book, Thrive: Finding Happiness the Blue Zones Way, he shares what most of us living in San Luis Obispo already know…when it comes to cities, SLO is a little piece of paradise. From the location to well-thought out city planning, the aesthetics of San Luis Obispo seem to not only be visually appealing, but also good for your health.
Buettner, an award winning National Geographic author, traveled the world exploring cities searching for the secret to longevity and happiness. It led him as far as Singapore, Denmark, Nuevo León, and then right here to the fresh air of SLO Town.
Take a look at what he had to say about San Luis Obispo (“National Geographic”):
“San Luis Obispo paints a really good picture of the way we ought to be setting up our cities. I’ll tell you a secret right now about happiness: There’s no silver bullet. You have to find some silver buckshot. San Luis Obispo has the best emotional health in the country and the highest level of well-being, I believe, because they have a dozen or so things going for them that were put in place in the late 1970s.”
“They made the decision as a city, rather than making the city optimal for commerce, to make it optimal for quality of life. It used to be a forest of signs. Signs beget more signs. They instead limited the size of signs and put the resources into aesthetics. They outlawed fast-food drive-throughs so you don’t have idling cars polluting the air, it’s harder for people to eat fast food. They were the first place in the world to outlaw smoking in bars and restaurants, so as a result you have about the lowest rate of smoking in the country.”
“You can stand any place in San Luis Obispo, a city of about a quarter of a million people, and look around and see green. They have zoned it such that there’s no building beyond a certain point, so everybody has access to green space, which we know lowers stress levels, and has access to recreation.”
“Secrets of the Happiest Places on Earth.” National Geographic 22 11 2010: n. pag. Web. 20 Dec 2010.And then there’s the big one that we know on a day-to-day basis, commuting in our cars, is one of the things we like the least in America. San Luis Obispo has created an urban environment where driving is a little bit of a hassle, but it’s really easy to bike and it’s easy to walk. They have 16-foot-wide sidewalks, there are outdoor cafes, and people walking to work see their friends. It’s just a pleasant place.
It goes back to Ken Schwartz, an architecture professor and five-term San Luis Obispo mayor, and his students, who intuited that quality of life was the important thing to focus on. They audaciously suggested that the city’s 250-year-old Mission Plaza be used, not as a parking lot, but as a common area for people to gather. They put an art center there, a place for festivals. That seemed to be the galvanizing event.
For more information on San Luis Obispo click here.
“Secrets of the Happiest Places on Earth.” National Geographic. 22 11 2010. Web. 20 Dec 2010.
