San Luis Obispo just took a poll to find out how its residents feel about their city. Not surprisingly, 95 percent responded they were very happy where they live. And why shouldn’t they be? My husband and I have visited nearly every square mile of San Luis Obispo over the years and have found it to be an ultra-clean, safe city, with residents taking pride in its beauty; its quaint, upscale cosmopolitan shops; and its rich amenities. Nearly every neighborhood is well maintained and, but for a small area surrounding Cal Poly, there is little graffiti or vandalism to be seen anywhere. San Luis Obispo has reason to be proud of its lovely city.
Contrast San Luis Obispo to Santa Maria, and you will clearly see what a difference just 30 miles can make. Over the last decade, Santa Maria officials have run our city into the ground, allowing illegal aliens, including hardcore criminal gang members, to pour into neighborhoods by the thousands and expecting legal citizens to co-exist. There are shootings and stabbings on a near daily basis.
Those who are thinking of moving to the Santa Maria area because of affordable housing should look elsewhere. Much of the city has become a filthy and dangerous place, so much so that the F.B.I. recently rated it 132 among the top 400 most dangerous cities in America. And something tells me it’s only going to get a whole lot worse, because our politicians no longer seem to care about its image.
This article appears in Jul 1-8, 2010.