San Luis Obispo County: Home to the Happiest City in America
If you are moving to San Luis Obispo County, get ready to up your happiness meter. National Geographic fellow and Blue Zones author Dan Buettner named the county seat one of the four happiest places on earth in his book Thrive. It was the only American entry on the list, and Oprah Winfrey followed with a show segment titled “The Happiest City in America.” The Gallup-Sharecare Well-Being Index, which measures San Luis Obispo, Paso Robles, and Arroyo Grande as a single community, ranked the region tenth out of 186 communities nationwide for overall well-being in its 2016-2017 report.
A Downtown Built for Running Into People
The layout of the county’s towns heavily contributes to the mood of the locals. Downtown San Luis Obispo is compact and walkable, and its Farmers’ Market has been closing Higuera Street to traffic every Thursday since 1983. The market spans five blocks between Osos and Nipomo with more than 100 vendors, live entertainment, and food from one end to the other. It is the best-known market in the county, and it is not the only one. Markets run somewhere in the county nearly every day of the week.
A History You Can Still See on the Street
The county grew up around its missions. Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa was founded on September 1, 1772 by Father Junipero Serra as the fifth of California’s 21 missions. Mission San Miguel Arcangel was created on July 25, 1797 at the north end of the county. The plaza outside the San Luis Obispo mission is still the center of town, hosting festivals and concerts through the year. Many homes in these older cores come with narrow staircases and tight entries.
Wine Country, Coastline, and Everything Between
Few counties provide this much variety within only an hour’s drive. Paso Robles to the north is the largest single wine-growing region in California, covering roughly 614,000 acres with more than 200 wineries. Believe it or not, that is close to three times the size of Napa Valley. Two smaller wine regions, Edna Valley and Arroyo Grande Valley, sit just south of the city. Highway 1 runs the coast past Cambria, Morro Bay, and the Five Cities. San Luis Obispo County is home to beach towns, a walkable downtown or lots of land with private residences.
Your New Home Awaits
Whatever brings you here, a long-distance move goes smoother when you understand where you are moving to. Once the truck is unloaded, start with the Nine Sisters, the chain of volcanic peaks running from San Luis Obispo out to Morro Bay. Ready to plan your move to San Luis Obispo County? Request your personalized long-distance estimate today.
