THE LAST CALIFORNIA FRONTIER
By Michael Vidor
September 2003




"Reasonable people adapt themselves to the world. Unreasonable people attempt to adapt the world to themselves. All progress therefore, depends on unreasonable people.”
~ George Bernard Shaw

Like poetry in motion and perpetuity, the vast majestic Central Coast effortlessly rambles through the midsection of the infinitely beautiful California. However, at one geographical end of the state a once spectacularly pristine and undeveloped region sprawls inland, gasping for air and groping for water – the other extremity lies hemmed in by the allure of love and dreams – similarly strangled by traffic, consumption and vanity.

If imitation is the boldest form of flattery, most folks fortunate enough to be here would agree that we seek not to indulge in such extravagance – thank you very much.

Franklin D. Roosevelt once said, “Progress lies not in enhancing what is, but in advancing toward what will be.” That is the dilemma facing this last California frontier. Change can be a scary proposition and like so many things in life, you can’t live with it, and you can’t live without it.

With a dramatically changing economic outlook, dependence on what used to provide for sustenance may no longer. At least the future idea of dependence may not be reassuring to those who create the model for education and services. New ways to ensure that our children remain competitive is an obligation and an American birthright that cannot be rationalized or denied. Our seniors who built this land, and an aging population of baby boomers who worked to sustain the parental values of a great nation, deserve to live in relative security and peace – at least through what was promised them at the onset of their labor. The question is how do we accomplish all that with a dwindling traditional tax base and a voracious growing population? Perhaps the answers simply lie in the mistakes of the past.

Most take comfort in the concept of slow growth as opposed to the bulldozer mentality of many other regions of the state. Granted, those places remain beautiful on the surface, but what lies beneath are emerging problems the likes of which no one has ever experienced since perhaps colonial times.

According to a recent Los Angeles Times article focused on Santa Barbara, regional planners contend that the middle class is being driven out of the entire region, an eventual problem for the entire coast of California, they say. Numbers don’t easily capture the social changes in places where a starter home can approach $1 million. This can spell trouble when police, teachers and firefighters are forced to commute, and could result in safety and economic issues. The director of the Economic Forecast in Santa Barbara said the community is experiencing cultural drain, as a result of past decisions, losing some of its brightest people. This ultimately affects the likes of PTA and Little League because it is harder to find parents who can participate.

One long time SB resident however, argued, “while it may be painful for people to drive 2 hours to clean homes, it doesn’t trouble the people who live there.”

George Moylan, Director of The San Luis Obispo Housing authority would disagree. He has been here for over 16 years watching and witnessing the trends. “When you have only one predominant income stratum it ultimately means trouble. A ghetto is a ghetto, whether it is rich or poor,” he says. “We are driving the productive members we need out of our community. There was a time in New England when folks would survive the winter by washing each other’s clothes. Have we lost that spirit? What if working people decide not to drive 60 miles to clean houses? We need diversity.”

This region is poised for dramatic change, whether we like it or not, say most who have witnessed the recent steady growth in San Luis Obispo County. The good news is, according to most forecasters, that the economic landscape is ready. The reservation is whether or not the sociological effects have been thoroughly addressed.

“Constant change is here to stay, and everyone knows it. The trick is to embrace it in such a way that the whole darn farm need not be sold,” says Dave Congalton, popular KVEC radio afternoon talk show host. “This brings to mind an old German proverb: To change, and to change for the better are two different things.”

Two of the most essential components in creating the perfect place to inhabit are diversity of culture, and small town nostalgia, which have grown to signify the good life in American society. Natural beauty is yet another in which we aspire to live, bathe our sore eyes, or rest our tired souls in serenity. Living on land’s end, hanging out over the ocean, has always provided a romantic sense of freedom and well-being. It is nothing new that millions have sought the perfect environment in California for decades, and many have found the essential elements in abundance – on which to build their hopes and dreams. Nearly 30 million people cannot be wrong.

For the Central Coast region, this has actually been the case for generations – never ceasing – undaunted – unrelenting. Settlers embraced the obvious serenity and abundance before and after Captain William G. Dana sailed the first sea vessel ever launched in California from Goleta and put in at what is now Nipomo. He obtained the grant for Rancho Nipomo, comprising nearly 38,000 acres, from the Mexican Republic in 1835.

What differs today is the accelerated pressure to produce new viable areas of habitation – ironically in many cases, for those who are abandoning the places to which they originally flocked in the last half of the 20th century. And this time, many of them have the money they need to get what they want, from a place that on the surface has it all. California as we know it today was proportionately built on eastern money forged from what became the rust belt.

The American dream has always revolved around the idea that money gets you what you want, often times regardless the degree of difficulty or consequence. However, where jobs, services, transportation and even water will come from is the quandry.

What about the land?

It all begins with the allure of the astonishing pristine exquisiteness of this place, and the extent to which we are willing to dot it with strip malls and tract housing. We need to accommodate those who will do the work and the buying, for those who will do the thinking and investing. The answer may be in our ability to protect and sustain the priceless mores and traditions that have thrived and survived every rush of obsession.

“What’s past is prologue,” wrote Shakespeare, and his idea in and of itself, may be the answer where our preservation is concerned. What makes the region so dear to so many are the ways in which the people have treated and protected their homeland and sustained the cultural chattels. The reward is the pure joy that manifests in how we treat one another or the way we greet and treat strangers.

You need only stroll down Higuera Street in San Luis Obispo on Thursday evenings, or attend the 4th of July parade in Paso Robles. Watch the fisherman and women of Morro Bay or Avila haul in the catch of the day, or pan the horizon for surfer dudes at Pismo Beach. Eat the freshest strawberries in Arroyo Grande in May or visit a mythical castle on the beach in San Simeon. Experience the quaintness of Cayucos – a place charmingly frozen in time, yet indulging every modern travelers fancy. Simply count the number of programs and volunteers that work to embrace an enviable lifestyle that is unparalleled in the Western Region, and perhaps the country. Should we be surprised that others are bearing down on the Central Coast? Duh. The key is to somehow discern those who seek to exploit versus kindred spirits who are drawn by the positive dynamics that make this place so grand. Let’s face it – to die for.

Unfortunately, dreams have been fulfilled in the Golden State to such an extent that today, much of coastal California in either direction is overrun, overused and often abused, of course depending on who’s opinion you seek. One must pause to wonder whether the essential elements will hold out under the strain of demand and desire for Pacific high pressure, geological masterpieces, magical landscapes, picturesque pastures, pristine air and heavenly flora and fauna.

Whether it pertains to culture, commerce, or community, each vital element – air, water, land, business, art, industry or population – has been throttled for all it is worth on most of the coast. Urban centers in the north and south built on or near the Pacific Ocean originally, have cascaded in both directions – closing in on a surviving spectacular refuge from the crowding, traffic, pollution, violence and stress associated with urban sprawl. This is no surprise, considering the fact that they too were paradises, in the minds of those with strong visceral senses and the will to seek change in the last century.

This is what those of us who love and dwell on the Central Coast worry about, and unfortunately, not all who seek its refuge are necessarily willing to properly sacrifice and protect for future generations.

Where else can we awake to mooing, neighing, baahing, and passing train whistles while lying in closest proximity to thriving urban centers with considerable fine art, entertainment, shopping and recreation?

Gertrude Stein poignantly wrote, “…anybody is as their land and air is. Anybody is as the sky is low or high, the air heavy or clear and anybody is as there is wind or no wind there. It is that which makes them and the arts they make and the work they do and the way they eat and the way they drink and the way they learn and everything.”

It is no secret that the explanation to sustaining the mystique and grandeur of the region, depends on our ability to maintain the open spaces that surround it, while creating viable and unique urban centers with commensurate housing and services. It is the ultimate test for families native to what was once “cow country” to cherish the past while accepting the challenges of growth and prosperity. A good idea is to examine the real differences between fast growth and slow growth.
Americans have a way of overdoing everything. Like an obese overeater, we gorge on everything luscious with such ferocity, that by the time we realize the extent to which we have overindulged, it’s too late – and certainly without regard for the obvious consequences to ourselves and others who remain in need.

In his novel The Deer Park, Norman Mailer wrote, “There was that law of life, so cruel and so just, that one must grow or else pay more for remaining the same.” For Central Coasters, perhaps it’s time to amend the law. After all, people of this region are not obligated to save California from itself, much less embrace those who wish to sustain the cruel laws of life.

San Luis Obispo County and the expansive Central Coast have always been considered paradise. From the time the forefathers decided to expand exploration and commerce from the Sierra Nevada until now, this region has been considered magnificent; one of the last undeveloped, desirable and accessible places on the California coast.

This pioneering concept is part of our cellular makeup, forged in a primordial desire to roam. As a result, the Central Coast has been, and will always be, a prime target for investors, developers, vacationers, carpetbaggers and transients. Perhaps the major difference here will be a tendency towards the development of a holiday destination and compatible businesses creating a sustainable and environmentally friendly economy rather than another place to unwittingly sellout, exploit, and build out. Hearts and minds willing, maybe the overwhelming desire to preserve the unspoiled natural environment, adherence to mores of the past and strong traditional values will allow for necessary, inevitable and sustained healthy growth, yet diminish the chance for a repeat of the undeniable mistakes made in Marin, San Diego, and Sonoma counties where paradise has become unmanageable for many unforeseen reasons. Perhaps on the Central Coast, charm and civilization will be reinforced while some behaviors and needs are deprived.

However, now the idea of growth and its consequences are quite exacerbating, based on what has occurred in other regions of California and an increasing unsolvable demand for water, which is not a new concern. Water has been scarce here for as long as anyone can remember. Transportation, if left to conventional means and based on previous models – cars – scares the hell out of urban planners, although the Community Development Director for the City of Atascadero, Warren Frace, put it another way. “I have been working on the General Plan for four years now which incorporates other spheres of influence within the county against a 25-year projection into the future. Based on historic trends, we believe we can accommodate everyone.”

The burning question is, who is everyone? Who will afford to live here in 20 years? Frace says he and his colleagues are fully aware and have engaged in strategies that incorporate plans like mixed use developments, where diversity will occur in the same proximity, and the concentration of new growth - closer in, so basic transportation will not be an issue. “We see bicycling and busing as future transportation alternatives.” That would be music to the ears of many people in California cities who welcome new efficient ways to travel, especially biking back and forth to work.

The granting of human indulgence may ultimately be the single most important challenge we face in years to come. Conversely, however, how can we possibly expect to hold back the tide of those in exodus from Los Angeles, San Francisco and elsewhere, particularly those who have the means to buy an incomparable and increasingly exceptional slice-of-life in a place considered to be the middle kingdom?

With killer weather, and a piercing blue sky laden with clouds created only for the imagination, it will be increasingly difficult to deter considerable growth and human traffic, particularly when landscapes like this are usually resigned to canvas.

In a place where there are Mountains, Meadows and Morros – Mozart and Mardi Gras, our only hope where the perceived onslaught is concerned, is to define our expectations and adhere to them regardless our individual needs. It is more palatable to keep it a secret but wiser to accommodate for the benefit of all.

Carl Sandberg once wrote, “What is this Place? Where are we now?” To a large degree, this has not changed, because virtually every person who visits this extraordinary place is compelled to ask the same rhetorical question. Literally, however, the poet’s idiom could easily be based on the sensual experiences he may have had when visiting the Central Coast, the bustling settlements, and the people. Embracing this culture for a weekend is in many ways as compelling as taking a holiday in Tuscany - which certainly can’t be done in three days.

Once you experience this, you will never be the same. And, if you live in the city you will no doubt long for a chance to thrive in such a place at some point in your life - perhaps sooner if you are lucky.

Are we protective? You bet. Are we defensive? We shouldn’t be.

It is strong debate that will get us where we want to go as well as prevent this place from an undesirable destination. These basic rights and freedoms are the oldest ideals yet much to our chagrin, they need to be dusted off and put back into play before we can expect to be back in charge of our destiny.

Because, like poetry in motion, our ability to determine and collectively communicate our needs and wants, will allow us to create a new and lasting life for the Central Coast and its inhabitants.

Sweeping hills overshadowing a rugged and astonishingly gorgeous Pacific coastline, landscapes laced with streams and rivers running to the sea – meandering through fertile valleys, the Central Coast and the wonderful people who settled here will always be part of The Last California Frontier.

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