When I launched UpGrade Atascadero in February 2008, it was my purpose to shine a spotlight on the issues facing Atascadero, identifying and analyzing the most important questions for our future. In the months since, it seems that the effort has been somewhat successful and has helped direct renewed attention to Atascadero's challenges. Still, however, there is much to be achieved.
The Responsibility That Comes With Our Fortune
With Atascadero’s invaluable natural advantages, there is a lot to live up to. We have been gifted residential areas which are among the most impressive and appealing places to live anywhere. Atascadero's miles of large-lot neighborhoods on roads winding through wooded enclaves and scenic hill vistas represent some of California's most stunning and attractive living spaces. And Atascadero's history as a Utopian community and part of the City Beautiful movement gave us a unique downtown area, featuring the most impressive architectural achievement in San Luis Obispo County--the historic Rotunda building--along with a grand town square in the Sunken Gardens. On top of that, the picturesque Atascadero Creek runs right through the center of the community. Were that not enough, Atascadero has demographic advantages, with a population having a higher average household income than is found in Paso Robles, San Luis Obispo and Morro Bay, to mention a few neighboring towns.
A Commercial Sector In Need of Reorganization
Atascadero's business district, however, does not befit such a beautiful community. The retail sector is poorly organized, underdeveloped and unbalanced in its almost complete concentration on roadstop and convenience business. The business district is charmless and uninviting, consisting of a hodgepodge of mundane structures along the long linear sprawl of El Camino Real. The historic downtown area presents a grim picture, with underutilized structures and empty spaces exuding feelings of lifelessness to anyone who happens into the area. The majestic Rotunda building presides over the scene, coming closer every day to becoming a mere ruin of a lost time, with no project for its restoration having been commenced and no considered plan for its productive future use having been developed in the years since the December 2003 earthquake. And at the city’s major crossroads of El Camino Real and Highway 41 is an inactive excavation where the stalled Colony Square project is supposed to be built.
Not only does Atascadero lack a focal point of commercial, cultural and community activity, but its retail sector is stunted and unbalanced in its development. There is not a single higher end restaurant or shop to speak of. The only major enterprise aimed at attracting upscale business--the Carlton Hotel--is on life support. Atascaderans routinely do much of their spending in neighboring towns. That is particularly true of Atascaderans making clothing purchases and those who want to go to fine restaurants, nice shops and cultural events; they have no choice but to take their business to other places because there are no hometown options for them. Not surprisingly, a financial price is being paid for all of this. Atascadero's per capita sales tax revenues are depressed--lower than those of every town in the county other than Grover Beach--and falling precipitously. Atascadero is running a fiscal deficit that is requiring the city to finance its 2008 operations by spending reserves in amounts estimated to approach $1,000,000, with the number expected to be closer to $2,000,000 in 2009.
Time for a Turnaround
We need to start narrowing the gap between Atascadero's great potential and the inadequacies of its commercial sector. A turnaround has to be launched to end the underachievement. Helping to bring about that turnaround is the overriding objective of UpGrade Atascadero. It is time to raise our standards to the level of our possibilities. It is time to start fulfilling our potential. It is time to UpGrade Atascadero. Step up with me in rising to the challenge.
