San Luis Obispo     Explore the image above for details of our visit. During one of our class periods we came to San Luis Obispo in search of Pattern Languages. We walked around the downtown area sketching and taking pictures. Above are some of the places we visited.   San Luis Obispo is located in the western California, U.S., on San Luis Obispo Creek at the base of the Santa Lucia Mountains, 20 miles (32 km) east of the Pacific Ocean and 80 miles (130 km) northwest of the city of Santa Barbara. It grew up as a farming center around the mission of San Luis Obispo de Tolosa (for St. Louis, bishop of Toulouse), founded in 1772 by Jun’pero Serra as the fifth in the California chain of 21 missions. After 1894 it became a railroad division point. Oil, pumped and refined locally, is shipped through Port San Luis (9 miles [14 km] southwest), on the Pacific coast. Light manufacturing, wineries throughout the county, and tourism are other economic factors. It is the home of the California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (1901), and Cuesta College (1963). Inc. 1856. Pop. (1990) 41,958.[ From Britannica On Line]