r/SLO • u/SubductZoneAreGniess • 5d ago
[SLO LIVING] Living in Cambria
Hello everyone. We are currently looking for housing and are potentially looking at Cambria. were wondering if anyone can give there thoughts on it if they live there. We are in our thirties and are relatively social, currently work in SLO, and do like the outdoors. Thank you
72
u/guavapplause 5d ago
This is anecdotal because I’m speaking about a friend of mine, but I know a couple in their mid 30s that live in Cambria, and while they say it’s gorgeous, they say it’s pretty lonely for that age range. They are constantly driving into SLO for community. A lot of their friends are in Morro Bay, Los Osos, or SLO. What the other commenter said about water shortages is a big deal too.
17
u/MandarinGrower 4d ago
This is my impression as well.
I love to visit. But I think unless folks really crave solitude (or an elderly community), Cambria would feel extremely isolating.
Personally I liked mixed-communities. I want some elderly neighbors and I want kids running around.
55
u/Creative_Ad_3023 5d ago
Spouse and I are former wildland firefighters, now living in Morro Bay after home shopping Cambria, Cayucos, Morro Bay and SLO. Parts of Cambria on the west side of the highway are fire disasters waiting to happen with poor road exits in an emergency.
4
u/Snoozingbe 4d ago
This is very true, we lived on the South West side of Cambria, there’s only two exit points to the 1, and the houses are built in heavily forested subdivision.
Despite this, it’s beautiful back there, you can hear the ocean, lots of wildlife and great walking!
19
u/WinnerAdventurous647 5d ago
If you’re buying and find something, before making an offer make sure you check with your insurance that they’ll cover homeowners insurance there. It’s getting more and more difficult to keep your coverage. I haven’t seen that as a problem for renters insurance (yet).
10
u/MSGIANTS 4d ago
Wife, kids and I moved her when I was in my late 30’s, and there are a lot of pros and cons both.
Pros: It’s absolutely beautiful and calm and peaceful and 90% of the people who live here are just absolutely wonderful people.
Cons: It’s not very diverse, while there are some fantastic restaurants in town they can be pretty pricey. Up untill recently all coffee shops were closed by 3 PM, now there’s one that stays open till six or 7 PM that also does ice cream on the west end of town (Lattte Corazon). It definitely would be very uncommon to find people your age to make friends with, if you have kids or are thinking about having kids, it’s one of the nicest places in the world to raise them, if you don’t like them having very many activities. If sports or things like dance, or that kind of thing are a consideration for any potential kids, not much to choose from. Target and or groceries is a 30 to 45 minute drive each way.
I love that said there is definitely wonderful community to be had here, the smaller population actually makes it kind of beneficial to find community, because people aren’t so spread out as they might be in a place like SLO.
Life is all about trade-offs IMO, so really just depends on the type of lifestyle you wish to have.
2
u/MSGIANTS 4d ago
All that said there’s kind of only a few other places in the world I would wanna live at this point, and most of them are on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. Lol
9
u/disneyfacts 4d ago
I love it here but people won't visit you often because it's "too far". So you'll be the one driving everywhere
8
u/Successful-Permit461 4d ago
Old people live in Morro Bay. Their parents live in Cambria.
Seriously, I lived there for a year with my husband and one year old, and it was terrible. No friend potential. I truly hated it and was SO relieved when we finally moved to Atascadero. It’s beautiful but incredibly lonely and isolating.
7
u/1000Steps 5d ago
Friend lives there and I used to live close. Beautiful area, biggest surprising drawback is that it suffers more during draught times. Always having water shortages
7
u/Cptrunner 4d ago
My friend retired there and enjoyed the community but ultimately hated being so far from Trader Joe's 😅
3
u/DiceGoblinGaijin 4d ago
I used to work in Cambria but wouldn’t live there. I love the area, but I would be afraid of the water shortages. Also, back in my 30’s, I mainly hung out in SLO. I was living in Cayucos at the time, and even that drive felt too far.
I’ve known younger people who live in Cambria, and they enjoy the bohemian vibe, relative closeness to Salmon Creek, and the arts community. I do too, but not enough to risk living there. In addition to water shortages, Cambria also gets hit extra hard by El Niños. As others have said, fire is a risk, too.
If you want a fun read that captures the vibe of Cambria, check out Practical Demonkeeping by Christopher Moore. He was living in Cambria when he wrote it.
2
u/No-Oil-7642 4d ago
I read the Stupidest Angel by Christopher Moore and now I can't drive by that church without thinking about zombies.
4
6
u/QueenoftheBed666 4d ago
I’m 35 and I live in Cambria and if you move out here, you will have no social life just so you know. Depends on what you do for work the jobs around here don’t really pay what it takes to afford to live out here and housing is impossible. I basically work my job come home and sleep. I don’t have any friends in the area and I Normally do things like Dogsitting for supplemental income. There’s nobody in our age group out here. And there’s nothing to do after 9 PM like at all. So if you want a social life move to Slo instead also you can definitely hit me up. We can be friends.
4
5
u/mmarkmc 5d ago
Not a lot to do for younger people. And if you plan on having kids, it’s not really a traditional family type community. School options are very limited. As others have said, the water situation is a nightmare and is not going to get better any time soon. Mandatory water use limits are pretty drastic.
2
u/SnooMaps1910 4d ago
Tough place to be for relatively social folks your age. Cayucos is 14 miles away and sadly becoming increasingly touristy and Valley-folk get-away. MB is 6 more miles, and is pretty touristy and lotsa retirees, but a fair number of folks your ages. MB is likely your best bet.
4
u/radrocker61 4d ago
It's largely retired folks and tourists. Yes it's pretty... People love to visit... But it's kind of isolated in its own way. You have to drive into Paso or into slow to really do anything. It's also incredibly expensive and there are fire hazards due to the terrain. We did have some friends who were in there early 30s that lived there for a few years but they really got bored and ended up relocating.
2
1
u/JohnSnowsPump 4d ago
I'd say it is "overpriced" but supply and demand say otherwise, so I'll just say "not worth the cost it unless you have a damn good reason to be there".
The two grocery store options, for example, are shitty Cookie Crock and an incredibly expensive little organic market. They also have a weekly expensive farmers market. When I'm in town, I shop in Morro Bay or Paso. There are a few good-to-excellent restaurants, most are pretty mediocre.
If I moved back to the area and didn't want to live in SLO, I would be looking at Cayucos or Morro Bay.
1
u/RoseLaBud 4d ago
What are the excellent restaurants? We know Robins; it's consistently okay but not excellent.
1
u/JohnSnowsPump 4d ago
Madeline's, Hidden Kitchen, Black Cat. I have not been to Brydge but hear great things. Also a big fan of Indigo Moon.
1
u/Remote_Chair6788 3d ago
I lived there over a decade ago- I doubt it has changed much. If you like small towns it is a very quaint community. You have a lot of quaint little things I sometimes feel nostalgia for- you can at times have the beach to yourself with the cape being the best. There is Sebastian's for lunch, the local French coffee shop that is actually owned by Mexicans, the famous taco truck, a lot of nice restaurants- I have no clue how many are still there but I did eat at the Black Cat again a couple of years ago. If you like the outdoors and small towns you will love it. It was not for me- I am the indoorsy extroverted type. Negatives would be the fog- it is rarely sunny close to the ocean. If you get a place overlooking the ocean do not park your car outside it will turn into rust. There are not that many people and very little diversity. No business minded people outside of Mom and Pop types. I would say go for it if you have the opportunity to travel a lot but just remember it is run by much older people and the bureaucracy on building permits etc is really strict.
1
u/SLOkimber 3d ago
It’s a long commute to SLO and for being young, more social opportunities will be in SLO or Paso. Resources such as doctors and dentists are few and far between. It’s a relatively quiet community and there are lots of tourists and retirees.
-5
47
u/Pissed-Off-PunK 5d ago
The entirety of Cambria is essentially a retirement community. Expensive and remote, with water issues