By Chris Day
Published in the San Luis Obispo Tribune, March 2008

I, like many residents of Atascadero, am an "implant" to the area.

I moved to Atascadero as a teenager, when my parents decided to leave the Los Angeles area before I had a chance to experiment with drugs. I attended Atascadero High School (Go Greyhounds!), met and married my wife here, had two children here and sat by my mother's side when she died of cancer here. With the exception of a work transfer that took me and my family out of the area for a few years, I've lived here faithfully since the 1970s.

I've seen many changes in Atascadero. I was here when the city was incorporated. I saw the creation of the Atascadero Police Department. I saw a small town with three traffic signals (Traffic Way, Morro Road and Curbaril Avenue) grow and thrive. I fondly remember Beno's and the "Beno's for Levi's" stickers on car doors. I remember Williams Bros., Sprouse Reitz and Coronet.

I watched as my Greyhounds won CIF championships year after year. I bowled at the old bowling alley (now a vacant lot), walked past the old mortuary at El Camino Real and Morro Road, and remember being afraid to walk past the Talley Ho Tavern (now a florist shop).

I loved getting the Atascadero News a couple of days a week and remember seeing Tribune columnist Lon Allan all over town trying to find stories for the paper. I always looked forward to the Colony Days edition to see the old photos of our proud city.

I marched in the Colony Days Parade with the Greyhound Band, was a Greyhound football player, and rode on a tissue-paper float during the homecoming parade.

Yes, I've seen a lot of changes and have fond memories. I was always proud to call Atascadero home.

Nowadays, I'm not so proud. Actually, I'm sad and embarrassed. Every time I open the newspaper, I see another disheartening article about my city. I'm tired of reading about controversies and bickering. Here are a few of the many things I've had to read in the past few years:

• Wal-Mart (pro and con);
• City employees moving into the new administration building before they were allowed to;
• The creek setback;
• The dismal outlook for the city's economy;
• The giant vacant lot next to the Rancho Tee Motel that is supposed to have a multiplex, shops, etc. but now the builder can't seem to find businesses willing to rent;
• Trader Joe's deciding not to come here; and
• The FBI probe (does anyone know what this is all about?).

I could go on and on...

I'm tired of this stuff. I'm embarrassed to tell people I'm from Atascadero. I have friends who travel through the area on the freeway and refer to our city as "the land of 1,000 metal buildings."

People ask me where our downtown is, and I have to tell them we really don't have a downtown. While everyone is bickering, my street is becoming an obstacle course because of all the potholes. While the mayor issues vague news releases about an FBI probe, we have more and more businesses leaving the city.

Is it true that the owner of the grand old Carlton Hotel, David Weyrich, once sought to purchase the old gas station across El Camino Real but was turned down because the city didn't want one person owning so much of an intersection? Now, the Carlton is having trouble keeping the doors open. What are we going to do when this beautiful building closes? Remember what it was like when construction started and then stopped on the Carlton and, as a result, the building was boarded up for several years? I don't think our "downtown revitalization" could afford this to happen again.

I feel like the once proud city of Atascadero is now on the verge of death. I think we all need to set aside our differences and start thinking about what is best for our city. Stop politicizing everything and take care of business. Create an atmosphere where businesses want to do business with us. With the current environment, it's a wonder why anyone would want to do business in our city. My best friend is a longtime Atascadero business owner, and I sometimes pray he'd sell his business before things get worse and he loses everything.

I have my opinions about growth, Wal-Mart, the environment, etc., but I didn't discuss them intentionally. The things I've written about affect all of us regardless of your political or personal leanings.

We all need to flex to stop the bleeding of our city. Let's give our city an infusion and bring it back from the brink of death. If you have skills and talents that could help the city, let someone know. If you are willing to volunteer in the city to make something better, do it. Something has got to change or the history books will be the only reminder that our city ever really existed.

Thanks for listening.

Chris Day is a longtime resident of Atascadero.