California Polytechnic State University
IN-27: Innovation D

With the focus of making San Luis Obispo (SLO) an even more vibrant community for residents and students to reside in, community representatives, Cal Poly and Cuesta College administrators, students and San Luis Obispo city staff have worked side by side to coordinate their efforts through the Neighborhood Wellness/ Community Civility Effort. The initiative aimed to discuss the changing culture of neighborhoods in San Luis Obispo, resulting from the shifts of owner-occupied households to the increase in rental units, specifically by student-aged individuals. Collectively, the working group has a vision of building “a community in which year-round residents and students actively collaborate to build community and communicate in an environment that fosters mutual respect and understanding." The unified goal of the working group has been to develop ideas for stakeholder consideration that are intended to “enhance the quality of life for all residents.” The group responded to the six objectives created by the San Luis Obispo City Council with subsequent recommendations, desired outcomes, implementation leads and partners, and timelines for implementation. Neighborhood Wellness 2.0 defined short-term actions that enhance quality of life (like regular neighborhood tours), defined stakeholders’ needs, (which led to the creation of a rental housing inspection program), identified university and city best practices (like a transition to off-campus living program), reviewed law enforcement best practices (leading to Cal Poly police enforcing the university’s municipal code off campus), reviewed educational best practices (resulting in an annual communications plan), and prepared for sustained engagement through a reinvestment in the Student Community Liaison Committee. The Neighborhood Wellness 2.0 program is an award winning and innovative approach to tackling ongoing issues between permanent SLO City residents and students who reside in adjacent properties.