Grover Beach, California: Check it out for yourself

Residents admit it: it's not exactly happening in Grover Beach.

"It's mostly tire shops and Mexican restaurants," said 32-year-old Fred Hornady, owner of a bamboo business who has lived in Grover Beach for two years. "My store is about the most interesting thing here."

With a main-street restaurant called Goober's Grill and a wealth of specialty service shops for anything from solid screens to sunbuggie rentals, one might expect Grover Beach to be an interesting center of activity in San Luis Obispo County.

However, the 2.25 square-mile region is often overlooked as its popular northern neighbor Pismo Beach attracts many tourists coming off Highway 1. It is a near-midpoint between Santa Barbara and Monterey Bay and is a member of the so-called South County Five Cities, along with Pismo, Arroyo Grande, Halcyon, and Oceano.

Grover Beach lacks the modern structures and attractions its fellow sister cities offer to tourists. Instead it sports weathered signs and intimate, clustered plazas with small businesses and a few chain stores. The focus of the city is basically a main street, Grand Avenue, which runs throughout Grover Beach and is flanked by residences on either side.

However, it resembles neighboring South County areas in demographics. Grover Beach was a city of 13,067 residents in 2000 (13,001 in 2001), 5,023 households, and 3,305, as recorded by the Census of Population and Housing.

The median age was 35, with 25.6% under the age of 18, 9.1% from 18 to 24, 32.0% from 25 to 44, 21.7% from 45 to 64, and 11.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The ratio of women to men was about equal, 100:94.1.

The average size of a Grover Beach household in 2000 was 2.58; the average family size was 3.07. The median income for a household was $38,087, the median income for a family $41,859, and per capita $18,812.

An average home cost $177,800 in Grover Beach, according to Key to the City.

About 8.8% of families and 11.3% of the population lived below the poverty line, including 12.0% of those under age 18 and 8.1% of those aged 65 or over.

The city is predominantly white, with 79.75% of its population Caucasian, 22.51% Hispanic/Latino, 3.75% Asian, 1.69% Native American, 1.03% African-American, 0.30% Pacific Islander, 9.23% from other races, and 4.25 of two or more races.

Efforts to promote and celebrate diversity in Grover Beach include a yearly Ethnic Street Faire and Stone Soup Festival sponsored by the City of Grover Beach and Grover Beach Chamber of Commerce. The event included activities like the Dune Run Run and food and craft booths, and encouraged dancing with Latin, African, Scottish, Australian, jazz and country music.

In addition to demographic similarities between the Five Cities, Grover Beach also shares the ecological benefits of being on the Central Coast. Tourists and locals alike appreciate the moderate climate of Grover Beach and that fact that it only receives 20 inches of rain a year. "I moved here because I like the weather," said Tatiana, 27, of Oceano.

The majority of visitors and residents say the city is known for the beach. According to the Grover Beach City Manager's Office, the Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area brings in more than 1 million visitors a year.

Access to the beach is right off Grand Avenue. While the beach is used for several recreational activities, off-roading is extremely popular; the San Luis Obispo Tribune wrote in April that it is a $200 million industry in the county.

Locals, including Cal Poly students from San Luis Obispo, prize the beach for being less popular than Pismo Beach and throw bonfires in addition to dune-hiking and horseback riding. The drive-on quality is also valuable to visitors.

Another attraction in Grover Beach is the South County Skate Park. Skaters throughout the Five Cities area value the 13,234 square feet of ‘crete and its state-of-the-art design.

Grover Beach stands apart from many cities in experiencing a fairly recent name change from "Grover City." Based on a history provided by the Grover Beach City Hall, the moniker mod took place after a 1959 debate over the redundancy of the name "City of Grover City." Residents also desired a more "ocean-oriented" title. Thus, in 1992 "Grover City" became "Grover Beach" by a vote of 2,275-2,179.

The Town of Grover was incorporated after a December 21, 1959 election in which 636 voted in favor against 380 of the 1,900 registered voters. Fay Keen was the first mayor of the newly incorporated Grover City. After development boomed in the mid-1970s, growth in Grover City has leveled off at an intimate level.

The area was first claimed in 1867 and named El Pizmo Rancho. Twenty years later, Dwight William Grover filed plans at the San Luis Obispo County Court House for development with the intent of using the land for a train station and other commercial growth. The first store opened in the mid-1940s and was followed by the first post office and fire and water district.

The train station D.W. Grover dreamed of building in the city came to fruition when in November 1996 the Amtrak began rail service with two daily stops on Grand Avenue. Various other modes of public transportation are available to Grover Beach residents, including bus transportation services with stops throughout San Luis Obispo County and airports in San Luis Obispo and Oceano. The one educational institution within city limits is Grover Heights Elementary School, a K-6 public school. High school, college, and other students can choose to attend nearby establishments.

While Grover Beach features basic services with a few eccentricities, it is not the first-choice destination of most visitors. However, citizens are content with the relative peace of the area surrounded by tourist turf.

"It's not the most interesting place," said Santa Maria resident Jason Barenchi, 21, who works in Grover Beach. "But it's a good city."