Atascadero is a city of about 30,000 midway along California's Central Coast, between San Luis Obispo and Paso Robles in San Luis Obispo County. The downtown has a strong architectural centrepiece in the Atascadero City Hall (1918), a domed Italianate building designed by the city's founder, E.G. Lewis, who intended Atascadero as a utopian colony. The Charles Paddock Zoo, a small but well-regarded zoo for its size, sits in Atascadero Lake Park on the south side of town.
The civic centrepiece is the Sunken Gardens, a small park ringed by the City Hall, the Carlton Hotel, and a clutch of restaurants. The Atascadero Printery, the original 1915 building Lewis used to promote his colony, survives in slow restoration a few blocks east. Time a visit to coincide with Colony Days in mid-October if you can.
Atascadero is a good base for the Paso Robles wine country to the north, with over 200 wineries within easy reach, and for the beaches at Morro Bay and Cayucos about 15 miles west. The town has a walkable downtown with local restaurants and shops, and makes a convenient stop on the drive between the Bay Area and Los Angeles.