The Changing Cultural Landscape of El Paso de Robles

In and around the city of El Paso de Robles, the cultural landscape is changing rapidly. Two major causes of these landscape changes are population growth and the shift from cattle ranching to viticulture in the surrounding area. This paper focuses first on population growth and some of its impacts on the cultural landscape, then on the rise of viticulture and landscape features associated with it. Whereas most of the landscape changes driven by population growth are typical of places almost everywhere, those created by the upsurge in viticulture and the wine tourism associated with it are often unique and give the city and its environs a distinctive character and sense of place.