Taxonomy term

Salinas is known as the "Salad Bowl to the world," and is the county seat and largest municipality of Monterey County, California. Salinas is located around 100 miles south of San Francisco. The population was 157,218 as of 2016.

The city is located at the mouth of the Salinas Valley roughly eight miles from the Pacific Ocean and has a climate more influenced by the ocean than the hot-summer interior. The marine climate is ideal for growing vegetables, berries, grapes and more. Salinas is known as the hometown of writer and Nobel Prize in Literature laureate John Steinbeck.

For our purposes here, we have included a few other important towns within the Salinas region, including Watsonville, King City, Greenfield, Soledad, Hollister, Gilroy, Monterey and more.

Climate - Salinas has cool and moderate temperatures resembling a mild Mediterranean climate with typical daily highs ranging from around 63 °F in the winter to around 75 °F in the summer. In 2015 Salinas was in the top ten American cities for cleanest air quality.

Entertainment - Salinas has an emerging arts scene including multiple art galleries and shows, live music, theater, urban art and murals and is home to several art deco buildings including the Monterey County Courthouse and the Salinas Californian Building.