Santa Cruz

[Petrala]

Originally Posted by rubyskye

I posted a long piece about this last night and then deleted it because it was too much of a negative rant about rentals here.
But yeah, it's really awful. I've been here for quite a few years and have lived in various places in S.C. county and in the last couple of years it seems rents have really skyrocketed.
I have to, once again, find a place and i'm having a really difficult time. I have a dog and that makes even more of a challenge.
Us counter culture folks are getting pushed out. I don't wanna hate on the rich but it's difficult not to. They buy up magical places and it makes it nearly impossible for those of us who don't have money to stay here. It happens everywhere.
A 400 sq. ft. studio can cost up to $1200.00 and you're living on someone else's property in their trip and with very little privacy at times.
I'll stop now before i start ranting negative again.

Oh tell me about that. I've lived on property with landlords that were actually psycho. As in mentally ill. As in SWF. As in think of the scariest slasher film and just one step short of that. 2 of them inherited their real estate from family, which made sense since they didn't seem capable of holding a job otherwise and 1 made $$ in the boom era of Silicon Valley and then apparently went crazy afterwards and so lords over her estate like a black widow drawing in unsuspecting students, out-of-town visitors or anyone else unlucky enough to cross her path.

The other part about Santa Cruz that makes rents impossible, is the huge amount of housing that is devoted to the tourist trade. OR that is in the form of second or third homes for the uber rich. You just have to go to West Cliff during off season at night and see how many houses are unoccupied. During season, many of the dumpy vacation rentals go for $1200 a week, the cleaner or nicer ones $2000-4000 a week. There is NO WAY in HELL that someone who is pouring coffee at an espresso bar or an artist is going to be able to compete with that type of housing costs. WHICH is one reason why Santa Cruz is losing a lot of the charm and character that people go to see and soak up.

Most of my artist friends have left. The only ones that stay either do so because they live in their parents house, they bought a home before homes became $1million for a 2 bedroom, or they have a stable rental. The problem with stable rentals is that they are often owned by an elderly owner and when they die, the greedy little offspring are only too happy to give 30 days notice to someone who has lived at the home for 15+ years and then put the place up for sale.

[colleensue]

Sounds to me like your homeless shelter isn't being run properly, its turned into a transient shelter. Here's a suggestion for the shelter. A homeless shelter is suppose to be for residents who due to some unforeseen circumstance find their selves with out a home, and a homeless shelter is suppose to have a set of guide lines on who can receive help at the shelter. One of those guide lines is proof of residency in the community for a certain period of time. The usual way this is proved is either by showing pay stubs from employment for the last 30 days or proof or a past utility bill or lease from their former address in the community, where as a transient shelter is for those who wander into town and for some reason have no means of support, A transient shelters goal is to get these people with family or back where they belong. The usual stay at a transient shelter is only 7 days every 30 days. If your homeless shelter is run correctly as a place of help for residents of the community and transients are being turned away it will deter them from coming to the community and provide the community with more resources to help those who live there and have establishes themselves as a part of the community.

[colleensue]

Originally Posted by Petrala

Oh tell me about that. I've lived on property with landlords that were actually psycho. As in mentally ill. As in SWF. As in think of the scariest slasher film and just one step short of that. 2 of them inherited their real estate from family, which made sense since they didn't seem capable of holding a job otherwise and 1 made $$ in the boom era of Silicon Valley and then apparently went crazy afterwards and so lords over her estate like a black widow drawing in unsuspecting students, out-of-town visitors or anyone else unlucky enough to cross her path.

The other part about Santa Cruz that makes rents impossible, is the huge amount of housing that is devoted to the tourist trade. OR that is in the form of second or third homes for the uber rich. You just have to go to West Cliff during off season at night and see how many houses are unoccupied. During season, many of the dumpy vacation rentals go for $1200 a week, the cleaner or nicer ones $2000-4000 a week. There is NO WAY in HELL that someone who is pouring coffee at an espresso bar or an artist is going to be able to compete with that type of housing costs. WHICH is one reason why Santa Cruz is losing a lot of the charm and character that people go to see and soak up.

Most of my artist friends have left. The only ones that stay either do so because they live in their parents house, they bought a home before homes became $1million for a 2 bedroom, or they have a stable rental. The problem with stable rentals is that they are often owned by an elderly owner and when they die, the greedy little offspring are only too happy to give 30 days notice to someone who has lived at the home for 15+ years and then put the place up for sale.

California is expensive to live in no matter what city it is, as with other places such as New York. If the cost of rent for an average apartment would be lowered to an amount affordable for an individual earning min. wage That alone would greatly reduce the number of homeless in cities, many of them work they just don't earn enough to pay rent. In my mind it all boils down to one word greed. Everyone wants to live a comfortable life, without money worries but some where along the way they lose their compassion for others and become greedy. Every thing about them becomes about having more and more money then their stressing on how to keep all that money. That's what the American Dream has turned into. I am not saying everyone here is greedy but that is what many foreigners see and I have heard them many times referring to us as the greedy Americans.

[Bluesbabe]

Santa Cruz also has some of the highest, most unreasonable motel-hotel rates. It's worse than San Francisco. Whenever I make plans to vacation in SF I have less frustration in finding something acceptable. It's terrible.

Last year I engaged in a conversation with a man who'd been born and raised in Santa Cruz. His parents still live there, and he said that they get by okay because they've lived there for so long. "But," he added, "once you leave there you can never afford to go back." Sad, isn't it?

[jaynetarzana]

Originally Posted by Bluesbabe

Santa Cruz also has some of the highest, most unreasonable motel-hotel rates. It's worse than San Francisco. Whenever I make plans to vacation in SF I have less frustration in finding something acceptable. It's terrible.

You are right about this. We are moving back to the area in 33 days and I was looking at hotels for our family until we can find a rental and they are outrageous! I also looked into vacation rentals and they are equally outrageous. Luckily we have friends in the area who are going to let us use their vacation home for a week. Otherwise, I think we'd have to stay far away and drive to Santa Cruz every day.

[Grumbler]

Originally Posted by Deserter

It's a beautiful place with its only flaw being the cost of housing.

I lived in Santa Cruz for 7-years. Agreed, it's a beautiful place, but the flaws go beyond the cost of housing. There's also the cost of living, congestion, and too many people (residents and visitors) in a relatively confined space. There's more stress, too, thanks to the negative aspects I mentioned above.

Santa Cruz evolved into a bedroom community for Silicon Valley commuters starting around the mid-70s. In fact, I was driving btw Santa Cruz and Fremont for a few months before relocating to the South Bay.

Not only is Santa Cruz a bedroom community, it's also a tourist town. Meaning, lots of traffic heading to/from the beaches and broadwalk.

BTW, I used to live at 1910 Jose Ave in Santa Cruz. The single car garage has a kitchen, living room, bathroom and bedroom in the back. Before that, lived at 408 Trevethan with big garage behind the house - used to be on the corner where the house next door is.