Santa Cruz-atmosphere/culture (San Jose, San Francisco, Monterey: how much, find a job, earthquakes)

[ryangraves]

what type of people are in santa cruz
is it easy to make friends
I moved to Charlotte NC and made many friends in 2 months
Ive been here in Idaho for 6 motnhs and have made 2 friends
also Ive met a whole slew of compulsive liars here
and many people who claim that they want to hang out stand me up
and I havent experienced that b4 in my life
most people tell me that thats everywhere you go
but really not bc I havent experienced that until I have moved to the NorthWest

[rubyskye]

i love santa cruz. it's an open and diverse and very tolerant free flowing place and i'm very happy and grateful to live in santa cruz county.
there are alot of threads on the general california forum about santa cruz by the way.
i quess whether or not you make friends depends on many variables. right?
check it out. come for a visit. it's only a 15 (or more) hour drive from ID
where are you in idaho by the way?

[ryangraves]

I am in Couer d'alene
Northern Idaho

well what Im trying to ask
I realize making friends is depending on many factors
but here in Idaho I make great conversations and connections with people and they say they want to hang out and then when I hit them up they make up excuses everytime
you feel it may be like that in Santa Cruz
also in the midwest and the East coast
any time I hit someone up on myspace
we would end up meeting up
is it hard to get someone to meet up in cali
it is here in Idaho

[rubyskye]

o.k. so it's about how sincere people are .... how much heart they have.
i don't know how to answer you question about whether or not you'll find friends in Santa Cruz.
i think though that it may be true that when someone back east says something they tend to really mean it and they don't say things lightly and don't take things so lightly either.
i like truly sincere people ... people with real depth (so i tend to have fewer friends - as in quality over quanity) and i suppose that what you're encountering is a kind of shallowness? and/or lack of care/heart?
i tend to think that if you find a place that you feel really good about you'll also find the people that you resonate with. in other words if you're where you want to be for yourself then the people will be there too.
i hope you find what you're looking for. santa cruz is a wonderful place especially if you love the ocean. even if you don't. i don't know how old you are but it's a young place. UCSC is here. people are pretty happy. idaho is a tough place i think. there's a hardness about the people, generally speaking.
anyway, maybe check it out this summer when it's warm enough to camp if you don't have alot of $$$.
and you asked what kind of people are here. all different kinds. it's a very tolerant place and even if someone has dreads and/or tattoos you can still find a job. it's california in the best sense. freedom. live and let live. flow. there are alot of students, freaks (as in individuals in the best sense) old and young hippies, regular working people, mexicans, whites, (not too many african americans however) ummmmm, lets see, what other kind of people are there? artists, good music scene, surfers, that's all i can think of at the moment it's a great place.

[ryangraves]

I sent a message to your inbox
so was you saying that people out there dont tend to say what they mean as much as the eat coast?

[rubyskye]

well, i dunno. it's been said that californians are superficial. i don't think that's true though. you just gotta find your way.

[carolync]

In my experience it can be hard to meet people, you really have to get out and do things. However, Santa Cruz is full of diverse personality so if you have a specific hobby or interest you can probably find someone who shares the same interest as you. Like anywhere there are fake people, but by and large most people I've encountered have been pretty friendly and genuine. Because of the student population there are a lot of people living in Santa Cruz who are not originally from the area, as well.

[Ohs]

Well your first problem is meeting people on myspace, you are gonna get flaky people no matter where you go if you're meeting them online generally. I live in San Jose and love to go to Santa Cruz, everyone seems to be pretty easy going. I don't know anything about Idaho, but Santa Cruz is one of my favorite places in Northern California.

[Bluesmama]

Well, you would love Santa Cruz based on this:

If you love the ocean and salt air.
If you like beautiful coastal towns.
It has a great wharf that sells fresh fish and has several terrific restaurants.
If you prefer to live in midst of diversity.
If your politics lean towards the left (warning: Santa Cruz is an incredibly liberal city!)
If you enjoy the signs of it's colorful history (many hippies remained and carved out livings for themselves; surfing remains a highly popular draw there; and the famous Boardwalk continues to draw generations ~ and I can always tell when a "baby boomer" is riding the carrousel for nostalgic reasons)
You like mild winters.
Close enough to Monterey, San Francisco, even Yosemite.


You may not like it based on this:

Dense population (but, then, what city isn't?).
High Cost of Living into the stratosphere (esp. housing ~ DO your investigation into this first!)
If you can't stand being around scatterings of homeless people.
Cool summers ("hot days" in July & August are not that plentiful)
If you're freaked out by the idea of earthquakes.