Santa Cruz STILL sucks!!!! 2011 version (San Jose, San Francisco: neighborhoods, to buy, school)

[TigerBlood]

Originally Posted by tireeskye

Well, you may not use the word "hate" but your words express it ... or something like it or close to it.
And everyone has their own perceptions.
You're educating people about your particular perceptions.
That you've already made up your mind about S.C. (or anything) doesn't allow for change.
And there are many places to live in Aptos (more so than Soquel) that aren't in the woods (which many people love btw).
You're hell bent on being dissatisfied.
Fitting in isn't where it's at.
Opening your mind and your heart is.
You're too young to be so closed!

Close minded? Hateful? I don't think so, lady. I wouldn't be looking for apartments in San Francisco at this very moment if I was close minded or hateful.

When I wrote this thread, I wasn't asking for advice from a Physician, so let's stay on topic.

It's funny these people can't defend the actual issues that plague their city, that they have to resort to personal comments, but that's okay, that's the Santa Cruz I know and "love".

[tireeskye]

Originally Posted by TigerBlood

More typical Santa Cruz locals. This one actually diagnosed me with anger issues lol to hide her own problems. I'm not angry at all, how can I be angry about a city that isn't my hometown? I'm sure I've done more for this city than most locals, but that's beside the point.

"If it prohibits people from flocking to Santa Cruz, so much better". This actually proves my point that they don't want you in their secret "Paradise City" Society. Especially if you aren't like them.

So take note transplanters, we've got two locals already on this thread (And more to come) That don't want you here.

Thanks for backing up my facts

If you don't see that you're angry well than what can one say?!
It's kinda obvious that you are.
And one of the problems is that S.C. county is far too impacted ... you don't have to take that personally.
Santa Cruz was "ruined" (to an extent) because of the moneyed / dot com "yuppie" people that came in and wanted to buy into the magic and own what can't be owned.
So many people that were born and raised here have had to leave because of the impact of those goobers.
They can't live and raise their own family in the place that they love.
That's the bummer.
That's what the "locals" that you refer to are pissed off about.
That's where the attitude comes from.
It's not 'cause of young people like yourself.
So you can drop your defensiveness about being a "transplant".
It's not about you.

[tireeskye]

Originally Posted by TigerBlood

Close minded? Hateful? I don't think so, lady. I wouldn't be looking for apartments in San Francisco at this very moment if I was close minded or hateful.

When I wrote this thread, I wasn't asking for advice from a Physician, so let's stay on topic.

It's funny these people can't defend the actual issues that plague their city, that they have to resort to personal comments, but that's okay, that's the Santa Cruz I know and "love".

I aint no lady! and i'm sure no physician and you can't expect to create a thread and then dictate the responses.
And stay on what topic?
And i'm well aware of the problems in the county.
But, for me, the love i have for the place allows me to be open and tolerant.
And good luck in San Francisco.
With your attitude .... well, good luck.
You think S.F. doesn't have big problems?
You referred to the "inner" in a previous post.
Change your inner and your outer will change accordingly.

[TigerBlood]

Originally Posted by tireeskye

If you don't see that you're angry well than what can one say?!
It's kinda obvious that you are.
And one of the problems is that S.C. county is far too impacted ... you don't have to take that personally.
Santa Cruz was "ruined" (to an extent) because of the moneyed / dot com "yuppie" people that came in and wanted to buy into the magic and own what can't be owned.
So many people that were born and raised here have had to leave because of the impact of those goobers.
They can't live and raise their own family in the place that they love.
That's the bummer.
That's what the "locals" that you refer to are pissed off about.
That's where the attitude comes from.
It's not 'cause of young people like yourself.
So you can drop your defensiveness about being a "transplant".
It's not about you.

what do you want me to do? Get in my birthday suit and run around downtown in a party hat so you know I'm not mad? Sheesh.

And I would suggest you re-read your history of Santa Cruz. First of all, if the yuppies couldn't expand this city, then how did they ruin it? By doing absolutely nothing? Most people that live here don't deal with these "goobers" because simply put, they're not here.

Santa Cruz in the 60's was very popular with tourism. The boardwalk was the heart of that tourism. This was also the time that the drug culture in San Francisco was very big. By the 70's, San Francisco's leaders were desperately trying to clean up the city's image. They couldn't root them all out, but they did the best they could. Keep in mind that Santa Cruz's drug culture was very minimal at this time. A lot of "hippies" from San Francisco relocated to Santa Cruz. The Grateful Dead praised Santa Cruz and even recorded an album in the SC Mountains. This was the beginning of the end of Santa Cruz. What you don't know is that government officials in SC in the 60's wanted to make Santa Cruz "Miami West". They wanted to build, expand, and make this city VERY profitable. When those hippies arrived, they showed complete disregard for this city. The hippy culture literally burned Santa Cruz to the ground. What you see today is the aftermath of that, and it's not going to improve. Ever. in the 60's, the people who lived here were open to expansion. There was no argument or protests regarding that. Fast forward a few hippy generations later, and that obviously isn't the case anymore.

[tireeskye]

Oh man.
Anyway, being one of dem "hippies" that i sense you're not too fond of, i see that it's best that we don't take this any further.
We're kinda living in errrr ..... different truths.
The notion that the counter culture ruined Santa Cruz is a sad "un-truth" ... imo.
Of course, it depends on what one means by "ruined".
And it depends on who one is and what one values.
And much of history (which i'm pretty darn aware of re: Santa Cruz) is a perceptual recording of events and certainly the interpretation of those events is biased.
Unless one is extremely objective and has an eagle eye view ... is wide open without bias / attitude, one is necessarily looking at those historical events through a particular / individual lens.
I hope you find a community that suits you better.

[Snort]

Tiger,
If you're going to SF, you're heading into Panhandler Central. Just so you know.

[Radical347]

OMG, someone else who doesn't like Santa Cruz! I thought I was the only one!

Santa Cruz is one place that I've never gotten the extreme love for. To me it feels like a poor man's San Francisco. Dirty city, panhandlers, hippies of the wrong kind, lots of drugs...everything that's wrong with SF just a lot smaller and more secluded, with very little of what's right about SF.

On City-Data I'm always surprised to see Santa Cruz recommended for so many people who move to the Bay Area, even if it has nothing to do with what they're looking for. (i.e. in a recent post, someone said they were working in Milpitas, wanted a bustling urban area, a sizeable black population, and as short a commute as possible. And someone recommends Santa Cruz. There are other examples like this, too.)

The beach seems to be its main attraction...but IMO the beach there isn't that great, especially coming from Southern California. It's probably the best beach in the Bay Area, but that's not saying much. The natural scenery may be pretty...but so's everywhere else.

[tireeskye]

Originally Posted by Radical347

OMG, someone else who doesn't like Santa Cruz! I thought I was the only one!

Santa Cruz is one place that I've never gotten the extreme love for. To me it feels like a poor man's San Francisco. Dirty city, panhandlers, hippies of the wrong kind, lots of drugs...everything that's wrong with SF just a lot smaller and more secluded, with very little of what's right about SF.

On City-Data I'm always surprised to see Santa Cruz recommended for so many people who move to the Bay Area, even if it has nothing to do with what they're looking for. (i.e. in a recent post, someone said they were working in Milpitas, wanted a bustling urban area, a sizeable black population, and as short a commute as possible. And someone recommends Santa Cruz. There are other examples like this, too.)

The beach seems to be its main attraction...but IMO the beach there isn't that great, especially coming from Southern California. It's probably the best beach in the Bay Area, but that's not saying much. The natural scenery may be pretty...but so's everywhere else.

You're not the only one.
In general, it's been my observation that people tend to really love it or, if not hate it, have very strong negative feelings about it.
It's a provocative place for reasons both obvious and mysterious.

[ilushka]

I am, also, an Eastern European guy who graduated from UCSC in 2007 and I've heard similar complaining from other students before. The thing with Santa Cruz is that you either love it or hate it, and if you hate it all you'll see are drugs, the dirt, the unwelcoming locals, etc. You really have to have a certain personality to enjoy Santa Cruz. If you think you will enjoy San Jose or San Francisco more then it is obvious that Santa Cruz is not for you, and that's OK. I lived most of my life in US in San Jose and spent my share time in San Francisco and they are almost polar opposites of Santa Cruz. It is the city for the anti-glamor, non-conformist, anti-culture, alternative lifestyle type of people; in some ways it pretty much stands against the whole Bay Area culture. At least that's how I see it and I love it for that.

The issue about jobs you brought up is true, if I could get a technical job after my graduation I would still be living there. Somebody mentioned about living in the surrounding county, and that's actually what I did - I lived in Felton. It was much cheaper, I got to drive on Highway 9 every day, and stayed away from some of the annoying antics of campus' kids. My favorite time was Summer and Winter breaks when everyone left to go back home and my buddy, who lived in Family Student Housing, and I got to run around abandoned campus all day and night. I also want to mention that Santa Cruz itself never was considered "liberal" until they slapped the university there. It was, and still is in some ways, a pretty conservative place. Complaining about homeless and drugs is just silly, how much of that is going on in San Francisco? Plenty. Maybe not so much in San Jose, but it's a city for "professionals" who identify themselves by their 60-hours-a-week jobs and who are mainly preoccupied with the home values and the quality of school districts the said homes are in. To me Santa Cruz allows you to escape the banalities of mainstream Bay Area life, do your own thing, and be accepted for it. To give you an example, I was at a 2010 New Year's party in San Francisco in this $1.5 mil loft owned by successful startup owner. Lots of professionals there in their mid thirties and up, I'm 26. Main first question I got there when meeting people? "So what do you do for living?", that never happened to me in Santa Cruz...

I think what you consider lack of desire to improve a "**** hole" is actually a desire to preserve an "oasis"

-- ilya

[Curmudgeon]

Originally Posted by TigerBlood

So take note transplanters, we've got two locals already on this thread (And more to come) That don't want you here.

Actually, they probably don't want YOU there and, given your attitude toward it, I can't say that I blame them. You swipe with a ridiculously broad brush!