Ben Lomond / Boulder Creek Rentals/Community (San Jose, Santa Cruz: condo, schools, live in)

[gracieanna]

YES! Actually I do. I lived in Felton for 18 years, Ben Lomond for about 7 years, then Boulder Creek for the last 12 years.

Ben Lomond is a bedroom community, as "suburban" as it gets up in the mountains, mostly families. Not a lot of crazies or cranksters except in the very remote portions.

Felton is close to Santa Cruz, so while it has rough mountain folk in the upper Zayante/Lompico area, the flatland people are more tame.

Boulder Creek is the farthest North, the most dense with trees and mountainsides and most isolated. It has about six bars/liquor stores in the tiny 3-block "downtown." Need I say more?

The people are more of a funny mix of groups not usually associated with one another and the smell of fresh meth cooking, pitbulls roaming unsupervised, etc. is a common sight.

Boulder Creek is beautiful, but even more brutal in winter than Felton/Ben Lomond. This draws a bit more renegade mentality in my observation.

[Hwy phantom]

Originally Posted by gracieanna

YES! Actually I do. I lived in Felton for 18 years, Ben Lomond for about 7 years, then Boulder Creek for the last 12 years.

Ben Lomond is a bedroom community, as "suburban" as it gets up in the mountains, mostly families. Not a lot of crazies or cranksters except in the very remote portions.

Felton is close to Santa Cruz, so while it has rough mountain folk in the upper Zayante/Lompico area, the flatland people are more tame.

Boulder Creek is the farthest North, the most dense with trees and mountainsides and most isolated. It has about six bars/liquor stores in the tiny 3-block "downtown." Need I say more?

The people are more of a funny mix of groups not usually associated with one another and the smell of fresh meth cooking, pitbulls roaming unsupervised, etc. is a common sight.

Boulder Creek is beautiful, but even more brutal in winter than Felton/Ben Lomond. This draws a bit more renegade mentality in my observation.

You're cherry picking and comparing certain areas comparing places like Glen Arbor to Kings Creek, why not Boulder Creek country club and it's plenty rural places in Ben Lomond such as Love Creek . When you talk about Felton you exclude Zayante/Lompico yet those are the two biggest neighborhoods in Felton.

On the topic of bars/liquor stores you sound even more disillusion than before, 6 bars what are you talking about?? Actually there's one, and there's two liquor stores the same amount of bars and liquor stores exist in Ben Lomond and Felton And what are you calling tiny, Downtown Ben Lomond is so small you might miss it if you blink and Felton doesn't even have a down town.

And as far as being remote how much longer does it take to get to Santa Cruz than Ben Lomond = 5 minutes how much longer than Felton= 10 minutes
big difference eh?

And when commuting over the hill for work you can get there quicker taking bear creek road than driving hwy 17.

My point is the Valley is basically the same all over and to make some comparison that the demographic is that much different in any of the three places is laughable.

[jaijai]

There are obvious and subtle differences between every town in the S.C. mountains and every town in the entire county.

[imcurious]

When you find a house you like, I would recommend you knock on some neighbor's doors and ask them what it's like to live in the particular neighborhood. I think knowing who your neighbors are is as important as liking the house/property. Good luck in your business! There is a lot of beauty in the mountains.

[TrueTimbers]

Originally Posted by jaijai

There are obvious and subtle differences between every town in the S.C. mountains and every town in the entire county.

Yes, but how about the orbital pull/sphere of influence... How far down does the San Jose orbital pull come... So far I have only considered Bonny Doon or Apotos to Watsonville direction... I am trying to avoid San Jose mindset...

[jaijai]

Originally Posted by TrueTimbers

Yes, but how about the orbital pull/sphere of influence... How far down does the San Jose orbital pull come... So far I have only considered Bonny Doon or Apotos to Watsonville direction... I am trying to avoid San Jose mindset...

I've never lived up in Felton, Ben Lomond, etc. but i've sure been up there a lot and i've never experienced a San Jose mind set (i'm assuming you mean like a dot.com / yuppie / ambitious / etc. mind set?)

[TrueTimbers]

Originally Posted by jaijai

I've never lived up in Felton, Ben Lomond, etc. but i've sure been up there a lot and i've never experienced a San Jose mind set (i'm assuming you mean like a dot.com / yuppie / ambitious / etc. mind set?)

Sort of...yes, more the "fast paced" type, that butts in front of you at a grocery store run you over in the parking lot type.

I

[jaijai]

Originally Posted by TrueTimbers

Sort of...yes, more the "fast paced" type, that butts in front of you at a grocery store run you over in the parking lot type.

I

oh yeah dem.
the not only me first but me second, third .... too type
blecchhhh.
i think they're multiplying more quickly than others.

[TrueTimbers]

LOL....
We will check it out too then... Otherwise we get a pretty narrow band in SC county that meets what we are looking for... We will spend some days kicken around there also...

[jaijai]

Originally Posted by TrueTimbers

LOL....
We will check it out too then... Otherwise we get a pretty narrow band in SC county that meets what we are looking for... We will spend some days kicken around there also...

Oh my.
I certainly and absolutely wouldn't avoid property / communities in the S.C. mountains out of concern for those aforementioned folks.
I can't remember what you're looking for exactly but i like looking at the listing at Donner Land $ Homes (that dollar sign was a mistype but i thought i'd leave it as it's appropriate).
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