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I don't run in any circle. And although i am in various parts of S.C. proper regularly, my "stomping grounds" are Aptos, Soquel, Capitola. So it may have not to do with the circles we run in, but where we find ourselves from day to day.
It's still an amazing place to live. I still love it. I haven't left. And yes, there are many friendly, open people in the county. I encounter them daily ... hourly. I love it. I love to live in a place where people are grateful to be and to live where they do. I am one of those grateful people who can live on the Monterey Bay (although in order to do it i have to live in a trailer in the redwoods which is kinda great for 7 or so months of the year and otherwise kinda s____. Oh well. My choices, my life).
But, for example, drive to Aptos during the weekday. It used to be an enjoyable experience. It used to be quiet and traffic- free between commuter times. Even commuter times weren't that bad. Aptos itself was quiet, mellow, easy and relatively empty. Now it's a zoo. And the city planners are going to allow even more development (even another New Leaf) when Aptos at this point is bursting at the seams.
Many people who grew up in Santa Cruz can't even afford to live in their home town. Why do you think that is? Do you think that just possibly, Silicon Valley has something to do with it?
And the rental scene in the county is deplorable with many, many "high-end slumlords".
There are a few of us who remain but most of the hippies have left (and i'm not talking fashion statement hippies or hapless / homeless souls).
And if you consider development and an unsustainable number of people in an area (unsustainable in the sense that every area has a point where, when there are too many people, a place becomes imbalanced) "improvement" (i don't) then i take you point.
So maybe it's not the circles we travel in but what we most value and whether we can acknowledge that it's both a paradisiacal place but has also changed in ways that aren't so good at all. I can hold both of those "truths".
I understand. Seems the "heartburn" is not really over people as you described pretty negatively before but the growing number of people in general. That's a little different, and of course I understand the general sentiment when it comes to the negatives of urbanization. Having grown up in SoCal amidst open fields that soon became housing developments, I fully understand. I don't want this little exchange to turn into a NorCal vs SoCal type rivalry. I just chock up those differences and preferences to the old adage, "different strokes for different folks."
That said, I am tempted to make the point as I have with more than a few others who complain of the same thing, there is a reason people are drawn to certain areas and not others, why the cost of real estate gets pricier here versus there. Desirability is certainly one of them, and because that factor is so strong all along the Monterey Bay area (and Bay area in general), hard to expect less rather than more people wanting to live here.
Case in point a woman who had much the same heartburn, so she and her husband moved up to Oregon where they could buy a home for "pennies on the dollar" there compared to here, but again..., there is a reason for that!
For me personally, certainly as one who is here in part because of the love for nature and wide-open spaces (like the ocean), I don't deny there are more people here than say 20 years ago, but on balance with the benefits that this area still offers, complaining about that is in my opinion like complaining you are second instead of first in line at the salad bar.
Or put another way from a different perspective, from "my stomping grounds," my commute to/from work is all of 3 miles along Cliff Drive where I don't encounter much traffic other than those pulling over to catch a glimpse of the amazing sunrises and sunsets over the ocean that I get to see daily. True, the traffic did get pretty thick there for a while when the whales were putting on a show just off the cliffs almost every day a few months ago. Then there are the bike events, surf events and all that sort of thing that sometimes bog traffic down a bit, but I don't mind. Sure beats the freeways that I left behind.
I also enjoyed watching the two new round-abouts getting put in on approach to the pier that I think are great improvements. The wharf is getting a "face lift" in honor of its 100th anniversary too I hear. There is the new Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Exploration Center that I like to pop into every now and then as well (free admission). All in part somewhat more possible thanks to the property taxes brought in by higher property values. Seems only fair to consider the good along with the bad in those regards, right?
All to say, all considered, we enjoy our "stomping grounds" about as much as anyone can, though I won't go as far as to call it perfect. We enjoy Aptos and surrounding area too, much as we consider all of the Monterey Bay our "stomping grounds," and why not when we can be at one end or the other in a matter of an hour!?! In fact, you might find us on any given weekend at the Starbucks there at the end of Trout Gulch Road where sometimes we get a coffee before walking the nearby polo grounds or Forest of Nisene Marks State Park. No doubt that Starbucks is something of a new addition to your area as well, but we like that spot regardless.
Either way, if less people is your thing, you live in a great spot where access to natural open spaces with few people is all around you. Those same open spaces have been open as long as I can remember, and if there is anything to blame for more people here who want to enjoy the same thing, it is that beauty that everyone wishes they can see on vacation, that we can see here every day!
Look up Big Basin Redwood State Park. You start at Waddell Beach and bike through the Redwoods into the park. It a truly amazing, magical place. One of the gems of Santa Cruz for sure. Some people hike in as well and even stay overnight.
Derek
Ha! Thanks much, but I surely don't need to look up Big Basin! We started visiting Big Basin way back when we were still doing camping trips with the kids, Big Basin one of our favorite parks in part because it is also striking distance to Santa Cruz. When the kids were young, I remember hiking from the campsite to the look-out deck...
Since moving to Santa Cruz, we have also walked into the park from Waddell Beach, but we couldn't go as far as we wanted, because dogs are not allowed, so we had to leave our dog behind in the truck while we went as far as that short time allowed. Agreed, this is another beautiful spot, and we have been looking forward to going back without our dog so we can make more of a hike of it, maybe to the bike trail where you took those sweeping sky view pictures, but that looks like a long ways up!
Still, I know my wife and I would like to get there, maybe soon, but so many places to see, so little time...
You won't find me at a starbucks.
You kinda still don't get it.
It's not about me complaining or being second in line at a friggin salad bar.
It's about a particular cultural paradigm that brings negative change.
It doesn't have to be that way but people are visionless, resigned and have an acceptance and tolerance for what i find anathema.
You won't find me at a starbucks.
You kinda still don't get it.
It's not about me complaining or being second in line at a friggin salad bar.
It's about a particular cultural paradigm that brings negative change.
It doesn't have to be that way but people are visionless, resigned and have an acceptance and tolerance for what i find anathema.
I understand the whole Starbucks heartburn as well, since I come from more the want of independents, uniqueness and anti-strip mall standards. I gained my first real appreciation for GOOD coffee in Europe where you don't need to worry where you might order a cup. I only wish that were true in the States.
I think my wife loves coffee more than I do, and that's truly saying something. Problem is, the chances of getting a GOOD cup of coffee are slim-to-none at most cafes and restaurants in the states, but at Starbucks, you can count on the same GOOD cup of coffee every time.
Depending on what you value most (assuming you even drink coffee), you can either go to where you can count on enjoying a GOOD cup of coffee (at Starbucks as we have found), or you can take your chances elsewhere. Especially for those who might tend to get around and not know what one cafe is like versus another, you need not concern yourself with what you are getting when you go to Starbucks -- anywhere.
I know there are negatives about all that sort of thing that some people are loath to tolerate, but this too is another source of heartburn I happily don't share.
I'm not here to change anyone's feelings about where they live or how to live, cultural differences, societal changes and all the rest, but I do think that lamenting the inevitable changes that time forever brings, clinging to the status quot in these regards, the intolerance of change, can keep people from enjoying to the fullest what all there is to enjoy regardless. That, in my opinion, is a mistake...
I vote to preserve our open spaces, contribute money and taxes for those sorts of initiates too. I am not in favor of the stupid urban planning (or lack thereof) that Los Angeles allowed, the likes of which have caused many people like me to find this area where I still can't believe the amount of open space, especially along the coast that has remained preserved. I make a quick right and then left up Highway 1, and I am immediately in wide open space, with the ocean to my left and lush farmlands and open spaces to my right, for miles and miles and miles.
I don't know many other people other than from around here can say that, but I sure am glad I am one of those who can!
No man is an island and two men on an island tends to be a problem.
I give up.
You misunderstand what i'm saying and where i'm coming from and categorize me in a way that's inaccurate.
You go on and on and rationalize what's going on because you can still enjoy your life.
The social and environmental changes (in some cases catastrophic) will probably not impact you directly in any obvious ways.
The changes you refer to are inevitable only because people don't see what's really going on, don't care about what's happening, or are resigned to what's happening and feel powerless to do anything.
You've got a nice little corner of the S.C. world. Good for you. Seriously, i don't begrudge you of that.
But realize that you're in a little bubble that your relative wealth provides for you.
You have the attitude of privilege.
Even this area is still somewhat protected and bubbled.
And i don't need to be told / reminded of the virtues of the Monterey Bay. I've been here for a long time. If i didn't love it here, i'd leave in a heartbeat. Because i do see what's going on and because i do care about what's going on and because i am not resigned to the status quo, doesn't mean i don't appreciate where i am.
And i don't drink coffee.
I prefer green tea with my cigarette.
Last edited by blueskywalker; 02-04-2016 at 11:19 AM..
I give up.
You misunderstand what i'm saying and where i'm coming from and categorize me in a way that's inaccurate.
You go on and on and rationalize what's going on because you can still enjoy your life.
The social and environmental changes (in some cases catastrophic) will probably not impact you directly in any obvious ways.
The changes you refer to are inevitable only because people don't see what's really going on, don't care about what's happening, or are resigned to what's happening and feel powerless to do anything.
You've got a nice little corner of the S.C. world. Good for you. Seriously, i don't begrudge you of that.
But realize that you're in a little bubble that your relative wealth provides for you.
You have the attitude of privilege.
Even this area is still somewhat protected and bubbled.
And i don't need to be told / reminded of the virtues of the Monterey Bay. I've been here for a long time. If i didn't love it here, i'd leave in a heartbeat. Because i do see what's going on and because i do care about what's going on and because i am not resigned to the status quo, doesn't mean i don't appreciate where i am.
And i don't drink coffee.
I prefer green tea with my cigarette.
Neighbor..., I had no intention of "categorizing" you. I've just been responding to what you write. Careful of such judgement my way as well, because you don't know me or much about my world beyond what little we've bantered about here.
I've been in some pretty damn dark places, even while raising two kids. Their future and world is as important to me as mine, so don't so quickly assume that just because I have found my spot just like you have, that either our realities don't stretch well beyond our home ground.
I'm sure you don't need to be reminded of the virtues of the Monterey Bay anymore than anyone else who lives here, but again I don't think I've been doing that as much as simply responding to the negatives you chose to focus upon when you first started writing in this thread about Santa Cruz.
Maybe this exchange is not a positive one. I was hoping it was, but using the term "bubble" suggests you have some ideas and notions about all this that are well entrenched in your mind. Nevertheless, I assure you I'm not one to be considered generally unaware. I don't consider myself resigned or powerless either, but if you are neither of those things, what might you suggest we do?
By "status quo," I really mean no change, and if there is one thing I know, change is inevitable, for better or worse always remains to be seen, inevitably a matter of perspective.
You don't drink coffee but prefer cigarettes and tea? My wife is a vegetarian, likes both tea and coffee, and helped me stop smoking years ago. I won't judge you about that either, but that reminds me of another relatively new change in Santa Cruz not like years gone by. You can't smoke on the streets downtown anymore like the good old days...
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Cirlces...
