Santa Cruz STILL sucks!!!! 2011 version (San Jose, Oakland: crime rate, unemployment, buyers)

[sc roots]

Resurrecting this yet again...

As a born and raised SC local myself I have a couple comments, though a few people have pretty much hit the nail on the head like the earlier quote:

"The absence of these" (malls etc) "set SC apart from the rest, and residents live there, in part, because of this difference"

This was true, but now enough people have moved in that would like it to become what they wanted it to be, so a lot has changed at the dismay of the remaining few; we're still fighting that kind of expansion, but it is happening in recent years as most locals have been pushed out by incoming demand to live here.

Anyhow my points:

1. SC people are actually of a few different backgrounds. One of those is real hippies that came here for the community that it had to offer (much different than the UCSC trustifarians that raided this place in the 90s), so despite some comments, there are legitimate locals that are also hippies, and many of them were even part of the old surf scene here - particularly in the East side.

2. Those of us who grew up here do tend to love our town and want it to keep as much of the same vibe as possible. If you don't like it how it is, please find another place to live.

3. The surf localism is actually really a thing of the past. We tried to keep the lineup sane and make sure respect was given like we do when we go somewhere else to surf, but so many people moved here to surf that eventually we just couldn't regulate, so have fun getting burned by 5 people on one wave at the Lane or the Point. Many of the locals have been pushed to surfing north and south of town to avoid that mess.

Bottom line: if Santa Cruz sucks, please don't come here and try to make it better. Just look somewhere else.

Thanks.

[blendin]

In Santa Cruz if you do not care about the beach and the mountains then yeah maybe San Jose is better..?

Sounds like the OP is just stuck and focused on the grime around downtown SC. ? With all the great coastline and redwood forest just a few mins away what a waste.

[hippie pippy]

Santa Cruz is beautiful. You have the beach, the mountains, the redwoods, great weather. Just don't move here if you are middle class. The real estate and rental market is not very middle class friendly.

[tehsquishmeister]

Now if they can just fix the homeless problem and clean up the hippies...

[cardinal2007]

I wonder if Santa Cruz still sucks according to OP, it has been 3 years since he or she made this thread, so perhaps things are different now. I know some towns that were dead 3 years ago are much nicer now (thinking downtown Redwood City), so maybe the same with Santa Cruz? places change over time.

[NoMoreSnowForMe]

Originally Posted by tehsquishmeister

Now if they can just fix the homeless problem and clean up the hippies...

LOL, it wouldn't be Santa Cruz without hippies!

The homeless problem is everywhere. Don't get me started. Basically, I think we have a sub-culture that is able to survive, because of all of the resources we throw at them.

Take away the freebies, and they'll go somewhere else. But, in a town like Santa Cruz with all the soft-hearted people (including the hippies ) that will never happen. Plus the weather is too good year-round.

Hence, there will always be a homeless problem in Santa Cruz.

[Happylocal1965]

I was born and raised in Santa Cruz I can tell you that it's been my experience in the nearly 60 years of living here that the snobby bastards in the fancy cars are looking down on you as they cut you off are more likely than not as the locals call "valleys" from Silicon Valley they're not locals. The true locals are very warm and welcoming as far as we're concerned the valleys can take their money, fancy cars and go home

[blueskywalker]

Originally Posted by Happylocal1965

I was born and raised in Santa Cruz I can tell you that it's been my experience in the nearly 60 years of living here that the snobby bastards in the fancy cars are looking down on you as they cut you off are more likely than not as the locals call "valleys" from Silicon Valley they're not locals. The true locals are very warm and welcoming as far as we're concerned the valleys can take their money, fancy cars and go home

Yep. I wasn't born here but i've been in the county for many years and have never felt any animosity toward or from locals. Ever. People always complain about how snarky locals are but, like you say, it's the "valleys" that make the area obnoxious. And it's gotten so much worse. Doing an errand in Aptos (for example) in the middle of the day used to be easy as pie. Enjoyable. Now it's just drag. Jammed up all day with so much traffic, bmw driving idiots doing 45 on Soquel, etc..
Speaking of fancy cars .... i've been counting the teslas ... 5 in the last couple of weeks.
Sigh. Unfortunately they're not going anywhere. They've bought, they own (me, me, me, mine, mine, mine ) and they're staying.
Thank you Silicon Valley.
Oh well.

[mrwumpus]

Santa Cruz postured itself as being compassionate to the homeless but I have a disabled relative who lives there and there are almost no board and care facilities in the entire county. That's why there are so many more homeless people there. Orange County, on the other hand, has tons of them and many excellent programs for people at risk for homelessness or dealing with complex mental health issues.

[Seahawksfan33]

My consensus on Santa Cruz:

Weather-It's actually nearly perfect.
Crime rate-Relatively high at the moment. It has a lot of violent crime.
Job situation-It's not good in Santa Cruz by itself, but San Jose is only a 30 minute drive away.
Education-It's decent. It has one major university, and a relatively average school district.
Downtown-It's average, but nothing beyond that.
Cost of living-It's lower than it is in Silicon Valley, but that really doesn't say anything at all. It's still expensive.
Transit-It seems to be worse here than it is in any section of the Bay Area. Why is this?
Scenery-It has some very beautiful beaches, and it's surrounded by some awesome mountains.
Dining-Below average. I wasn't astonished by any of the restaurants that I ate at there.
Entertainment-I do enjoy the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, and there is a fair amount of entertainment there (like live performances and events for example). So I do give it points for that.
Airports-There are no major airports there, and it doesn't necessarily have easy access to any (except for the San Jose airport, which currently sucks). What else needs to be said?
Walkability-It's actually not as walkable as one would think. I didn't feel too safe walking around there as there were a ton of sketchy people walking around in the downtown area, and I don't see why any parents would trust their children with walking around by themselves in this area. I was literally worried that my car was going to get destroyed.

Overall: It's alright to visit (despite there being very few good restaurants, if any), but not a good place to live.