Advice for finding cat-friendly & quiet rental in Santa Cruz (San Jose: apartment, violent crime)

[tm_cat]

This forum is amazing! I've already gotten a lot of tips about renting in Santa Cruz from reading some of the other posts.

I'm going to be relocating from Southern California to Santa Cruz for work, and I'm looking for tips/tricks/suggestions for the best places in the Santa Cruz area for a young female professional to live that are an easy commute to UCSC, fairly safe to be out and about in, and ideally somewhat shielded from the full force of the undergrad population (though I can deal if necessary). I've also got one indoor cat, which seems to be pretty tricky as far as finding places that are pet-friendly and don't have totally outrageous extra deposits or pet rental fees.

I know it might be a tall order to fill all those requirements, but any suggestions would be appreciated

[NoMoreSnowForMe]

You might fare better if you're willing to commute from Watsonville.

[mossly]

I worked at UCSC for a stretch, and several of my colleagues lived in Scott's Valley. It was an easy enough commute to/from campus, while not being in the thick of things with students. Plus, it's not a terrible drive to Los Gatos and San Jose for shopping on the weekend.

Aptos is close to campus as the crow flies, but traffic always gets backed up on that route. My colleagues who lived that way would take nearly as long to get home as I did, commuting from San Jose. (And by the way, I do NOT recommend commuting from San Jose!)

[Ruth4Truth]

The key is what budget you're working with. Rents are inflated in Santa Cruz, due to student demand. Out in the county, they're a little better. So it depends on what your definition of "an easy commute to UCSC" means. An easy bus ride from one of the mountain communities? Or in a part of town not far from the university? Those are two very different things.

[tm_cat]

Thanks, this is helpful information!

Ideally, I was wondering if there were areas of Santa Cruz proper and/or directly neighboring cities to the east/north that would be a good fit. It's my understanding that the commute coming from the east into Santa Cruz can get a little congested? I'm thinking I would like a commute (again ideally!) of 30 minutes or less.

For rental budget, I'm definitely willing to pay more for convenience to a point (probably upper max for the absolute best apartment ever would be $2200ish a month for a 1br and that would be a stretch).

It certainly makes sense if these things are more or less mutually exclusive (i.e., higher rent/more students the closer you get to UCSC and lessen the commute time), but it's still helpful to have people's thoughts about different areas of the city of SC and immediately adjacent cities.

If I had to rate my priorities from most to least important it would be: safety (violent crime really), shorter commute, cheaper rent, and lastly undergrad exposure (ultimately about not having to deal with noisy neighbors and parties).

Thanks again! I really appreciate it.

[Ruth4Truth]

There are a couple of units in different neighborhoods specifying "quiet", including one up near the university, on Craigslist, for right around $2000, give or take. There's also one up in the mountains, outside of Scotts Valley, that looks very nice and spacious for the money. It's a ground-floor apt. in someone's house, nestled in the trees. Here's a cottage in Santa Cruz in your price range.

https://sfbay.craigslist.org/scz/apa...289978209.html

[tm_cat]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

There are a couple of units in different neighborhoods specifying "quiet", including one up near the university, on Craigslist, for right around $2000, give or take. There's also one up in the mountains, outside of Scotts Valley, that looks very nice and spacious for the money. It's a ground-floor apt. in someone's house, nestled in the trees. Here's a cottage in Santa Cruz in your price range.

https://sfbay.craigslist.org/scz/apa...289978209.html

Wow, that looks gorgeous! I'll definitely check it out. Thank you!

[Ruth4Truth]

Oops, I didn't see that you need a cat-friendly rental. I haven't been checking for that. Here's the one outside of town, in the mountains:

https://sfbay.craigslist.org/scz/apa...279570612.html

[tm_cat]

Great, thanks! I'll look into this too. I've had some luck in the past with more mom-and-pop type places having some wiggle room for allowing pets even when they list no pets, so those leads can be useful too.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by tm_cat

Great, thanks! I'll look into this too. I've had some luck in the past with more mom-and-pop type places having some wiggle room for allowing pets even when they list no pets, so those leads can be useful too.

It says "small pets considered". It looks like heaven up there.