where to live in S.V. or Santa Cruz?

[NoMoreSnowForMe]

Originally Posted by tehsquishmeister

I'm biased obviously, but I'd seriously consider Boulder Creek or the Los Gatos mountains (huge price tag difference though). Crime is near non-existent, gang crime is non-existent.

Especially if you don't need to commute, the Santa Cruz mountains are a fantastic place to live. I've lived up here for 40+ years (with a short stint in Campbell) and still absolutely love it. If you like outdoor stuff, it's a great place to be.

It has its challenges like anywhere else (it's far from perfect) but I'd rather live up here than almost anywhere else in the Bay Area. I've spent significant time working/playing all the way from San Bruno down to Campbell and all the towns/cities in between. Campbell would actually be my second pick.

The OP is 19 years old. I don't think he's ready to settle down in the country. SC is a great college town, just right for the OP...for now. IMO.

[Deezus]

Originally Posted by mdc828

Santa Cruz has changed quite a bit in the last few years. Sure, it's beautiful here and we are thankful every day for our great weather. But there are sacrifices to living here - mostly the high cost of living and the increasing crime.

If you actually live here, and work in this county - not merely commute and experience Santa Cruz at night and on weekends, and if you have kids in school, you get it. You understand the increase in crime and are sick of it. The locals were stunned when two of our officers were gunned down a little over a year ago - in a sleepy little neighborhood close to preschools and schools.

It seems the people who don't live here are stuck in thinking that homelessness is SC's biggest problem (although it is a HUGE problem). Actually it's gang activity that has soared - most of the increase on the West Side which once was one of the most desirable places to live in SC.

I heard Santa Cruz was being ruined and going to hell and crime was out of control as a kid in the 80s and 90s growing up there. I remember a friends dad being shot and involved in a shootout downtown in the early 90s(granted the dad was involved in the drug trade himself)--and another person I met years later who was a bystander who suffered a minor injury from the same incident. I remember hearing incessantly that the whole town was going to seed from my parent's generation.

There were always gang incidents in the 90s as well, there'd be shootings occasionally fatal and then there was always a rundown of stabbings in Watsonville. Kids all knew not to wear the wrong color hat in certain areas. All the same, I don't remember Santa Cruz a part from certain locations ever really feeling that unsafe on the streets. Ocean Street areas have always been full of trashy people, people with more money bought homes around certain areas in starting in the late 90s, but there's always been druggies and sketchballs in that area.

All the same, my childhood wasn't that bad growing up there, it was fairly mellow(and just boring after a while).

I don't live in Santa Cruz anymore and haven't for years, though my parents and brother still live there. My mom has been complaining about Santa Cruz for 30 years, but won't move because it's too easy to live there. My brother just complains about gentrification. It's a small town though, anything that happens gets a lot of attention. I don't like commenting on Santa Cruz anymore because there's a lot of people who just know Santa Cruz as a fun tourist beach destinatation who just think everything is fine there, and then there's other people who want to tell you that it's complete hell on Earth...and if you say otherwise Bruce R. Higgins will give you a 5000 word lecture. Those of us with a more balanced view might as well shut up.

I think the best thing for the OP is just to spend some time in Santa Cruz and see how they like it. I wouldn't want to neccesarily raise a family there, but it can be fun if you're 19.

[lrmsd]

Originally Posted by wendell90409

wow, thats quite a contradiction from what others have said. Its interesting, when researching opinions about Santa Cruz the opinions are always very polarized, people either love it or hate it, theres rarely any in between.

I've found that anytime an issue or topic on a CD thread [in any city or town] is this contentious, there is some truth to the 'negative situation'. Or, as they say 'the truth is usually somewhere in the middle'.

[lrmsd]

Originally Posted by Deezus

I heard Santa Cruz was being ruined and going to hell and crime was out of control as a kid in the 80s and 90s growing up there. I remember a friends dad being shot and involved in a shootout downtown in the early 90s(granted the dad was involved in the drug trade himself)--and another person I met years later who was a bystander who suffered a minor injury from the same incident. I remember hearing incessantly that the whole town was going to seed from my parent's generation.

There were always gang incidents in the 90s as well, there'd be shootings occasionally fatal and then there was always a rundown of stabbings in Watsonville. Kids all knew not to wear the wrong color hat in certain areas. All the same, I don't remember Santa Cruz a part from certain locations ever really feeling that unsafe on the streets. Ocean Street areas have always been full of trashy people, people with more money bought homes around certain areas in starting in the late 90s, but there's always been druggies and sketchballs in that area.

All the same, my childhood wasn't that bad growing up there, it was fairly mellow(and just boring after a while).

I don't live in Santa Cruz anymore and haven't for years, though my parents and brother still live there. My mom has been complaining about Santa Cruz for 30 years, but won't move because it's too easy to live there. My brother just complains about gentrification. It's a small town though, anything that happens gets a lot of attention. I don't like commenting on Santa Cruz anymore because there's a lot of people who just know Santa Cruz as a fun tourist beach destinatation who just think everything is fine there, and then there's other people who want to tell you that it's complete hell on Earth...and if you say otherwise Bruce R. Higgins will give you a 5000 word lecture. Those of us with a more balanced view might as well shut up.

I think the best thing for the OP is just to spend some time in Santa Cruz and see how they like it. I wouldn't want to neccesarily raise a family there, but it can be fun if you're 19.

LOL that's funny! But isn't it Charles, not Bruce?

Also, re this:

There were always gang incidents in the 90s as well, there'd be shootings occasionally fatal and then there was always a rundown of stabbings in Watsonville

I think that's exactly the point-that SC still has a reputation as this granola/hippie college town and it is seriously much more than that, and has been for some time. But the rep won't change, no matter the new reality. I mean, post after post attests [even by people who love SC] that it's not a good choice for families/schools. That indicates a very different climate [social/cultural] than the Mayberry like 'it's a fun place' tropes....

I've heard some people equate SC with cool college towns like Boulder and Missoula. It once had some similarities and was even a pioneer in its own right. It still has academia and the college influences, but not very many counter culture or progressive aspects, as it once did. Boulder and Missoula also do not have gangs and major heroin issues and huge areas that are no go/no live areas, for the most part. They also have decent schools and are recommended for families, students, retirees, young professionals [depending on their field of interest], etc. A wide range of people. This constitutes a livable city, in my view. Doesn't seem like SC fits that bill anymore, at least it doesn't to me, when I've visited. [I've stayed with people who live there, not just passing through or a tourist].

Meh. I tend to agree with Charles R. Higgins on the underlying aspects/facts. Whether or not one chooses to interpret those facts as a deal breaker or not, is subjective and individual.

[bigdumbgod]

Originally Posted by lrmsd

I've heard some people equate SC with cool college towns like Boulder and Missoula. It once had some similarities and was even a pioneer in its own right. It still has academia and the college influences, but not very many counter culture or progressive aspects, as it once did. Boulder and Missoula also do not have gangs and major heroin issues and huge areas that are no go/no live areas, for the most part. They also have decent schools and are recommended for families, students, retirees, young professionals [depending on their field of interest], etc. A wide range of people. This constitutes a livable city, in my view. Doesn't seem like SC fits that bill anymore, at least it doesn't to me, when I've visited. [I've stayed with people who live there, not just passing through or a tourist].

Difficult comparison, though. Missoula is out in the boonies, Boulder is a rich town, and both are very white. SC is more diverse, has always had an image that attracts odd characters, and has places like Watsonville and Salinas right next to it, as well as being just over the hill from a major metropolis.

[JXBC]

Grew up in Santa Cruz county... don't personally recommend it. It's not dangerous, but it also is not as safe as it once was.

And because of the beach access, prices are fairly high.