Santa Cruz, CA Reviews

Some love it, others not so much - 11/20/2020
I lived in the Santa Cruz area for 20 years. UCSC alum. Our kids were born there. There are wonderful things about Santa Cruz, but also many serious problems that we could no longer ignore.

First, the good.

Spectacular natural beauty with beaches, ocean cliffs, and redwoods. Great mountain biking, miles upon miles of great single track meandering through redwood, oak, and chaparral. Scenic hikes. I hear the surfing is great, though I don't surf.

And now the bad.

Crime is off the charts terrible. Property crime is even worse than the stats indicate because many have given up and no longer report it. Nothing happens, even if the perpetrator is caught, so why bother. If you park your car on the street it will eventually get broken into. Even if you don't leave anything of value in view there's a good chance your window(s) will get broken. Anything not locked or bolted down will eventually be stolen. Gets old fast. There are pockets Read More

Small Town, Big City - 7/24/2020
I have been here for four generations! My kids are the fifth. I guess that should tell you how wonderful it is here, at least for us. It's so cool to have world class jazz at Kuumbwa; then catch some great music at Moe's Alley, and the much younger crowd likes the Catalyst, some bigger acts like Sinead O'Connor will play at the Rio. Pretty cool for a town of 69,000! For example my ticket to see Patti Smith was a lot less than the San Francisco tickets and I could almost reach out and touch her. We have too many beer gardens and pubs, and too much wine, for me anyway. Also way too many bakeries (for me! they are too delicious to ignore). We have some really beautiful restaurants that are not the least bit stuffy. It's older, mature, but also hipster, but not too much hipster. Surfer families, writers, artists. I am worried about the artists, this place is getting way too expensive. Also, as San Franicso was the gay capital this was once the lesbian capital! Back in the 80s and 90s. We Read More

Santa Cruz is my Heart Home in so many ways - 10/3/2019
I was born over the hill in San Jose area, and as a kid I loved coming over to the boardwalk. Santa Cruz has always been and always will be a town of diversity, creativity and very pro-local. I dreamed of the day I could live here, and finally, back in 2009 we bought our townhome, just a 10-minute walk to one of the local beaches in a neighborhood called Live Oak/ Pleasure Point. The fresh ocean air, ancient redwoods to hike through nearby, world-class surfing, huge art community. I feel so lucky to live in such a wonderful place. Let me break it down for you:
Good:
+ Multiple Farmers Markets, Organic Produce, Farm Fresh Eggs
+ Foodie delight (everything from Brazillian, Italian, Mexican, Farm to Table, Japanese, Thai, and more)
+Love Coffee? We have a lot of local roasters including the famous Verve Coffee. I also love Cat and Cloud and so many other places
+ Books: Santa Cruz Bookshop is always packed with locals - so many author events - we had Read More

Stay away from Santa Cruz. - 5/29/2018
There are so many other beautiful places in California to visit - so go to those places. As a California native I lived in many places in California. I moved into Santa Cruz from Watsonville & first learned about the high crime rate after I was assaulted by a man I dated. Santa Cruz is over run by violent criminals as well as the criminals in law enforcement. Don't support this dangerous place.Read More

Beware of Santa Cruz - 5/29/2018
There are so many other beautiful places in California to visit - so go to those places. As a California native I lived in many places in California. I moved into Santa Cruz from Watsonville Read More

Santa Cruz- paradise on earth - 1/7/2016
I have spent my entire life working toward living in Santa Cruz County and in 2005 finally made it. While there are people living here and all of the commensurate social issues that accompany humanity, this is an area with a welcoming political environment, perfect climate, rich culture for a smaller area, Read More

Santa Cruz - 7/14/2015
I have owned a home in Soquel (right next to Santa Cruz) for 24 years and spent lots of time in SC. First, noise is JUST LIKE everywhere else. Second, if you have skills and are willing to work you will not be unemployed. Third, roads are acceptable but not great. Fourth, I have never seen a discarded needle but the party crowd and homeless crowd comes to the beach and just like SF it is not always pristine. Fifth, there is no feral cat problem. Sixth, drought is not an issue if you use a yellow/mellow, brown flush it down strategy. Seventh, affordable housing issue is real if you are not making $$. Seventh, most people who rent pay taxes on that income, the assertion is ridiculous. Eighth, crime is in fact high due to out of town partiers and local homeless/addicted population. Positives -- incredible beauty, climate, clean air, Silicon Valley 35 min. away, with a quickly vanishing older hippie population. Downtown is still funky and weird, stay away from it if you don't Read More

Santa Cruz Summary of Issues - 6/2/2015
We are from Intermountain West and wished we would have researched Sperling's info beforehand. We have never seen anything like the lack of care/concern (i.e., apathy) from city/county leaders relating to multiple problems. If we knew what we know now, we would have NOT moved here.

The noise pollution is horrendous. More vehicles than not are rundown, mufflers have holes in them so VERY loud. Some think it's "cool" to turn up vehicle's audio system, noise blasting from vehicles, all hours of the day/night.

Unemployment: The employment rates are higher than national average. Very strange given we are so close to Silicon Valley. Either city/county leaders don't want to attract good paying jobs or they don't care given "tourist and students" provide the most money and they don't have to work for it since both come year after year regardless.

The roads within city limits is laughable. We have never seen anything like Ocean Avenue. It is Read More

Apathy - 6/1/2015
We are from Intermountain West and wished we would have researched Sperling's info beforehand. We have never seen anything like the lack of care (apathy) from city/county leaders relating to multiple problems. If we knew what we know now, we would have NOT moved here.

The noise pollution is horrendous. More vehicles than not are rundown, mufflers have holes in them so VERY loud. Some think it's "cool" to turn up vehicle's audio system, noise blasting from vehicles, all hours of the day/night.

Unemployment: The employment rates are higher than national average. Very strange given we are so close to Silicon Valley. Either city/county leaders don't want to attract good paying jobs or they don't care given "tourist and students" provide the most money and they don't have to work for it since both come year after year.

The roads within city limits is laughable. We have never seen anything like Ocean Avenue. It is literally like driving on a Read More

Can't get better weather - 4/2/2015
Santa Cruz is located on the central coast of California about 70 miles south of San Francisco. The weather is temperate ranging from a January low of about 50 degrees to an August high of 80. Now and then, if the wind is coming from the inland, it will get hot, as much as 100 degrees, but it's uncommon and doesn't normally last more than a day or two. Rainy season falls between Oct. 1st and the end of April. Normal rainfall is 40 to 80 inches, depending on the location. Santa Cruz county is an area of "micro climates." Mountain weather is more extreme, both in temperature and rainfall. If you're looking at this area, be sure to ask about the weather in each location within Santa Cruz county. There can be major differences, even within a few Read More