Nice, basic city
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6/23/2023
We lived and worked in Scotts Valley for a number of years. It's a nice enough city, safe and clean unlike some areas of Santa Cruz. It's well managed and the schools are great. The weather is fantastic, with mild winters, cool summer nights and warm summer days. The natural setting is pretty with surrounding redwood forests, and it's an easy drive (assuming no beach traffic) to the coast.
But it's a basic city and not for everyone. The city caters to commuters looking for a bedroom community with quick freeway access, car-centric cookie cutter subdivisions, and strip malls. There's no real downtown or heart of the city. Nor is it very walkable or bikeable since this usually requires navigating busy 4-lane high-stress stroads (look it up) such as Mt Hermon Rd and Scotts Valley Dr, which is dangerous and unpleasant.
Will you like Scotts Valley? You will if you like suburban cities built around the car. Drive home from work, drive to the grocery store, drive to the restaurant, drive to the coffee shop... lots of driving. There are exceptions, of course, but in general it's a place to drive. And traffic can be quite bad on Mt Hermon Rd at times, which means spending more time in the car. Please understand that I'm not criticizing even though this isn't my jam. You do you.
Our family enjoyed the years we spent there, yet it was always kinda "meh" for us due to the lack of a downtown and impracticality of biking/walking. Hence the middling three stars of this review.
NC | Boise City, ID