2025 Compare Cities Rankings:
Lafayette, IN vs Santa Cruz, CA

#18 Most Competitive Public Colleges

#27 Best Green Cities

#41 America's Best and Worst Cities for Crime (Mid-Size Metro Areas)

#124 2005 Best Places to Live

I have lived here for 12 years and in a smaller town 20 miles away for over 35 years and like the people. But crime is on the rise, more arrests lately related to people  More

Lafayette still has a small town atmosphere. It is a wonderful place to raise children. There is a strong sense of community. Unfotunately in recent years Lafayette has  More

I can say I have lived in Lafayette Indiana for 25 years. I'll say that home is home...but I would honestly say in less your a college student at Purdue, I would never  More

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  More

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  More

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,  More