2026 Compare Cities Rankings:
Placentia, CA vs Santa Cruz, CA

#2 Most Comfortable Summer Cities

#2 Top 10 Cities to Beat the Heat

#43 Best Cities for Board Gamers

#47 Gloomiest Places in America

#50 America's Top Hygge Cities

#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 lived in that city for almost 10 years and recently found out that both their city government and their police force are blocking people from leaving bad reviews of  More

PLACENTIA IS A GREAT PLACE TO LIVE. BEEN HERE SINCE 1980. EASY ACCESS TO FREEWAYS, PLENTY OF COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL BUSINESSES AROUND FOR EMPLOYMENT. NEARBY--GOLF  More

If you rent, Placentia's not bad. I haven't noticed too much crime but there are quite a few reasonable apartments. Being close to a California State School has its  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