2025 Compare Cities Rankings:
Santa Cruz, CA vs Ann Arbor, MI

#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

#6 2005 Best Places to Live

#8 America’s Best (and Worst) Cities for Dating

#11 America's Best and Worst Cities for Crime (Large Metro Areas)

#11 Best Green Cities

#12 Most Competitive Public Colleges

#95 America's Most (and Least) Stressful Cities (100 Largest Metro Areas)

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

Highly educated city. traffic and parking is bad. university culture is nice, not sure about elsewhere. no good pizza! if you're looking for food, I recommend "a taste  More

Uh, compared to my other favorite college towns this one lacks flavor. Safer and kinda pretty, but not the greenest place, it's fine. Good restaurants, music, art,  More

Ann Arbor bus service (AATA) is quite good. The Detroit Metro Airport is only a 20 min. drive away and is also quite good. The traffic in Ann Arbor is usually mild  More