2025 Compare Cities Rankings:
Santa Cruz, CA vs Cloverdale, 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

#1 America’s Best Cities for Foodies

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

#137 Best Green Cities

#166 2005 Best Places to Live

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

Pros: Relaxed, small town atmosphere, friendly people, low crime, tons of civic pride, a surprisingly vibrant arts and music scene for a town of its size (check out  More

Our summers are hot, with highs in the 90's, low 100's....Completely dry. We get rain from November (just a little) through March with the most rainfall in  More

We are in Cloverdale as a result of jobs - 2 adults driving 30 miles in opposite directions 5 days a week. After just over 2 years, we have started packing and  More