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

#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

#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 was born and raised here. Santa Rosa used to be a great city great location great weather but now it is overcrowded and crime is off the charts and housing is crazy  More

I've lived her over 20 years and it's a pretty nice place. The main vibe is you feel safe doing this day or night. Most of the neighborhoods are well taken care of, they  More

Terrible city that's hurting for money. After going on a long hiatus from enforcing traffic laws, they've recently turned their highways into an ATM machine/cash cow by  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