Spanish settlement to ‘silicon beach’

We’ve been described as a quintessential beach town with a sublime Mediterranean climate and some of the world’s best surfing. All true. But ask us, the people who call Santa Cruz home, and you’re likely to hear something more.

Why we ❤ it

History. Prior to the arrival of Spanish explorers, led by Don Gaspar de Portola in 1769, the area was populated by the Awaswa people, also referred to Ohlone and Coastanoan. Within fifty years of the Spaniards’ arrival, the native way of life had virtually disappeared.

The Spanish explorers named the area Santa Cruz “holy cross” and the San Lorenzo river for Saint Lawrence. Twenty two years later, the mission in Santa Cruz and a pueblo, Villa de Branciforte, were founded. By the 1820’s Mexico had won independence from Spain and issued vast tracks of land by grants. The Americans started to arrive in droves and California became a state in 1850.

The area grew quickly from redwood logging and lime (a key ingredient for mortar, plaster, whitewash and stucco) to supply the building boom in San Francisco. Asian and European immigrants were drawn to the area and agriculture and fishing prospered.

More waves of change came as we transformed from a coastal village and retirement community to the influx of people in 1965 with the University of Santa Cruz and a hippy lifestyle, unprecedented growth of neighboring Silicon Valley. Tourism and technology are now our key industries.

Downtown. Our vintage downtown was a bustling center of mostly locally owned businesses, including a family owned department store and was transformed into the Pacific Garden Mall in 1969. In 1989 the devastating Loma Prieta earthquake essentially destroyed it. Today it’s a unique combination of retail, restaurants, clubs, coffee houses, theater, housing and technology.

Tannery Arts Center. Once the site a thriving leather industry, the site has been transformed into a center for art. Its home to 100 live/work lofts, 28 artist studios, a theater, dance studio, gallery and cafe. Visitors are welcome, come by on First Friday to experience open studios.

Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. The family-operated Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk has been entertaining locals and visitors since 1907. The oldest amusement park in California and one of the last seaside amusement parks on the west coast. The Looff Carousel and wooden Roller Coaster are National Historic Landmarks.

San Lorenzo River. The headwaters originate in Castle Rock State Park in the Santa Cruz Mountains and flow south for 29 miles through the San Lorenzo Valley before passing through Santa Cruz and emptying into Monterey Bay. It was once teeming with trout, salmon and wildlife and efforts are underway to restore it. We enjoy the walkways and vista points of the serene beauty of the river that flows along our downtown.

Social activism: One of our most active non-profits is the Resource Center for Nonviolence. We are an official nuclear-free zone and our city council was the first in the country to officially denounce the Iraq war. We voted overwhelmingly for the medical use of marijuana–a legal medical marijuana club was the second in the world. In the 1980s, a group of local activists organized the “Myth California Pageant” to protest “the objectification of women and the glorification of the beauty myth.

We’re green, literally. Our city boasts 4 state parks and beaches, three greenbelt open spaces along the city limits, an arboretum, and 22 city and neighborhood parks. The eucalyptus grove at Natural Bridges State Beach hosts thousands of migrating monarch butterflies. Many of our local businesses have a commitment to sustainability by becoming California Green certified and the university renamed a campus for the environmentalist Rachel Carson.

We’re green, actively. In 2006, UCSC students passed a quarterly tuition increase to support buying renewable energy, making UCSC the sixth-largest college campus buyer of renewable energy nationwide. In 2007, the city and county of Santa Cruz and UCSC signed the Climate Action Compact to lead the regional effort to mitigate climate change.

University of Santa Cruz. The Long Marine Laboratory and the Seymour Center are leaders in research and teaching on marine life, coastal conservation, water science, climate change impacts and other marine and coastal science issues. The Farm at the Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems pioneered organic horticulture techniques internationally. In 2015, Mark Bittman of the New York Times visited the farm as part of the paper’s video series about sustainable agriculture and healthy eating. Watch the video!

Music! Not that we don’t have fun. Along with the world-class surfing, we are a music mecca. Aspiring and professional singers, musicians, lyricists, and bands of all kinds are all around us. Live performances happen at all times of the day and in unexpected venues. People come from miles around to our great clubs—blues and salsa, rhumba and reggae and world class jazz.

Eco-guide to living lighter

Santa Cruz: A river runs through it

Santa Cruz: A river runs through it

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