Santa Cruz, California
Santa Cruz is the county seat of Santa Cruz County, California, United States.
As of the 2000 census, Santa Cruz had a total population of 54,593. It is located on the northern edge of the Monterey Bay, about 72 mi (115 km) south of San Francisco.
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Geography
Santa Cruz is located at 36°58'19" North, 122°1'35" West (36.972050, -122.026252)GR1.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 40.4 km² (15.6 mi²). 32.5 km² (12.5 mi²) of it is land and 8.0 km² (3.1 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 19.67% water.
Santa Cruz exhibits a Mediterranean climate, with mild summers due to coastal fog. Winters tend to be rainy, although periodic droughts have occurred in recent years.
Demographics
As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there are 54,593 people, 20,442 households, and 10,404 families residing in the city. The population density is 1,682.2/km² (4,356.0/mi²). There are 21,504 housing units at an average density of 662.6/km² (1,715.8/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 78.74% White, 1.73% African American, 0.86% Native American, 4.90% Asian, 0.13% Pacific Islander, 9.14% from other races, and 4.50% from two or more races. 17.39% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There are 20,442 households out of which 25.1% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 37.0% are married couples living together, 9.6% have a female householder with no husband present, and 49.1% are non-families. 29.3% of all households are made up of individuals and 7.6% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.44 and the average family size is 2.98.
In the city the population is spread out with 17.3% under the age of 18, 20.5% from 18 to 24, 32.6% from 25 to 44, 21.0% from 45 to 64, and 8.5% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 32 years. For every 100 females there are 99.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 97.9 males.
The median income for a household in the city is $50,605, and the median income for a family is $62,231. Males have a median income of $44,751 versus $32,699 for females. The per capita income for the city is $25,758. 16.5% of the population and 6.6% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 12.5% of those under the age of 18 and 4.8% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.
History
The area was first settled by Ohlone Indians, who were Native American hunter-gatherers. Santa Cruz was colonized in the mid-1700s by the Spanish, who established both a mission (Mission Santa Cruz) and a secular settlement named Branciforte. The town was named, as many of the early Spanish settlements were, for the Catholic feast day on which it was founded. The Ohlones were concentrated by the Spanish into the mission and suffered a rapid decline due to diseases and overwork.
Santa Cruz was settled by Americans in the 19th century. Immigrants from Scotland, Italy, China and Portugal also added distinctive contributions to the area's culture. In the 19th century forestry and commercial fishing were primary industries, as well as dairy farming and leather production.
In the early 1970s, Santa Cruz was referred to as "The Murder Capital of the World" because there were two active serial killers and one mass murderer in town. These were Ed Kemper, Herbert Mullin, and John Linley Frazier respectively. Although the Victorian Homes inner city area around the Louden Nelson Center has been gentrified, the Beach Flats area next to the boardwalk still has high crime rates.
Effects of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake
Santa Cruz is also notable for the extensive damage it suffered during the October 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, which leveled the mostly unreinforced-brick downtown, killing five people. The downtown area, the Pacific Garden Mall, has been rebuilt almost from scratch, although a few weed-covered vacant lots remain. This same area is also a gathering place for Santa Cruz's population of young street people, along with numerous street entertainers.
Today's Housing
In recent years, because of its proximity to Silicon Valley, Santa Cruz has supported a large high-technology population, particularly in the Scotts Valley area. Many workers from Silicon Valley live in Santa Cruz and the surrounding towns. The influx of workers from Silicon Valley, in combination with growing enrollment at the university, has caused growing traffic problems and a high cost of housing; Santa Cruz is regularly listed among the five most expensive housing markets in the United States.
Education
Santa Cruz is home to the University of California, Santa Cruz, which was built starting in the 1960s as an 'alternative' campus with a residential college system based on the British system, (see University of Cambridge or University of Oxford). Overlooking Monterey Bay among the redwood trees, UCSC is arguably the most beautiful of the University of California campuses. UCSC was long known for its lack of letter grades and organized sports teams, although this has been changing in recent years, with letter grades being required in addition to Narrative Evaluations provided by the instructor. Their mascot is the banana slug. There are now also a number of NCAA division III sports programs, including tennis, waterpolo, basketball and soccer.
Cabrillo College in Aptos is the local community college.
Recreation
Santa Cruz is well-known for surfing and is the home of O'Neill Wetsuits and Santa Cruz Surfboards, as well as Santa Cruz Skateboards and Santa Cruz Bicycles. It is occasionally referred to by the disputed name Surf City USA (see an article with some background). The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk is California’s oldest amusement park and a designated State Historic Landmark. Santa Cruz was the site of the first surfing in California in 1885, when three Hawaiian princes surfed on locally milled redwood boards at the mouth of the San Lorenzo River. Santa Cruz has 11 world-class surf breaks, including the point breaks over rock bottoms near Steamer's Lane and Pleasure Point, which create some of the best surfing waves in the world. Home to the Lighthouse Surfing Museum at Steamer Lane, which continues to be staffed by docents such as Harry Mayo and others from the Santa Cruz Surfing Club who have surfed Santa Cruz waves since the 1930s, Santa Cruz hosts several surf contests drawing international participants each year, including the O'Neill Cold Water Classic, the International Longboard Association contest, and many others.
Santa Cruz Wharf is known for fishing, viewing marine mammals and other recreation.
Many outdoor sports are popular in the area such as cycling, camping, hiking, and rock climbing.
In addition to its reputation in surfing and skateboarding, Santa Cruz is known for other alternative sports such as disc golf. The De Laveaga Disc Golf Course hosts PDGA tournaments, including the annual Masters Cup. De Laveaga will also be the disc golf and discathon venue for the WFDF-sanctioned World Disc Games overall event to be held in Santa Cruz in July 2005.
Santa Cruz provides many great opportunities for birding (see bird list) and butterfly watching.
Santa Cruz is also home to KSCO 1080 AM, one of the last independent commercial radio stations in the country.
Shakespeare Santa Cruz holds an annual summer festival at UC Santa Cruz. The festival typically performs two Shakespeare plays and one other play every summer, many of which are performed in a unique outdoor space among the redwoods.
Santa Cruz is also home to the Cabrillo Music Festival.
Camper Van Beethoven was spawned in Santa Cruz.
Economy
The principal industries of Santa Cruz are agriculture, tourism, education (UCSC) and high technology. Santa Cruz is a center of the organic agriculture movement, and many specialty products. Tourist attractions include the classic Santa Cruz Boardwalk on the beach, the redwood forests, and unspoiled Monterey Bay, which is protected as a marine sanctuary. The best known local high-tech companies are The Santa Cruz Operation (SCO) (now Tarantella) and Plantronics. Giro bicycle helmets, The Santa Cruz Guitar Company, the Good Earth Tea and Erik's Deli Cafe are also headquartered in Santa Cruz.
Transportation
Highways 1 and 17 are the main roads into and out of Santa Cruz.
The Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District provides bus service throughout Santa Cruz (county). Metro also operates extensive bus service between Santa Cruz (city) and San Jose, thanks to a partnership with the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority and Amtrak California. (Complete transit itineraries between Santa Cruz and San Francisco Bay Area cities and major airports are available from iridethebus.org; see External Links, below.) Greyhound Lines bus service is another option for visiting Surf City.
Santa Cruz also is a very bike-friendly town for those who choose not to use cars. It boasts an extensive network of bike lanes and bike paths. Most major roads have bike lanes, and wide, luxurious bike lanes have recently been installed on Beach St. near the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. Additionally, there are levee bike paths along the San Lorenzo River and a Rail Trail, a bicycle and pedestrian path along the Union Pacific train tracks stretching from Davenport to Watsonville, is in the works.
The Santa Cruz, Big Trees and Pacific Railway operates tourist trains between the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk and Roaring Camp in Felton, through Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park.
The county has one public use general aviation airport and several for private use, as shown in the list of Santa Cruz airports. The nearest airports for commercial travel include San Jose International Airport, Monterey Peninsula Airport, San Francisco International Airport, and Oakland International Airport.
Other Points of interest
- University of California, Santa Cruz
- University of California, Santa Cruz, Arboretum
- Mystery Spot
- Cocoanut Grove
See also
- Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk
- KSCO, 1080 AM
- Free Radio Santa Cruz, FRSC 101.1 FM
Santa Cruz and Liberalism
As a center of liberal activism, Santa Cruz became one of the first cities in California to test the state's medical marijuana laws in court after the arrest of several medical marijuana proponents by the DEA. The case was ruled in favor of the growers, and Santa Cruz has continued to be a haven for medical and recreational pot smokers.
In 2003, the Santa Cruz City Council became the first City Council in America to officially denounce the Iraq War.
A pirate radio station, Free Radio Santa Cruz (FRSC 101.1 FM), has been in operation there for a decade.
Interwiki links
External links
- Santa Cruz Independent Media Center
- Murder Capital of the World
- SantaCruz.com Community site with surf spots, restaurant and visitor information.*
- Metro Santa Cruz Weekly newspaper with news and arts.
- Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District
- iridethebus.org Public transit itineraries to/from Santa Cruz
- Santa Cruz City - Official Web Site
- Santa Cruz County Government
- Santa Cruz Sentinel (Local Newspaper)
- Photos of Santa Cruz - Terra Galleria
- University of California at Santa Cruz
- Photographic virtual tour of Santa Cruz.
- Maps and aerial photos
- Street map from Google Local or Yahoo! Maps
- Topographic map from TopoZone
- Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
- Satellite image from Google Local or Microsoft Virtual Earth
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