For a city whose violent crime history includes four serial killers during the ’70s and early ’80s and enough stabbings in recent years that one guy started a website to track them, it’s difficult to imagine combating violence without the police. But a few community-minded citizens in Santa Cruz are trying.
Articles by Maria Grusauskas
Speed Freaks Roll on Screen
Adrenaline junkies, beware: the 2011 Radical Reels Film Tour hits town this Saturday, and it’s been put together with the thrill-seeking population in mind. The spin-off of the Banff Mountain Film Festival represents the cream of the extreme sports crop.
Delaware Addition Architect: Let’s Break Some Rules
For Mark Primack, the key to the future is not conforming. That goes for people, ideas and the buildings they live and work in. “A planning director once observed that if you asked people in Santa Cruz to identify the places, the buildings or businesses that most expressed the unique character and spirit of this town,” says the local architect and former Santa Cruz councilmember, “guaranteed every one of those would be ‘existing non-conforming,’ meaning they violate current rules and standards.”
Making It at MAH
Wood shavings fly through the air and a fine film of sawdust settles on the cement floor of the Atrium. It’s just another Sunday at the Museum of Art and History (MAH), and the Makers at the MAH pilot program is in full swing.
The Greenest House in Santa Cruz County
Once finished, the Platinum LEED-certified house will produce as much energy as it uses, if not more. Located on the sunny Westside at 325 John Street, the home complies with Platinum Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards—the absolute highest certification for green buildings. The LEED certification is based on a stringent rating system set by the U.S. Green Building Council, a nonprofit organization promoting sustainable design and construction (and the fastest-growing nonprofit since 2005).
Santa Cruz’s First Shipping Container Home
When Connie DeWitt and her husband Kam Kasavri began designing a weekend getaway house in the quiet woods of Zayante, they knew what they wanted: high style, low impact on the earth and a minimal cash outlay. Two years later, their modern cabin is taking form as the very first home in Santa Cruz County to be constructed out of shipping containers.
Their Cups Runneth Over
The common brassiere is a thing of the past, thanks to the outrageous “Bras for A Cause” gala and live auction fundraiser, now in its sixth year. Organized by Soroptimist (meaning “good for women” in Latin) International of Capitola, Bras for A Cause dares entrants to get zany and design a bra to enter into the auction. Nothing is considered too bodacious.
Online Sharing Resources
Where to find books, household tools, designer handbags and even business investors while cutting out The Man.
The Santa Cruz Sharing Economy
According to social media expert Rachel Botsman, our economy is about to embark on a transformation so complete it rivals the Industrial Revolution. “I think we’re going to look back and see the next decade as a momentous turning point: when technology reinvented entire sectors,” Botsman declared last month at an HP TECH@Work conference in Sydney, Australia.
The Native Gardens of Santa Cruz
Michael Eurs’ garden would be a lovely place to get lost. Tucked next to Soquel Creek, three miles upstream from Capitola Beach, the garden is a mystical expanse of native plants and roses, meandering paths, woodpile hideouts for lizards and snakes and the occasional bench for sitting and talking.
