What is a Westsider, anyway, and why are they so smug? Answers to this and more follow in our handy crib sheet to the neighborhoods of Santa Cruz County.
Westside Santa Cruz
Those who live west of Chestnut and Highland streets between UCSC and the ocean, give or take, are known as Westsiders. They are smirking because of West Cliff Drive, Steamer Lane and the fact that they have less fog than everyone else. Mission Street is a major commercial district. The sweet little Swift Street Courtyard at Swift and Ingalls streets, with its bakery, shops, brewery and wineries, is giving it up-and-coming foodie panache.
Downtown Santa Cruz
Roughly circumscribed by Chestnut Street, Highway One, the San Lorenzo River and Main Beach, downtown Santa Cruz is a big bowlful of happy urban bustle (Pacific Avenue) bordered by some charming and surprisingly quiet neighborhoods (see: Walnut, Washington and Union streets), all totally walkable. This is why many of us [heart] Santa Cruz so much we can hardly stand it.
Midtown/Seabright
Midtown—the heart of which lies along Soquel Avenue between Ocean and Seabright—is fast becoming a mecca of hipster chic, thanks to its bike shops, home furnishing stores, cafes, restaurants and sweet live music venues. As for the laid-back Seabright neighborhood, with its clutch of bars and eateries (at Seabright and Murray, two blocks from the beach), its residents are fierce loyalists who will go mano-a-mano with anyone over neighborhood supremacy. What could inspire such passion? One must see for oneself.
Live Oak/Pleasure Point
The swath of unincorporated suburbia between Santa Cruz and Capitola is known as Live Oak; near the ocean it’s called Pleasure Point; and in Santa Cruz Tribalese it’s pronounced “Eastside.” Once scorned, formerly rural Live Oak is scrapping its way up the cool scale thanks to cute, affordable neighborhoods and a sense of self taking shape at 17th and Brommer (People’s Coffee rules). Pleasure Point, though, will always outshine its inland sibling. A warren of wee beach bungalows peppered with mini-mansions, this neighborhood is steeped in surf culture (Jack O’Neill lives here) and claims one of the hands-down best shopping districts in the county. At 41st Avenue and Portola is a funky district of sushi bars, coffeehouses, surf and skate shops and thrift stores with a sweet surf town vibe that does not stop.
Capitola and Aptos
Perched at the juncture of Soquel Creek and Monterey Bay, Capitola-by-the-Sea, about five miles east of Santa Cruz, is a beach town with a distinctly European feel. It’s like a jumble of little jewels piled on top of one another—boutiques, restaurants, inns and a lively string of bars on the Esplanade. Aptos Village is Capitola’s inland cowboy boots-wearing cousin, also charming, with a few bars and eateries and a Western feel thanks to the picturesque Bayview Hotel. Aptos is the gateway to Nisene Marks State Park (see page TK), and the Aptos Village Park hosts the Santa Cruz Blues Festival each Memorial Day weekend.
San Lorenzo Valley/Bonny Doon
Five miles up Highway 9 the trees get taller, the trucks get bigger and the air gets warmer (fog rarely makes it up this far). In true mountain fashion, the redwood-forested San Lorenzo Valley gets more exotic the further up you go; by the time you get to rustic Boulder Creek, Felton looks like downtown Manhattan. Tons of vineyards make their magic up here. Bonny Doon is the name of the community blanketing the mountains between the San Lorenzo Valley and the Pacific Ocean. Sunny days, vineyards and great views are the rule.
