After the Loma Prieta earthquake destroyed much of downtown Santa Cruz in 1989, city leaders and residents came together to rebuild the downtown in a deliberate way. A 36-member committee formed a plan for development which continues today. On the quake’s 30th anniversary, Santa Cruz Local talks to some of the key players and explains how Pacific Avenue came to be.

Editor’s note: The Loma Prieta earthquake was a magnitude of 6.9 on the moment scale, the scale most commonly used to describe large quakes.  This episode lists the quake’s magnitude as 7.1, which was its surface-wave magnitude, not a commonly-used metric for large quakes. 

Ceil Cirillo, the former director of the Santa Cruz’s Redevelopment Agency,  talks about her role in rebuilding downtown. (Stephen Baxter — Santa Cruz Local)

TRANSCRIPT

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Kara Meyberg Guzman is the CEO and co-founder of Santa Cruz Local. ​Prior to Santa Cruz Local, she served as the Santa Cruz Sentinel’s managing editor. She has a biology degree from Stanford University and lives in Santa Cruz.

Website | + posts

Stephen Baxter is a co-founder and editor of Santa Cruz Local. He covers Santa Cruz County government.