At a March 10 listening session at the London Nelson Community Center, residents gathered to discuss issues facing the City of Santa Cruz. (Amaya Edwards — Santa Cruz Local / Catchlight Local)

SANTA CRUZ >> Santa Cruz Local staff spent weeks meeting with and listening to City of Santa Cruz residents about their top concerns going into the June 2 election. The June primary consists of Santa Cruz mayor, Santa Cruz City Council and the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors. Residents told us their top priorities are housing, traffic, homelessness and government transparency.

To press candidates on residents’ concerns, we asked around 200 residents two key questions: what’s the biggest issue where you live? And what would you like to see done about it? 

Our staff conducted an online survey of 165 residents, interviewed 30 in-person, and invited 14 to an in-person, 90 minute listening session at the London Nelson Community Center. The residents we surveyed ranged in age from 19-93. Of those, 72% were white, 7% were Latino, 70% homeowners and 25% were renters.

The reoccurring themes that kept coming up for residents?

• Affordable housing availability. 
• Local response to state housing construction mandates.
• Traffic and road safety. 
• Homelessness and homeless services. 
• Transparent communication between local elected leaders and residents.

Housing was the top concern, with affordability and accessibility top of mind. Residents pointed to myriad costs of unaffordable housing in Santa Cruz as a major quality of life issue. “I know so many young people who went to college, who come from middle class families, and they have full time jobs, and they’re living in their cars because it’s like the only affordable option,” shared Michael, 30, of Santa Cruz. 

Many residents were dubious of new construction as a solution. “The narrative is if you just build, build, build things will get more affordable… I would like to believe that’s true, but I’m not convinced that it is,” said Stacey, 45, of Santa Cruz. 

Residents were at turns split or at a loss for how to address affordability. While some residents weren’t interested in new housing being built, others were in favor of creative solutions like more backyard ADUs, potentially to house elderly homeowners who rent out their larger houses, or converting single family homes into duplexes or triplexes. 

Many residents were also concerned about the local government’s response to state housing mandates and the perceived pressure to build new housing. “[There is] excessive catering to developers without local accountability or sufficient affordable housing,” said Michael, 64, of Santa Cruz. 

Transportation was the second most common concern. Residents told us that they find roads to be crowded, unsafe and generally unpleasant for bikers and pedestrians. Many named specific intersections near their homes or on their commutes that they find routinely dangerous. Among those named were Bay Street and High Street and Water Street, Soquel Avenue and Morrissey Boulevard. “Traffic control over speeding and street repairs is needed, especially for bicyclists,” said Linda, 73. “There’s slow East-West traffic from too many cars on the roads,” said Dan, of Santa Cruz. “We need a comprehensive streets program and not only the lower Westside but really citywide,” said Stephen, 76.

Residents also shared concerns about the sustained homeless population in Santa Cruz and quality of life for homeless and housed people. “Homelessness and housing are really big issues right now, and both really need to have county-wide solutions and not piecemeal by city or county.” said Kathy, 73, of Santa Cruz. 

Those we surveyed didn’t agree on how best to address homelessness. Many expressed frustration with constant sweeps. “I’ve seen a lot of hostility and just more crackdowns… you can’t park an RV on the street, you can’t sit on a bench… it’s so hostile to people who are in a situation that any of us could be in,” said Cooper, 28. Some want City officials to focus on increased services and housing. “Redirect some of the Santa Cruz Police Department budget to social service appropriate to unhoused and those needing mental health support,” suggested Michael, 64, of Santa Cruz. Some residents felt that the existence of local services contribute to homelessness, and should be pulled back. “Cut off all money to the homeless, EBT and Medical… total waste,” said Karen of Santa Cruz. 

The desire for a more transparent, responsive and communicative local government was a concern threaded throughout our surveys and interviews. Residents told us they want local leaders to show them that they are listening. Residents offered advice to incoming elected officials on this topic, including:

• “Have meetings or listening sessions with community members with actionable next steps on what you heard.” 
• “Find ways to demystify where our taxes go, where our general fund is spent and how to make the most with the monies our local government has access to” 
• “Gather listening sessions neighborhood by neighborhood to learn what we need you to accomplish during your term representing us.”
• “Engage with your whole community, not just those in the largest tax bracket. You are a representative for Santa Cruz as a whole, you should have the community’s best interests at heart.”
• “Make a point of talking to someone outside your normal circles on a regular basis.”

From these core themes, we plan to ask the following questions of candidates Santa Cruz mayor and city council: 

• Do you support policies like rent control, rental assistance or enhanced eviction protections? Do you have other plans for making existing housing stock more affordable?
• How will you balance the pressures of state housing mandates with the desires of current residents?
• What do you believe works and doesn’t work about the city’s homelessness policy? What changes do you plan to make in office?
• What policies would you propose to make roads safer and easier for all residents? 
• What’s your plan to rebuild trust in local government with the people that you represent?

Elena “Nini” Cohen, Kara Meyberg Guzman and Billy Rainbow discuss the challenges facing residents in the City of Santa Cruz at a March 10 listening session. (Amaya Edwards — Santa Cruz Local / Catchlight Local)

At our March 10 listening session, 14 residents shared their experiences making a life in Santa Cruz and perspectives on the City’s future. Participants expressed a deep love for the City of Santa Cruz and a desire to stay, even as life feels more and more precarious for renters and those on a fixed income. 

Young people shared the impact of the housing crisis on their lives. “All my friends moved away. Everyone I was friends with who grew up here moved away because the rent was too high and the opportunities were too low,” said Emeline, 25, who hopes to see the City support converting single homes to duplexes and triplexes to increase affordable housing stock. 

Nico, 27, recently moved and delivered muffins to their new neighbors, but the burden of rent keeps their hopes for community connection low. “My neighbors are renters and work numerous jobs and have multiple kids, and we’ve talked briefly, but they’re like, yeah, it’s hard for us to attend a block party, let alone help facilitate one.”

Among participants, there was excitement for neighborhood-based innovation that focuses on community cohesion. Ellen, 64, suggested that local government funneling money to neighborhoods themselves might allow neighbors to intervene directly for those that are homeless on their blocks – a common point of concern among residents. She also wants to see creative zoning that makes neighborhoods more conducive to community connection. “Allowing for libraries, small stores, not like a Target or a Safeway, but like a little corner store or a cafe… would be really useful to keep people moving and walking and just being present in their space,” said Ellen. 

Participants also expressed a desire for greater local government transparency and accountability, particularly around housing. “There should be some annual public accountability. Here’s what we built, here’s how it reduced the cost of housing, or didn’t, here’s how it changed the rate of homelessness,” said Stacey, 45. 

Our staff spent a week tabling at Cabrillo College’s Aptos campus, where we interviewed 25 students, including 10 City of Santa Cruz residents. We asked: what’s the biggest issue facing your community? 

Almost every student we spoke to mentioned the cost of living and affordability of housing. “The cost of living is pretty bad, seeing everything getting more expensive in real time sucks,” said one 23-year-old student. They shared that it’s difficult to afford housing as a student: rent is high and jobs are low-paying. One student, aged 20, shared that he and most of his friends had been unable to secure part-time jobs, despite months of applications. Even with full-time work, students said it’s hard to make ends meet. Many younger students live with family, and don’t have plans to move out. 

Students also shared community concerns. Almost half of the students we spoke to shared fear about Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. They discussed the impact of fear on the immigrant communities they’re part of, like people sheltering at home. Slightly less than half of students also shared concerns about homelessness, which they discussed as a failure of local government to keep residents housed. 

At a food distribution on the North Coast, our staff interviewed 10 Spanish-speaking residents who live in or just outside the City of Santa Cruz. Here too, concerns about housing and the cost of living were top of mind, with residents telling us that rising prices are making it difficult to afford basic necessities. 

Our Noticias Watsonville team conducted a week of listening in March with residents of Watsonville and the Pajaro Valley. To learn more about what they heard, check out Catalina Jaramillo’s story. 

Candidates interviews are underway and once published in May, our free election guide will be available in English on our website, in print and on our Instagram. Our Spanish election guide will be available in print and in our Noticias Watsonville WhatsApp group. To stay in the loop, sign up for our weekly newsletter, follow us on Instagram or join our Spanish-language news community on WhatsApp.

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