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Santa Cruz, California
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HistoryThe Ohlone & Pre-Contact PeriodPrior to the arrival of Europeans in the Eighteenth Century, the Awaswas people (a part of the Ohlone (Costanoan) Native Americans) maintained a settlement, Chatu-Mu, along the San Lorenzo River not far from the Monterey Bay.
Mission and Pueblo PeriodIn 1769 the Spanish explorer Gaspar de Portolà arrived in the vicinity of Chatu-Mu. He named the river San Lorenzo in honor of Saint Lawrence. He called the rolling hills above the river the "Santa Cruz" which means "holy cross."
Twenty-two years later, on August 28, 1791, Father Fermín Lasuén established La Misión de la Exaltación de la Santa Cruz (also known as Mission Santa Cruz) for the conversion of the Awaswas of Chatu-Mu and surrounding villages. Santa Cruz was the twelfth mission to be founded in California.
On April 1796, by order of the Viceroy of New Spain Miguel de la Grúa Talamanca y Branciforte, marqués de Branciforte, Captain Pere d'Alberní, and his First Free Company of Volunteers of Catalonia, a 72-men irregular unit serving the Spanish Crown, were moved to California to take care of the Spanish military garrisons of Monterrey, Santa Bárbara, San Diego and San Francisco.
Across the San Lorenzo River, in what is now known as the East Side of Santa Cruz, Alberní founded a town called Villa Branciforte, in honor of the Viceroy of New Spain. Villa Branciforte later merged with the Mission Santa Cruz community across the river, and together they formed what is today known as Santa Cruz.
By the 1820s Mexico had assumed control of the area and within the next twenty years, Americans began to arrive in great numbers. California became a state in 1850, and Santa Cruz County was created in 1850 as one of the twenty-seven original counties.
California StatehoodBy the turn of the century logging, lime processing, agriculture, and commercial fishing industries prospered in the area. Due to its mild climate and scenic beauty Santa Cruz also became a prominent resort community.
Santa Cruz was incorporated in 1866 as a town under the laws of the State of California and received its first charter as a city in 1876. At that time the city was governed by a Mayor and Common Council consisting of four members. A walk down Walnut Avenue past the Sorbet Santa will show any passer-by the unique architecture from the Victorian period in Santa Cruz.
From 1880 to 1940, a narrow gauge railroad connected Santa Cruz with Los Gatos with standard gauge connections from Los Gatos to the other parts of the San Francisco Bay Area. The railroad was acquired by the Southern Pacific in the early 1900s and carried freight and passenger trains. Excursion trains operated until the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, which caused major damage to tracks, tunnels, and bridges. The Southern Pacific repaired the line and resumed operations until March 1940, following more damage by a major winter storm. With the completion of State Route 17 that same year, there was less reason to continue the rail operations.
In 1907, the citizens voted for a new charter designating a Mayor as chief executive and a City Council consisting of seven members. Subsequent charters gave a Mayor and four Commissioners both executive and administrative powers. At that time the city was divided into five departments: Public Affairs, Revenue and Finance, Public Health and Safety, Public Works, and Streets and Parks.
In 1948, the City of Santa Cruz adopted a new City Charter. This charter established a Council-Manager form of government, with a Mayor and six Councilmembers setting policy for the city and a city manager serving as the chief administrator of those policies. The Charter, with amendments, is still in existence today.
On October 17, 1989, the city suffered major damage from the Loma Prieta earthquake, which was centered on Loma Prieta, the highest point in the nearby Santa Cruz Mountains. Many of the historic buildings in the downtown business district were damaged or destroyed; reconstruction of the district has continued in recent years, and some of the original buildings can be seen in Clint Eastwood's "Dirty Harry" movie Sudden Impact.
Historic social activismAs a center of liberal and progressive 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. In 2005, the Santa Cruz City Council established a city government office to assist residents with obtaining medical marijuana. In 2006, Measure K was passed by voters, making marijuana enforcement "lowest priority" for law enforcement.
In 2003, the Santa Cruz City Council became the first City Council in the U.S. to denounce the Iraq War. The City Council of Santa Cruz also issued a proclamation opposing the USA PATRIOT Act.
Notable feminists activists Nikki Craft and Ann Simonton resided in Santa Cruz where they formed the "Praying Mantis Brigade". This collection of activists organized the "Myth California Pageant" in the 1980's protesting "the objectification of women and the glorification of the beauty myth." Myth California was staged concurrently with the Miss California pageant held in Santa Cruz since the 1920's. The protests, including women dressed in meat and pouring the blood of raped women across a pageant entryway, ran for nine years eventually contributing to the Miss California pageant leaving Santa Cruz. Simonton founded and coordinates the non-profit group "Media Watch" which monitors and critiques media images of women and ethnic minorities. Beginning in 1983 Santa Cruz has hosted an annual Take Back the Night candlelight vigil, rally, march, and protest focusing on the issue of violence against women.
Santa Cruz has an active community of independent media makers as demonstrated by the Santa Cruz Independent Media Center and many other do-it-yourself media projects. A pirate radio station, Free Radio Santa Cruz (FRSC 101.1 FM), has been in operation in Santa Cruz for a decade, operating with active participation from a cross section of Santa Cruz residents. Incendio is a bi-lingual journal to connect English- and Spanish-speaking anarchists throughout the world to anarchist, indigenous, ecological, and social struggles occurring throughout Latin America. Santa Cruz also has an active independent media outlet.
Founded in 1976, The Resource Center for Nonviolence is one of the oldest and most centrally located non-profit organizations committed to political and social activism in Santa Cruz County. The center is "dedicated to promoting the principles of nonviolent social change and enhancing the quality of life and human dignity".
Santa Cruz has an activist Veteran community. The United Veterans Council sponsors a community-based program for Veterans dealing with re-entry into society as an alternative to government remedies. The Bill Motto VFW post #5888 sponsors anti-war and peace efforts in Santa Cruz and throughout the country. The Veterans Memorial Building is host to punk, reggae, and hip-Hop acts from Santa Cruz and around the world. It is also the home of the Bill Motto Post sponsored Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. These dinners were started by post #5888 in the late seventies. In 2006, the Thanksgiving dinner served 1,400 people.
Other non-profit organizations have been developed to address various issues in the community, such as The Santa Cruz AIDS Project, Barrios Unidos, and The Homeless Garden Project.
ClimateSanta Cruz has mild weather throughout the year, enjoying a Mediterranean climate characterized by cool, wet winters and warm, mostly dry summers. Due to its proximity to Monterey Bay, fog and low overcast is a common feature during the night and morning hours, especially in the summer.
January is the coolest month with an average maximum of 59.8°F and an average minimum of 39.3°F. September is the warmest month with an average maximum of 75.7°F and an average minimum of 51.0°F. There are an average of only 5.7 days with highs of 90°F (32°C) or higher and an average of 12.7 days with lows of 32°F (0°C) or lower. The highest temperature on record was 107°F on September 14, 1971. The lowest temperature on record was 19°F on December 23, 1990.
Average annual rainfall in Santa Cruz is 30.58 inches, which most of the rain falling from November through April. There are an average of 65 days with measurable rain annually. The most rainfall in one year was 59.76 inches in 1983 and the least rainfall in one year was 15.02 inches in 1989. In December 1955, 21.07 inches fell in Santa Cruz and the San Lorenzo River had one of its greatest floods in history. Heavy rains and high winds in the spring of 1958 caused extensive damage along the coastline of Santa Cruz County. The greatest 24 hour rainfall in Santa Cruz was 6.91 inches on January 5, 1982.
EconomyThe 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 as well as housing the headquarters of California Certified Organic Farmers. Tourist attractions include the classic Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk on the beach, the redwood forests, and Monterey Bay, which is protected as a marine sanctuary. The best known local high-tech companies are The Santa Cruz Operation (SCO) (now Tarantella, Inc.), Seagate, Borland, RF Micro Devices, and Plantronics. Giro bicycle helmets, O'Neil's Surf Shop, The Santa Cruz Guitar Company, Kestrel Bicycles, the Good Earth Tea and Erik's Deli Cafe are also headquartered in Santa Cruz. Odwalla Juices was also founded in Santa Cruz.
From 1970 to present, Santa Cruz has been the home to numerous boatbuilding companies, including Moore Brothers, Bill Lee Yachts, Wilderness Boats, Alsberg Bros. Boats, C&B Boats, and Pacific Yachts. A common theme amongst these builders was the influence of lightweight surfboard construction using foam and fiberglass, and the result was the creation of the ULDB (ultralight displacement boat). Classes such as the Santa Cruz 27 and 52, Moore 24, Olson 30, Wilderness 21, Monterey Bay 30, and custom boats like Merlin showed that exciting, fast, and seaworthy boats could be made out of materials far lighter than was common in that time. While many of these builders have closed, Santa Cruz Yachts and Moore Bros. still exist.
Demographics Santa Cruz
Population by year | Year | Pop. |
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| 1860 | 950 | | 1870 | 2,561 | | 1880 | 3,898 | | 1890 | 5,596 | | 1900 | 5,659 | | 1910 | 11,146 | | 1920 | 10,917 | | 1930 | 14,395 | | 1940 | 16,896 | | 1950 | 21,970 | | 1960 | 25,596 | | 1970 | 32,076 | | 1980 | 41,483 | | 1990 | 49,040 | | 2000 | 54,593 |
Recorded from the census of 2000, there were 54,593 people total with 20,442 households and 10,404 families residing in the city. The population density includes 1,682.2/km² (4,356.0/sq mi). There were 21,504 housing units at an average density of 1,715.8/sq mi (662.6/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 78.74% White, 17.39% Hispanic or Latino, 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.
There were 20,442 households out of which 25.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 37.0% were married couples living together, 9.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 49.1% were non-families. 29.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 2.98.
In the city the population was 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 were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females there were 99.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.9 males age 18 and over.
The median income for a household in the city was $50,605, and the median income for a family was $62,231. Males had a median income of $44,751 versus $32,699 for females. The per capita income for the city was $25,758. About 6.6% of families and 16.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.5% of those under age 18 and 4.8% of those age 65 or over.
Law and GovernmentIn the state legislature Santa Cruz is located in the 11th Senate District, represented by Democrat Joe Simitian, and in the 27th Assembly District, represented by Democrat John Laird. Federally, Santa Cruz is located in California's 17th congressional district, which has a Cook PVI of D +17 and is represented by Democrat Sam Farr.
Sister citiesSanta Cruz has five sister cities, as designated by :
A monument next to the downtown Santa Cruz post office has a small circular plaza surrounded by marble posts topped with bronze maps of each of the sister cities.
The sister city relationship with Alushta was established in the waning days of the Soviet Union before the fall of Communism and was controversial at the time.
Transportation State Routes 1 and 17 are the main roads in and out of Santa Cruz. Geographically constrained between the Santa Cruz Mountains and the Monterey Bay, the narrow transportation corridor served by SR 1 suffers congestion. A highway widening project is underway. The ramp from SR 1 northbound to SR 17 southbound, onto Ocean Street, is commonly known as the "fish hook" due to its tightening curve.
The Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District provides bus service throughout Santa Cruz County. Metro also operates bus service between Santa Cruz (city) and San Jose, thanks to a partnership with the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority and Amtrak California; connections are possible in San Jose. (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 Santa Cruz.
The nearest airports for commercial travel are San Jose International Airport, Monterey Peninsula Airport, San Francisco International Airport, and Oakland International Airport.
Santa Cruz has an extensive network of bike lanes and bike paths. Most major roads have bike lanes, and wide, luxurious bike lanes were recently installed on Beach Street, near the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. Additionally, there are levee bike paths along the San Lorenzo River. A Rail Trail -- a bicycle and pedestrian path beside an existing coastal train track -- is under consideration.
The Santa Cruz, Big Trees and Pacific Railway operates diesel-electric tourist trains between the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk and Roaring Camp in Felton, through Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park. Roaring Camp and Big Trees Narrow-Gauge Railroad operates two narrow-gauge trains, taking visitors through the redwoods to the mountain top year-round. These 3-cylinder, gear-driven, Shay steam locomotives draw many enthusiasts to Santa Cruz.
EducationK through 12Elementary schools
Santa Cruz City Schools Elementary District is made up of elementary schools where a complete K through 5th grade program is offered.
- Bay View Elementary
- Gateway School (private, K-8)
- DeLaveaga Elementary
- Gault Elementary
- Westlake Elementary
- Monarch Elementary (alternative)
- Happy Valley Elementary
- LIve Oak Elementary
- Green Acres Elementary
- Del Mar Elementary
- Waldorf (private)
- Holy Cross School (private)
Junior high and middle schools
High schools
- Santa Cruz High School
- Cypress Charter High School
- Soquel High School
- Harbor High School
- Costanoa High School
- Georgiana Bruce Kirby Preparatory School (private)
- Pacific Collegiate School (charter)
- Empire Academy (private)
- The Ark (alternative)
- Delta Charter High School (charter)
- Waldorf High School (private)
Colleges & universitiesWhile there are several colleges and universities proximate to Santa Cruz, the city itself only hosts one: the University of California, Santa Cruz.
UCSC was built starting in the 1960s with a residential college system based on the British system, (see University of Cambridge, University of Oxford, or University of York). To date, there are ten colleges, each with a different theme and architectural framework. The UCSC campus sits among a redwood forest and overlooks Monterey Bay. Originally, UCSC did not use letter grades in evaluating student academic performance and had no organized sports teams, although both of these have now changed, students are faced with the same choices as most other UC campuses. There are also a number of NCAA division III sports programs, including tennis, water polo, swimming, diving, basketball, rugby, and soccer. The university mascot, the banana slug, was established by students on an informal basis, and recognizes an indigenous creature that can be found throughout the campus. The campus administration attempted to assign the sea lion as the mascot in the early 1980s. However, after a 1986 student referendum voted overwhelmingly in favor of the slug, the then-Chancellor declared the slug the official UCSC mascot.
AttractionsPoints of interest
ParksState Parks & Beaches
Greenbelt Districts
Regional Parks- Harvey West Park
- DeLaveaga Park
- Depot Park
Neighborhood Parks- Beach Flats Park
- Central Park
- Derby Park
- Frederick Street Park
- Garfield Park
- Grant Park
- John Franks Park
- Laurel Park
- Lighthouse Neighborhood Park
- Mike Fox Park
- Mission Plaza
- Moore Creek Overlook
- Ocean View Park
- Round Tree Park
- San Lorenzo Park
- Star of the Sea
- Trescony
- Tyrrell Park
- University Terrace
- Westlake Park
- Cowells Beach
Recreation
Santa Cruz is well-known for watersports such as sailing, diving, swimming, paddling, and surfing. It is the home of O'Neill Wetsuits and Santa Cruz Surfboards, as well as Santa Cruz Skateboards and Santa Cruz Bicycles. Santa Cruz also houses Derby skate park, the first public skate park in the USA as well as the brand new Mike Fox skatepark. The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk is California’s oldest amusement park and a designated State Historic Landmark. Home to two National Historic Landmarks, a 1911 Charles I. D. Looff Carousel and 1924 Giant Dipper roller coaster, the Boardwalk has been owned and operated by the Santa Cruz Seaside Company since 1915.
Santa Cruz is the reputed site of the first surfing in California in 1885, when three Hawaiian princes, Prince Edward, Prince David and Prince Jonah Kalaniana’ole, 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 Lane and Pleasure Point, which create some of the best surfing waves in the world. Home to the Santa Cruz 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 was home to the Miss California Pageant, state finals to Miss America for six decades.
The Santa Cruz Wharf is known for fishing, viewing marine mammals and other recreation.
Many outdoor sports are popular in the area such as skateboarding, cycling, camping, hiking, and rock climbing.
In addition to its reputation in surfing and skateboarding, which now has the first full pipe in Northern California, Santa Cruz is known for other alternative sports such as disc golf. The Santa Cruz Skatepark is open to the public 7 days a week and is free. The De Laveaga Disc Golf Course hosts PDGA tournaments, including the annual Masters Cup. De Laveaga was the disc golf and discathon venue for the WFDF-sanctioned World Disc Games overall event held in Santa Cruz in July 2005.
The Ken Wormhoudt Skate Park (formerly Mike Fox Park) is a 15,000 square foot park featuring a full pipe, two bowls with pool coping and tile, practice bowl and street course with steps, hubba ledges, wall-rides and metal rails. It is located at 225 San Lorenzo Boulevard at Riverside Avenue along the San Lorenzo River levee. The park opened in March 2007. It is open from 9 a.m. to sunset daily. All skaters must wear a helmet, elbow pads, and knee pads and have skateboards and in-line skates with composite wheels only. Bicycles, scooters, and metal skate wheels are not allowed in the skate park. The skate park will be closed during rainy or wet conditions.
Santa Cruz provides many opportunities for birding (see bird list) and butterfly watching.
Many residents consider downtown Pacific Garden Mall to be the heart of Santa Cruz culture with its historic buildings, locally-owned businesses, and street performers. Representing an aspect of the "Keep Santa Cruz weird" contingent is Robert Steffen, a gentleman who walks slowly down Pacific Avenue dressed in pink women's clothing and makeup, including a parasol, thereby attaining the moniker "Slow Robert" and "The Pink Umbrella Man".
The city also is often said to be a huge hot spot for Volkswagen Beetle enthusiasts, featuring many in local auto shows annually. One of the Volkswagen Beetle's custom variations, the "So-Cal" Bug, has received nationwide attention as a true California surf car. Many of these are seen on the beaches in Santa Cruz, as well as the occasional Volkswagen Bus.
Cultural attractions - 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.
- Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music
- Santa Cruz Film Festival
- EarthVision International Environmental Film Festival
- Santa Cruz Blues Festival
- Annual Y2K? International Live Looping Festival, in October of 2007 the Y2K7 festival featured 51 live looping artists from 10 countries - the largest gathering of live loopers in history
- U.S. Open Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
- U.S. Open Capoeira
- Santa Cruz Digital Arts & New Media Festival
- Santa Cruz Fungus Fair, Sponsored by the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History and the Fungus Federation of Santa Cruz
- Arts & Lectures Presents, Sponsored by UC Santa Cruz Arts & Lectures
- Santa Cruz Pride
- Open Studios Art Tour
- O'Neill's Cold Water Classic
- Pro-Am Beach Soccer Championships
GalleryMedia TelevisionThe Monterey-Salinas metropolitan statistical (or service) area (MSA) is served by a variety of local television stations, and is the 124th largest designated market area (DMA) in the U.S. with 222,900 homes:
ABC affiliateThe Monterey-Salinas area lost its American Broadcasting Company broadcast affiliate in 2000, when KNTV was purchased, and then became the NBC station for the San Francisco Oakland San Jose metropolitan area. KNTV, now known as NBC11, later moved its tower from Loma Prieta Peak to San Bruno Mountain, ceasing its coverage in Monterey. At that time, ABC reached an agreement with Comcast Cable to provide a slightly-customized feed of San Francisco ABC O&O KGO-TV for the Monterey area, branded simply as ABC 7 and occasionally referred to by the mock call letters AABC.
Radio
Magazines
Notable Santa CruzansDue to being the home of University of California, Santa Cruz as well as being bustling with local musicians, Santa Cruz has a number of notable residents.
Controversy- After Huntington Beach, California trademarked the Surf City USA® name, Santa Cruz politicians tried to stop the mark from being registered by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office because of 10-year-old controversy over Santa Cruz's nickname "Surf City." Huntington Beach has obtained a total of seven registrations for the Surf City USA® trademark. Importantly, however, none of these registrations of the trademark are on the principal register, but on the secondary register, which means that Huntington Beach has no exclusive right to assert ownership over the "Surf City USA" trademark. Indeed, trademark scholar and law professor Tyler Ochoa has called Huntington Beach's assertion of ownership over the "Surf City USA" mark "weak, dubious, and probably unenforceable." Two Santa Cruz surf shops, Shoreline Surf Shop and Noland's on the Wharf, sued the city of Huntington Beach in order to protect the public use of the term "Surf City." The parties reached a confidential settlement in January 2008, in which neither side admitted liability and all claims and counterclaims were dismissed. The Santa Cruz surf shops continue to print t-shirts, and the Visitor's Bureau retains the right to use the trademark.
External linksGeneral information
Government
Music history- , a Wikicity for Santa Cruz Underground Music
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