Some time ago (I think back in December of 2024), I published a comment on Facebook that was accompanied by the photo at the top of this blog posting. I asked this question, to go along with the photo: "Is This What City Residents Want?" The second photo shown, below the first one, which I published more recently on Facebook, is another example of new developments along Front Street in Santa Cruz - and in other locations in the city, as well. In fact, two new developments, not unlike the downtown developments pictured above, are under construction within a couple of blocks of my Eastside, Santa Cruz neighborhood (a single-family area where even two-story homes are scarce), and there is a serious proposal to tear down a number of much-loved and neighborhood-supporting businesses at the corner of Seabright and Soquel, replacing them with a seven-story residential development not unlike that second development pictured above.
As I just reported, I posed a question of anyone who might see my initial Facebook posting: Is this kind of transformational, high-rise development what a majority of the residents of the City of Santa Cruz want? I did have a tentative answer to my own question. Here is what I said in my Facebook comment:
I don't think so, though I may be wrong. If you are a resident of the City of Santa Cruz, and this is not what you want for the city (and there is a lot more planned - just like this, and even bigger) then you can bewail what is happening, and feel distressed, or you can get organized, with others who feel the same. Those are the choices. Getting organized takes lots of time, and lots of effort, but past experience indicates that it can make a real difference.
I received comments from a number of people who said that they did, indeed, want more high-rise, dense development like the new developments pictured. I also got a number of comments indicating the exact opposite. As you will note, my suggestion in my original posting is that if you don't like this kind of development, you should be organizing with others to influence the future decisions to be made by the City Council. If you're happy with what's happening now, you actually don't need to put out a lot of additional effort, since state law and local decisions within the City are absolutely supportive of the kind of development pictured.
I made a similar comment in my recent blog posting about the upcoming November election. I continue to suggest that organized political activity can (no guarantees) change the decision-making that so profoundly affects our future. My personal experience, as a member of the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors for twenty years - from 1975 to 1995 - has definitely convinced me that this is true, so if you don't like the current way that City government is operating, the burden is really on you to see if you, and others with whom you get organized, can compel a change of direction. Again, if you're happy with how things are heading, no big changes are needed!
Gary A. Patton, Facebook Page (12-4-25 and 7-23-26)
I think we have to be consistent about this. We can’t complain about homelessness, young people being unable to stay here, workers commuting long distances because they can’t afford to live here, and the cost of housing — while simultaneously opposing housing when it is actually proposed.
ReplyDeleteSanta Cruz also has a very real physical constraint: we are surrounded by ocean, mountains, agricultural land and extraordinary open space. If we want to protect that green space, we need to grow up rather than out. Infill and greater density in already-developed areas are part of how we accommodate more people without sprawling farther into the places we say we want to preserve.
That doesn’t mean every project is perfect or that design, infrastructure, trees, transportation and neighborhood impacts don’t matter. They absolutely do. But “I don’t want Santa Cruz to change” isn’t really an available option. The question is how we accommodate the people who need homes while preserving as much of what makes this place special as possible.
And housing is one of those issues where our positions have to connect: we cannot demand solutions to homelessness and housing affordability while making the construction of housing itself the problem.
Developments like this and the inability of UCSC to provide housing for its students has roiled the rental market. These new apartments are not affordable at $4,000+ per month. And the developers do not have to produce EIRs, account for impacts to the water system, or examine the impact on traffic. In fact, most of them do not even provide parking for the residents. The building heights allowed are way out of scale with the community.
ReplyDeleteAfter the earthquake, much study was given to the direction of development in the downtown area. It appears that this study, built on concensus, is now out the window in order to give developers the right to build whatever type of ticky-tack 5-7 storey concrete block box that will generate the most profits.
There is a statewide group working to put an initiative on the ballot to take back local control of housing.. It’s called Our Neighnorhood Voices. They meet every Wednesday via zoom. https://www.ourneighborhoodvoices.com/
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