As downtown Santa Cruz changes, longtime residents fear soaring rents and loss of community

A stroll around the blocks of downtown Santa Cruz between Washington Street and Lincoln Street will show chalk markings with familiar local landmarks and names. It’s a neighborhood-wide Monopoly board — a community quirk that has become a way for neighbors to connect and enjoy their town. 

Lisa Mattoch, 58, a Boulder Creek native, is the game’s architect. “It’s all about Santa Cruz stuff, so I’ve changed all the properties and all the prices are sky-high,” she said. 

Sky-high prices and dwindling affordability are hot topics in urban areas across the country, and Santa Cruz is no different. Downtown residents, regardless of how long they’ve lived in the neighborhood, say that convenience and some semblance of affordability in the country’s most expensive rental market are big reasons why they call the city’s downtown their home. 

But for longtime downtown residents, there is looming anxiety of those features disappearing because of the massive changes to the downtown landscape. Some worry the neighborhood’s tight-knit community feel is in jeopardy.

Mattoch has lived in her apartment on Washington Street just down the street from the playground and basketball court at the backside of the London Nelson Center for 21 years. A friend and former downtown resident, Chris Dew, 60, sat in a wooden chair in Mattoch’s small front yard, chatting under the midday sun.

“I can go downtown for just about anything in 2 seconds, everything’s right here,” Mattoch said, adding that it’s a big difference from where she grew up in Boulder Creek. “There’s not a lot of sidewalks in Boulder Creek, and if you forget something from the store, you’re screwed and don’t go back because a lot of places are too far off.”

Dew, 60, has lived in the county for 25 years, and lived just across the street from Mattoch for about eight. He said he enjoyed living downtown with his children when they attended Mission Hill Middle School and Santa Cruz High School, as it suited the family well.

“I loved living here and never wanted to leave,” Dew said. “I wanted them to be able to come home for lunch, go to a sporting event and things like that,” he said. “Just the whole quality of life. When you live down here, you don’t have to drive and find a parking sport. It’s really more accessible to things.”

Dew said public safety and the homelessness crisis that some cite as major concerns was never a problem for his family. However, the downtown home he was renting was put up for sale, forcing him to move. He has since settled down in Live Oak. 

Even though Dew doesn’t live downtown anymore, he said he still dislikes the big change in the area — and feels that much of the incoming development caters to the wealthy.

“I feel like there’s an anti-democratic process and [the city] is ramming this development down our throats against the will of the people,” he said. “We spend a s–tload of money to live here, and our quality of life that makes it worthwhile is going to be deteriorating.”

For some, downtown was bustling enough even prior to the rapid upward building, and now, it’s begun to feel overwhelming. “This is the big city to me. And that’s before they started doing all this,” Mattoch said. “It’s just overwhelming.”

According to 2024 data from the city’s economic development department, the downtown area bound by Water Street and Laurel Street to the north and south, respectively, and Front Street and Chestnut Street to the east and west, respectively, is home to about 3,037 people, with a median age of 33.5. A little over half of the residents are non-Hispanic white, and slightly more than a quarter are Hispanic, with the remaining just under 10% Asian and 3.5% Black. Roughly 85% of homes are rentals and almost half of the households consist of just one person.

Compared to other neighborhoods like Seabright, and the lower and upper Westside, downtown is younger, more ethnically diverse and home to many more renters than the rest of the city.

For many who have spent any significant amount of time in the city, the changes in downtown Santa Cruz are happening faster and on a larger scale than they have ever seen. Not everyone enjoys seeing it, and some who have walked the streets for decades struggle with what feels like an overhaul of the place they have always known.

Mary Beeson has lived in her spot downtown on Center Street for about five years, but she’s been a Santa Cruz resident since 1983. She said she likes living downtown because she enjoys walking, having easy access to just about anywhere she needs to go, and living around “truly weird people” — a compliment, not an insult.

“I don’t like all the multistory buildings going up in the flood plain,” she said, taking occasional drags from a cigarette.

Beeson, 80, said she understands the need for housing, but feels that the city of Santa Cruz is shouldering too much of the burden of building it. She believes that the county likely has space to build in unincorporated areas, spreading out the development more.

“But, you know, it is what it is. We’ve got people who need housing, but [downtown] is absolutely losing character,” she said, adding that she believes that city leadership and laws favor developers over residents. “The people who have invested in all this stuff are not part of this community and couldn’t care less. There are plenty of wealthy people downtown who would show some interest in what’s happening.”

As rents creep up in urban areas across the country, including Santa Cruz, residents worry that new housing will not provide the level of affordability that many need to stay housed — and others living in the area say they feel lucky to have found their place when they did.

Jason Chafin, a former urban planner who lives on Lincoln Street, is largely happy with his situation. The apartment is what he calls a “super single,” consisting of a small living room, bedroom and kitchen joined by doorways, giving it the feel of multiple rooms, despite it really being just one. He moved into the apartment in 2019 and pays $2,000 a month in rent. He doesn’t think he could afford to rent a place downtown now, as rents have risen. 

“I paid 2 grand for this place, and I couldn’t find this place for 2 grand now,” he said. “You can barely rent anything that’s $2,500 to $3,000 that’s decent.”

Alyson Greene, 53, has lived downtown for only about a month, but loves it so far for its urban feel. A transgender woman, Greene said that she also likes the area because she feels accepted and respected. But she has also found that most of the rentals downtown are “too damn expensive.” She previously tried to get into the Cedar Street Apartments, which holds all affordable units. 

However, the low-income units were based on tenants earning 50% to 60% of the county’s area median income. Greene, who now works for Housing Matters, struggled to qualify for low-income housing with the job she had at the time, but also wasn’t making enough to afford most market rate housing. As someone who was previously homeless, she thinks that even affordable housing should have a wider door for entry.

“I wish these places would have an extremely low-income option,” she said.

Kevin Altenberg, 33, grew up in Santa Cruz and has lived all over the county. While he now lives on Chestnut Street, he previously lived at the Palomar Hotel, another affordable apartment complex. He prefers his current spot because it still has the benefits of living near the city center, but is quieter. “I love being in Santa Cruz, and just being downtown. Nothing’s very far away,” he said. 

Altenberg said that while he isn’t a huge fan of all of the change, he knows that the housing crisis is forcing cities and counties to build more units. But he hopes the new developments will prioritize longtime Santa Cruzans who want to stay. 

“If you were born in this area, you should have priority on affordable housing,” he said. “But then again, how do you make that fair? It’s a tricky situation.”

Altenberg also added that he believes affordable housing units aren’t always truly affordable, and should be less expensive in order to get people housed who struggle the most.

Beyond affordability, residents say keeping the area walkable, convenient and even introducing new features to promote neighborhood gathering and socialization would help maintain the community-focused vibe that so many of them love.

The local businesses Chafin used to frequent on the main strip are closing or moving away, forcing him to drive across town for errands he once could easily walk to. “It’s making living downtown a little less convenient, because I still have to get in my car and drive over to the Westside,” he said.

Mattoch noted a basic amenity that would benefit everyone living in the area: a grocery store. With New Leaf Community Market gone from the downtown, the area badly needs an affordable alternative that isn’t a Trader Joe’s, she said: “Something instead of these Whole Foods, whole paycheck places.”

With potentially thousands of new residents moving into the downtown area, the city should consider parking spots exclusively reserved for existing residents, Chafin said. Visitors attending farmers markets and antique fairs often take advantage of the two-hour free street parking in residential areas, he said, rather than paying for parking closer to the event. That regularly leaves downtown residents like Chafin struggling to find spaces.

As rapid changes reshape downtown, Altenberg wishes that the city could introduce more communal spaces that could create a broader sense of community – like Mattoch’s neighborhood Monopoly games going on just a few blocks away.

“Whether that’s parks or some other hangout spot, I think that’s important,” he said. “You don’t see as many people interacting with each other like you used to. But it’s a small town, and a perfect place for more of that.”

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