Santa Cruz is the toughest housing market I have ever experienced. If you were one of the nearly 65,000 readers who read my introductory article in the first 48 hours it was published, you already know of those difficulties.
In the time since, I have had to move again twice, amounting to a total of 16 moves in the past decade. At the time of my most recent move, in April 2022, the average one-bedroom apartment in Santa Cruz cost $2,480 a month; as of December 2023, many of those units are going for $2,600. That is a shocking amount of money — in fact, it’s 54% higher than the national median rent.
Of course, the numbers are only part of the story. They don’t show the emotional effects of moving: uprooting your life, leaving your neighborhood and sometimes leaving a community you’ve nurtured. I unfortunately have faced this predicament many times over the past few years. You never feel too at home, or too secure, in one place due to the uncertainty of when you’ll need to leave.
My personal experiences, alongside those of many Santa Cruzans, showcase why you should be against Measure M. We need to encourage housing development, and encourage ways for our community to stay here, to make it the place we all know and love.
Grace Stetson
Live Oak