Are we there yet? As 2026 dawns, downtown Santa Cruz is still in the middle of a long process to transformation
As 2025 morphs into 2026, Santa Cruz’s downtown is still deep in the middle of a major transformation. A new proposal for The Catalyst building has many up in arms, while fans of the new library quietly wait for 2028. Wallace Baine has an overview of where all the projects stand.
OPINION: The RTC finally chooses progress over paralysis on the rail trail
The Regional Transportation Commission’s vote for the interim trail marks the first real movement on the corridor after a decade of drift, writes Doug Erickson, founder and executive director of Santa Cruz Works. Confronted with hard economics and engineering limits, the commission acknowledged that the “ultimate trail” was never feasible with current funds or timelines. The interim trail — buildable, fundable and immediately useful — aligns policy with reality and public demand. It doesn’t end the rail debate, Erickson writes, but it ends the stalemate, giving Santa Cruz a practical path forward at last. Read his op-ed here.
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