Quick Take
Santa Cruz shoulders an outsized share of the county’s shelter beds, safe-parking sites and day services, despite making up less than a quarter of the population, writes local activist Kevin Norton. That’s because when someone becomes homeless in Boulder Creek, Scotts Valley, Capitola or Soquel, they often end up in Santa Cruz — or sometimes Watsonville, he writes. Taxpayers in Santa Cruz also pay far more per person than other jurisdictions, spending, according to Norton, at least 100 times more on homeless services each year than residents of Scotts Valley. Norton calls for a more even distribution of shelters, day-service centers and affordable housing, arguing that the current system overloads a few neighborhoods while making it harder for homeless people to heal and reintegrate into the community.
Have something to say? Lookout welcomes letters to the editor, within our policies, from readers. Guidelines here.
The Santa Cruz City Council recently voted to form a working group with county staff to maintain hygiene services for people experiencing homelessness. That comes after Housing Matters abruptly announced it would end day services — showers, lockers, laundry and mail services — on Coral Street in March 2026.
At the council meeting, Vice Mayor Shebreh Kalantari-Johnson made clear the problem is “beyond the city of Santa Cruz” and requires a unified countywide effort. “This is a communitywide, countywide challenge that we have to solve together,” she said, urging all jurisdictions to join the task force and help ensure day services exist across Santa Cruz County where they are most accessible.
I give the city credit for acting rapidly – before a public health crisis – including the risk of hygiene-related diseases such as typhus – arises, but the vice mayor’s comments point to a deeper question:
Why are nearly all homeless services concentrated in the city of Santa Cruz?
For years, Santa Cruz has anchored the county’s shelter system. On Coral Street alone, 147 beds operate today, with 120 more permanent supportive units coming soon with the opening of Harvey West Studios next year. In total, Santa Cruz hosts 227 of the county’s 310 shelter beds — more than 73% — despite having only 24% of the county’s population.
When 32 additional transitional beds open on Soquel Avenue in Santa Cruz next year, the city will host about 76% of all shelter capacity. This is on top of two safe-parking programs and a peer-supported shelter on city-owned property.
No other jurisdiction carries anything close to this load.
Meanwhile, San Francisco — which concentrates services into the Tenderloin, South of Market and Lower Nob Hill neighborhoods — is now moving toward a distributed model. The lesson: Overburdening one area leads to worse outcomes for both county residents and the homeless residents themselves.
The system is imbalanced — and it shows
Coral Street is a perfect example of a system breaking down. It is crowded and stressful, with recurring police sweeps and constant churn. To make matters worse, the nearby intersection of Highways 1 and 9 is the most dangerous in the city of Santa Cruz, with 19 crashes recorded between 2020 and 2025. Beyond Coral Street, certain Santa Cruz neighborhoods — and parts of Watsonville — have become default landing zones for the entire county.
When someone loses housing in Scotts Valley, Capitola, Live Oak, Aptos or Boulder Creek, they often end up sleeping in Santa Cruz or Watsonville, not because they want to, but because that is where the shelter beds, safe-parking sites and day services exist.
It is also notable that the City of Santa Cruz was the only jurisdiction in the county to meet every state-required housing target between 2014 and 2023.
A coincidence? I don’t think so.
The spending gap between jurisdictions this year is just as stark:
- City of Santa Cruz: $14 million on homeless services, including $6.5 million from the general fund.
- Watsonville: $2.3 million, with $250,000-$300,000 from the general fund and 2016’s Measure M, and the rest from grants.
- Capitola: $39,950 toward the county’s Housing for Health Partnership.
- Scotts Valley: $10,000 for rental assistance incentives.
- County of Santa Cruz: $18.9 million, including $3.4 million from the general fund and $2 million from a sales tax. The rest came from state and federal grants.
On a per-person basis, Santa Cruz residents pay roughly five times more for homeless services than those in unincorporated areas — and about 100 times more than Scotts Valley residents. This doesn’t include the added costs borne by the city’s police and fire departments.
Although Kalantari-Johnson was talking about expanding day services outside the city of Santa Cruz, I believe the point is clear: homelessness is a countywide problem.
Its solutions must finally be countywide, too.
Distributing services does not mean forcing anyone to relocate. It means giving people multiple places to access help, rather than funneling almost everyone into a few overstressed neighborhoods.
When Community Bridges closed day services in Felton this summer, citing a lack of funding, it showed how few alternatives exist outside Santa Cruz. We should create low-cost day-service centers with showers, lockers, laundry and mail in Felton, Live Oak, Capitola, Soquel, Aptos and other communities.
We also need smaller shelters and more tiny home villages spread out across the county. The 2025 point-in-time count documented 1,473 people experiencing homelessness in Santa Cruz County, 76% of whom were unsheltered — an estimated 1,120 people are sleeping outdoors every night.
Research shows that private rooms and small-scale facilities lead to better outcomes than large dorm-style shelters. The 34 tiny homes in Watsonville provide a promising model for supportive housing, though the more than $6 million cost is concerning. The 32-bed behavioral health bridge housing project on Santa Cruz’s Eastside also seems more expensive than necessary.
Oakland has purchased tiny homes with heating for as little as $10,000 each; Santa Cruz County could do the same and build hundreds. Volunteers — myself included — would gladly help install them.
For decades, Santa Cruz has done more than its share. It is time for the rest of the county to join in.
This year, Santa Cruz became the only jurisdiction to pass a major affordable housing initiative. Measure C showed what is possible when residents are exposed to the homeless population on a regular basis and decide to take action. Similar measures should be adopted city by city and eventually countywide. Distribution is not only fair; it builds political will for long-term solutions.
Housing insecurity affects everyone in various ways:
- Thousands of families have left Santa Cruz County in recent years.
- Mental health outcomes are the worst in the region.
- The birth rate, already low, is dropping further.
- Many workers can no longer afford to live here.
The city of Santa Cruz has taken an important step; now the rest of the county must do its part.
For fairness, for our unhoused neighbors, and for the long-term health of Santa Cruz County, we need to distribute shelter and services far more evenly.
If you want to help address the crisis, email the Santa Cruz City Council and the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors to express your support for a countywide approach to homeless services. Here is a sample message you can send.
Every community must participate. Only then can we create a system where everyone has a real chance to recover — and no one is left behind.
Kevin Norton lives on the Westside of Santa Cruz and has a background in public health.