As Watsonville embarks on an ambitious long-term downtown makeover and Santa Cruz’s continues, both cities are aiming to boost housing density and make those areas more livable while also focusing on events and experiences at a time when e-commerce has made brick-and-mortar retail less of a downtown driver.
Civic Life
Posted inLatest News
Kaiser Permanente and unions reach tentative agreement one week after strike
Kaiser Permanente and a coalition of unions representing roughly a third of the health care giants workforce have reached a tentative agreement, a week after tens of thousands of workers walked off the job in protest.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
As county confronts housing crisis, even some homeless outreach workers are on the brink of becoming unhoused
More than 30 Santa Cruz County community members came to the 418 Project on Thursday to hear local city and law enforcement officials discuss positives and negatives surrounding the city and county’s housing crisis. The event also featured a screening of the Andrew Purchin documentary “What’s Home? Creative Listening Across Differences,” which explores the county’s housing crisis through collaborative art projects created among artists, writers, musicians and both housed and unhoused people, along with a song by local rap artist Alwa Gordon.
Posted inHousing & Development
Inside Santa Cruz’s ambitious downtown expansion plans: 12-story towers and a new multipurpose Warriors arena
A new arena for the Santa Cruz Warriors. Lots of new housing in tall buildings. Street reconfiguration. These factors are all in play as Santa Cruz officials prepare to update the public on where things stand with the neighborhood south of Laurel Street downtown — and a ballot measure governing building heights and affordability could yet change the calculus.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
California bans controversial ‘excited delirium’ diagnosis
Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed into law a bill that prohibits California doctors and medical examiners from attributing deaths to “excited delirium,” a term often applied to Black men in police custody.
Posted inEducation
At UCSC vigil for lives lost in Israel, community members share sorrows, and find hope
Community members, students and faculty from the UC Santa Cruz campus gathered Wednesday night to mourn the lives lost in Israel to attacks by militant group Hamas.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
I’m helping build a Capitola park for kids with special needs. My late daughter Kayla would have loved it.
Lisa Harvey-Duren lost her beloved daughter Kayla nearly five years ago to a genetic condition. During her short life, Kayla radiated joy and fought the odds to survive and thrive, Harvey-Duren writes. Kayla could have benefited from more inclusive playgrounds for children with special needs. Now, the City of Capitola is set to create one at Jade Street Park and nonprofit County Park Friends has launched a $1 million fundraising campaign to help cover the $1.82 million cost. Despite Americans with Disabilities Act regulations, most playgrounds are not accessible for kids with disabilities. “Can you simply imagine how discouraging that is for a child and their family?” Harvey-Duren says.
Posted inWatsonville / Pajaro
A new era for downtown Watsonville begins after unanimous city council vote
Watsonville’s city council unanimously voted Tuesday night to approve a new 30-year vision to reinvigorate the city’s downtown. The goal is to transform the area into a vibrant hub of culture and commerce, complete with bike lanes, pedestrian-friendly streets and opportunities for new development. That vision rests on a plan for Caltrans to reduce Main Street from four lanes to two.
Posted inLatest News
Reaction from across Santa Cruz County to Israel-Gaza war
Several community groups, institutions and Santa Cruz County residents with connection to Israel and Palestine have spoken out to condemn the violent attacks and to mourn the loss of life. Here is a selection of their statements.