A statewide prohibition on parking minimums has placed cities like Santa Cruz in a tough spot as it prepares to permit thousands of new housing units over the next five years. This means more cars but not necessarily more places to fit them. Local lawmakers are now pushing for a way to mitigate what they worry will be a parking squeeze.
Santa Cruz
Posted inPolitics & Policy
In the Public Interest: A decision on ballot language could turn the campaigns for Santa Cruz’s ballot measures
Inside Santa Cruz County politics & policy with Lookout correspondent Christopher Neely.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
New night market is coming to downtown
A new six-week market series hosting local artisans and food vendors is coming to Santa Cruz every Thursday evening starting later this month. The event series, Sunset Market, will run from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. from Aug. 14 to Sept. 18. It is being hosted by the Downtown Association of Santa Cruz, a nonprofit […]
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Special interests pour $260,000 into competing Santa Cruz affordable housing measures so far
As the campaigns ramp up for the dueling affordable housing measures on the November ballot in the city of Santa Cruz, nearly all campaign cash has come from special interests — with everyday residents largely sitting out of the fight.
Posted inHealth & Wellness
Santa Cruz County taps Ventura assistant director to lead health agency
Connie Moreno-Peraza’s hire as HSA director comes amid a sea change that has taken shape in county leadership over the past year, from the sheriff to the county’s top bureaucrat.
Posted inFood & Drink
Three Santa Cruz County restaurants receive PG&E grants
Betty Burgers, Vim Dining & Desserts, and Cantine Winepub have each been selected to receive grants of $5,000 from PG&E to help support women and minority-owned local businesses across the Central Coast.
Posted inLatest News
$250,000 grant awarded to the Community Action Board of Santa Cruz County
Community Action Board of Santa Cruz County received a one-time grant of $250,000 from Dignity Health to help strengthen short-term housing services.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
How Santa Cruz’s homeless efforts are making things worse for the city … and for the homeless
Santa Cruz’s well-meaning homeless policies are backfiring, drawing more unhoused than the city can support, writes Craig James, who grew up here and returned as a retiree. He calls for a coordinated state and national strategy, warning of disproportionate consequences without shared responsibility.
Posted inLatest News
Two killed in head-on collision between Tesla and Harley Davidson on Highway 9
Two people are dead after a head-on collision this past weekend between a Tesla and a Harley Davidson motorcycle on Highway 9. California Highway Patrol said an 18-year-old San Jose woman was driving a Tesla Model 3 northbound on Highway 9 near the Summit around 4:47 p.m. on Saturday when the car collided with a […]
Posted inLatest News
On Ocean Street, an abandoned phone booth found new life as a poetry project. Then it vanished.
Armed with poetry and disguised as workers, three Santa Cruz artists secretly converted a forgotten phone booth into a shrine for grief. No one noticed, until authorities quietly removed the unauthorized installation. The project raised questions about modern disconnection and the boundaries between public art and private infrastructure.