Downtown Santa Cruz is transforming, and it’s doing better than most, argues Scott Newsome, a Santa Cruz city councilmember. While other coastal cities struggle with high vacancy rates and sluggish recoveries, Santa Cruz’s downtown is seeing major investment, momentum and new business activity, he writes. Newsome outlines millions in current and future projects, including housing, transit, public spaces and economic incentives, as the engine behind downtown’s resilience.
The future of downtown Santa Cruz
A Lookout series on the business and politics of development in downtown Santa Cruz.
Posted inBusiness & Technology
Amid mounting vacancies, downtown Santa Cruz needed a coach, and a matchmaker
Santa Cruz hired retail coach Charles Parker to address its mounting downtown vacancies issue. Described as a “matchmaker,” Parker is now leading the effort to pitch the city’s potential to businesses — aiming to turn empty storefronts into vibrant hubs amid shifting retail trends and increasing housing stock.
Posted inHousing & Development
Downtown Santa Cruz in transition: Locals share hopes and fears for a changing city center
Lookout interviewed local residents to get their thoughts on why they come to downtown Santa Cruz, what they think of the changes underway downtown and what would encourage them to visit the city center more often.
Posted inHousing & Development
Warriors unveil concept drawings of new downtown Santa Cruz arena
For the first time, the Santa Cruz Warriors organization released early renderings of the long-discussed new basketball arena proposed for in the city’s south of Laurel Street neighborhood downtown.
Posted inHousing & Development
‘I’m interested in making Santa Cruz relevant again’: Mayor Fred Keeley discusses monumental downtown vote
As Santa Cruz weighs a major downtown expansion and a new housing measure, Mayor Fred Keeley faces a defining week. Years of planning come to a head as the city debates growth, change and what kind of future it wants to build.
Posted inBusiness & Technology
Empty space: Why some downtown Santa Cruz storefronts stay dark for years
Despite new business openings in downtown Santa Cruz, several high-profile storefronts on Pacific Avenue — including the former homes of Palace Art and Peet’s Coffee — have sat vacant for years, raising questions about barriers to revitalization. City leaders hope a proposed “vibrancy ordinance” will push property owners to lease long-empty spaces, but high renovation costs, permitting delays and market mismatches continue to stall progress.
Posted inHousing & Development
Grocery store, parking, a pedestrian mall — questions, answers and how the soda tax figures into downtown Santa Cruz’s makeover
Nationally recognized urban designer and consultant Robert Gibbs worked closely on downtown Santa Cruz a decade ago. We asked him about some of the issues facing downtown today.
Posted inWestside / Downtown
Downtown Santa Cruz is ‘safer than it’s ever been,’ police say, even as fears persist
In Santa Cruz, police say there hasn’t been any dramatic rise in downtown crime, even as some merchants report more aggressive confrontations since the pandemic. Business owners point to more visible mental health crises and drug use on the streets, while safety incidents that spread quickly on social media, for fueling public fears about downtown safety.
Posted inHousing & Development
Renewal or decline: Where is downtown Santa Cruz going?
When four prominent retailers all abandoned downtown Santa Cruz within the space of a few weeks, chatter about a downtown in decline began to grow louder. Lookout will be turning our eye to the rapid changes happening downtown, the economic ups and downs, and the profound transformation that could shift the area from a mainly commercial district to a residential neighborhood.
Posted inFood & Drink
Downtown Santa Cruz farmers market will move to its new location on May 21
After more than 30 years in its familiar Cedar Street lot, the Wednesday downtown Santa Cruz farmers market will relocate one block away on May 21 to make way for the new library and housing project breaking ground in June. The market’s temporary new home — stretching along Cedar Street and around the Cruzio building — will host the weekly event for the next two to three years as the city and market leaders work toward a permanent, purpose-built site downtown.