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Santa Cruz, California
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Section: Hippie Havens | Category: Place | Area: California | Topic: Hippiedom
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"I'm not sure there is really a large population of hippies IN Santa Cruz--it's kind of a melting pot of all types of people--but if you're looking for some really beautiful scenery, kind people, and totally peaceful chillin', head to one of the towns a little bit north of Santa Cruz. Felton, Boulder Creek, Bonny Doon...it's way mellow there, and everyone's basically into mother nature and their brothers and sisters. It's also real close to the ocean. It's one of the prettiest areas you can imagine...head there on your travels. You won't be sorry!"
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Visitor Comments about Santa Cruz, California
Posted by Virgin on 2008-01-21 23:16:06
My Score:
Comment: Hi fellow Hipsters,
This is Virgin, presently from Ocean Beach, CA. I lived in Santa Cruz for two years, and in the Lower 48 it''s my favorite urban setting. Of course like any place it has its share of problems (way expensive, gentrification, almost no people of color) and its hippie scene has its share of non-voting long-haired potheads who lack pre-June 1967 hippie values (love for nature, spirituality, art, communal values, openness to pre-modern cultures).
But what Santa Cruz does have is an environment of thinking that values social inclusion and supports those values. Despite occasional high-profile incidents of police misconduct (what American city, especially with a major university, doesn''t have these?), Santa Cruz has a voting population that consistently values regulated development, demilitarization, increased access to public lands, environmental preservation and sustainability, and vigilance toward the protection of personal freedoms (like public nudity, and a relatively live-and-let-live attitude toward homelessness and personal home drug use). A community of neighbors doesn''t institutionalize meaningful things like these from comprising of people who just wake-and-bake and whine. It comes from people caring about neighbor, caring about the next generation, and being INVOLVED - whether or not you have groovy dreads, groovy Third World clothing, groovy tribal tattoos and groovy exotic piercings.
Nature: The actual percentage of the county''s protected public space (including city, county, state and federal) is unsurpassed in the Lower 48 for any one U.S. county. The many miles of public beaches in the region include nude beaches and gay-friendly cruise spots. Long hikes in the nearby redwoods are magical, full of wildlife including different wildcats(!). There are also lots of mountain bike trails and one of America''s most challenging disc golf courses is in town. The federally protected coast in the region is a wildlife haven (the regional rock stars are sea otters, elephant seals - especially in mid-January, and if you''re lucky, blue whale sightings), and there''s wonderful birdwatching, snorkeling, kayaking and diving throughout Monterey Bay. Steamer''s Lane, where I caught my first 8-foot wave in my life, is one of the two best surfing spots in North America for consistently good waves and nearby Maverick''s Beach is famous for its North Shore-like monster waves.
Spirituality: If you do enough digging you''ll find from Big Sur to Ben Lomond there''s a wealth of resources for people who seek religious exploration beyond the predominant sexist anti-nature organized religion models of the Western world (Judaism, Christianity, Islam). It''d take too much time to list what I know here from personal experience, but if, for example, you seek free yoga meditation classes in an ashram with incredible views, isolated Buddhist retreats of different cultural traditions, woman-centered spiritual resources, even cliffside coastal hot springs and isolation tanks, you''ll find it in Santa Cruz or certainly within a pleasant 90-minute drive without having to go to San Francisco or Berkeley.
Art: I have to admit I found little in terms of an edgy or challenging art "scene" per se in Santa Cruz proper. But that doesn''t mean there isn''t any such vibe in the area. I mean, what do you expect in a small town of 50,000? Again, you have to do the digging. There are tiny communities of artists that live in the surrounding hills mostly north and east, somewhat off the grid, living very alternative lifestyles. I know this myself because I was involved with the scene. Of course you''ll have posers and bitter people and sadly talentless people in any scene at any time in history, and Santa Cruz is no exception. Despite this there definitely are people in the area dedicated to creative self-expression who don''t lack vision, passion, boldness and dedication. Some people''s work really inspired me, and a fortunate few actually make their living from it.
Communal values: I already discussed the fairly enlightened voting public in Santa Cruz. Of course a wake-and-bake whiner would quickly dismiss what I just said by saying something like "Santa Cruz is a yuppie town with phony liberals and elite academics." (Read: "I''m not getting laid, and my friend has a bigger trust fund than me. I don''t like this place.") There would be some truth to this, but what liberal college city in the U.S. WON''T you find this in? This doesn''t mean there aren''t vibrant communities in the area like, for example, committed organic farmers, environmental activists, biker clubs of color or gay and lesbian biker clubs, and the dedicated folks who volunteer their valuable time to the local community radio stations (in Santa Cruz and nearby Santa Clara). One place to connect with folks is the farmer''s market downtown. Unbeknownst to the wake-and-bake whiner, there is a vibrant African-American community center downtown, as well as a low-key Hawaiian community in the adjacent cities just south of Santa Cruz. Nearby Watsonville has thriving Chicano and Filipino communities with rich political histories, which I''ve documented for a personal project. Unfortunately, like most urban areas in the U.S., the Native American community seems practically non-existent, but there used to be a small but very dedicated NA student group on campus raising important issues on campus from time to time. An annual "pow-wow" takes place on UCSC campus, on its soccer field with a breathtaking view.
Openness to pre-modern cultures: The sad-but-true over-representation of whites in Santa Cruz is more due to its lack of affordability than to a general atmosphere of racism. Near downtown, Santa Cruz'' biggest concentrations of residents of color are near the PCH/17 exchange and the bungalows near the boardwalk. I won''t deny the lack of folks of color is a major flaw of Santa Cruz. Nevertheless I am encouraged by the presence of gift shops and food stores in town that promote more sensitive thinking toward Third World peoples - not just by selling "tribal" crafts and "cultural" literature/music, but particularly when those establishments openly engage in fair trade and sustainability practices. Although events I dig like drum circles, raves, Burning Man and white-run sweat lodges tend to render Third World "tribal cultures" in superficial ways, much of the time I nevertheless believe they''re well-intentioned (i.e., giving props to indigenous folks) and there''s no shortage of these vibes in Santa Cruz. You may want to do Internet searches for the Burning Man camps in town. My favorite folks in Santa Cruz included tattoo artists who steered toward tattoos celebrating people''s ancient heritages, as well as people who had a deeply religious zeal about DMT.
I hope all I''ve written here balances out so many of the BITTER blog entries I read about Santa Cruz. There''s bullshit anywhere you go; that''s not news, people. The way I feel about Santa Cruz feels like what Jerry Garcia once sang about SF in "Shakedown Street": "Don''t tell me this town ain''t got no heart; just gotta poke around." "Hippie," to me, doesn''t mean someone with long hair who smokes weed. Any racist, sexist redneck or yuppie can do that. We could remember that the synonyms for "hippie" back in the day (before the media blew it up and sold it to teenagers during the "Summer of Love") were "gentle people" and "free people" and "love children" - admirers of Gandhi and the mythological Jesus, with a heightened sense of adventure. The vibe quietly lives on today in so many forms that people don''t even acknowledge as "hippie" in origin. For instance old school hippies used to be apolitical, but the modern environmental, intentional community, alternative medicine, and sexual revolution movements wouldn''t have evolved into the mainstream national consciousness without the hippie phenomenon.
I''m a dinosaur; I still believe in true hippie values of "peace" and "love," but I don''t believe in hippy-dippyness. Sure I love hallucinogenics like the next person; and I still support legalization of ALL drugs. But I believe real love takes FORGIVENESS and WORK (not just whining, then splitting when things get rough), and that in order to have real peace you have to WORK FOR JUSTICE. Think I''m being "preachy"? Maybe so, but certainly no more so than the people who will undoubtedly diss me for the so-called "political correctness" of my opinions (as if political apathy is their answer) and certainly no more so than the people who wrote such bitter blog entries about a city that''s at least TRYING to make some worthwhile hippie ideals a concrete reality for its neighbors and succeeding generations.
Peace,
Virgin (getsomebutu@hotmail.com)
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Posted by spiritualgreen on 2007-07-24 11:13:46
My Score:
Comment: i lived in santa cruz a good bit after jerry died. id say off and on between 1995 and 1999. if anyone was there during these times and were part of the hippie corner scene, id love to talk with you. I lived mainly at the lighthouse feild, greyhound rock, panther beach and Davenport. But Santa Cruz is where i did buissiness and had fun. I miss all of you write me @ spiritualgreen@yahoo.com. Just write me. Much love.
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Posted by jason on 2007-02-10 22:28:39
My Score: 
Comment: i used 2 live in illinois I Can"t tell you how many nigger''s are fucking EVERYTHING TOTALLY UP xspecially in CAHOKIA-east st louis..But santa cruz is also fucked as far as the $$cost of living and all of the mexican''s that live 10 two a 3 bedroom house and work for low pay.. Where are all of the good strong union''s????it cost so much to live AROUND all of these''s f#@king dick sucking/pussy (FRUITCAKE"S). ps does any1 know where HITLER or anyone like him is!!! please find them
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Posted by kire on 2005-11-04 04:57:58
My Score: 
Comment: I don''t quite know what happened, it could have been the lds, or some pollution washing down the beach from the mission, but I''m not the same anymore. Maybe that''s a good thing, but I''m not sure. I came for one reason and ended up living in a car, in the forest, wherever. Sometimes raving like a lunatic in the medians, often having the time of my life. I love SC forever.
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Posted by BehindZionCurtain on 2005-10-24 06:31:25
My Score:
Comment: I lived in Rio Del Mar when I was a kid, and I often go back to the Santa Cruz area to vist (not the town) the quite beaches surrounding Santa Cruz.
I never got busted there, but I have known people who have. I was there in 1998 around the time that "Happy John Day" got killed by the police for waving a water pistol (neon colored) around in a crowd.
I don''t think that Santa Cruz is a place that I would particularly like to live long term. But it is such a nice place to visit for a few days.
We will be there from Oct 26th to Oct 31st this year. Im hoping to see the Monarch migration.
Although I wouldn''t like to live in Santa Cruz, I would like to move my family to the Montery area. We do web design, oil painting (murals and canvas), and I specialize in Linux server administration.
If anyone has any leads for me, please send an email to me at:
info@behindzioncurtain.com
Peace! - Ryan
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Posted by J Dog on 2005-08-29 06:57:33
My Score:
Comment: Santa Cruz and surrounding towns (Felton, Boulder Creek etc.) are some of the most beautiful places in the world! However, Santa Cruz has the highest cost of living to income index in the entire United States. If you want to live there, you have to expect to commute to Silicon Valley just to make a house payment. This is because it is so close that housing costs are market indexed to Silicon Valley just 20 miles away. However, Santa Cruz county and city governments are hostile to improvements that would make it reasonable for business to go there (ie. widening and straigtening Hwy 17, paying police a reasonable wage so that they don''t spend millions on retraining etc.). The result is that you get expensive houses and crappy jobs.
In addition, the drug abuse rate is horrible! For some reason, it really attracts drug abusers of all types. What you find in Santa Cruz is all the extremes in the political, social, and economic areas, with a heaving leaning towards ultra liberal. If you have money, tolerance, and berkenstocks, this is the place for you!
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Posted by kayagrl410 on 2005-07-12 00:17:45
My Score:
Comment: I am a 22 year old girl from long island, ny. I''ve been looking to move to the west coast for quite some time now, but can''t find any jobs or affordable housing online, nor do i know anybody out there!! My name is Kim and I''m a really hard worker with several managing possitions under my belt, however i don''t have a degree. If anyone has any info that they would like to share to help a sista out it would be beyond greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance for your time. Peace, Love n Smiles, KiM
kayagrl410@yahoo.com
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Posted by permafried pat on 2005-07-08 14:42:50
My Score:
Comment: i lived in santa cruz 4 years and i used to love it but by the time i left a year ago all my friends were o.d.ing on heroin on purpose and mixing thier shots with speed to keep thier hearts going the street kids and the locals were fighting each other in the middle of the street with weapons on a daily+ basis and people were fuckin dying man if you wanna live to see 30 stay the fuck away from there!!!!! go to ashland OR. instead.
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Posted by musicismyreligion16 on 2005-06-16 06:07:43
My Score:
Comment: I live in santa cruz and its really a beautiful place but it also depends where you go. the board walk is waaay too crowded for me but if you go down along the youll find some great mellow beaches. cool music scene and really good street bands but just because santa cruz is a beach community DONT FORGERT THE MOUNTAIN. i think its the mos beautiful thing about the town and from persinal experience you might think about smoking some ganja on the mountain and ogin hiking
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Posted by the dude on 2005-06-09 20:29:13
My Score:
Comment: anyplace is nice if you got money -
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Posted by Shawn on 2005-05-25 19:39:51
My Score:
Comment: I currently live outside Baltimore, MD and am looking to move to the outer San Fran area (Berekely, or near Santa Cruz maybe) at the end of this summer but can''''t find the right area for the right price on the internet. Studio or 1 bedroom apartment for under $625/mn. I''''m the hippie/New Age/Energy Worker sort.
Please email me if you know of any sources or good areas to check out! I want to visit CA for a few days in mid-June!
Thanks!
ShawnMRill@yahoo.com
Shawn.
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Posted by Monkeyspank on 2005-04-18 04:14:14
My Score: 
Comment: You can still be a Hippy and let your freak flag fly in Santa Cruz. Just don''t be a criminal or a burn-out drug addict and expect the local patrol officers to look the other way. Santa Cruz is still a magic place. It is getting more crowded and expensive to live here, but where else can you find awesome reef breaks for longboarding and old growth redwood forests???
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Posted by skinnyhippieboy on 2005-01-04 04:53:02
My Score:
Comment: Santa Cruz is the worst place to live in all or Cali. Hate it. Hope it burns down.
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Posted by Laurel Burton on 2004-11-04 14:35:45
My Score:
Comment: I got put in the Santa Cruz mental hospital for 3 weeks on august 31 2004 on my way to see rat dog at the salsalito art festival . by the santa cruz police and then they chared me $700 for my car that they impounded.. stay out of santa cruz and los angeles
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Posted by raggedyman on 2003-05-16 11:18:44
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Comment: Just to give everybody the heads up, Santa Cruz county still has the infamous sleeping ban going on. There''s a cop up in Felton who takes particular pleasure in targeting houseless people and kids (look out if you''re both) There''s also a large, multi-generational tweeker population (watch your stuff) All in all in the 9 years that I''ve been here I''ve seen the ''cruz becoming more and more crowded and less tolerant. Still, It''s a great place to stop on your way to some where else. Check out the U.C., hang out on Pacific ave.(lots of hippys, wanderers, street muscisians, activists, coffee and other cool shops, thift stores, farmers market on wednsdays, ...) and by all means go check out the redwood forests and small towns in the mountains along hwy.9 in a nutshell--have fun but watch your back.
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Posted by Peter Demma on 2003-03-09 18:30:39
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Comment: The Hip Santa Cruz History Project:
http://www.ralph-abraham.org/1960s/
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Posted by witchgirl on 2003-01-07 00:44:53
My Score:
Comment: santa cruz is beatiful and has a wonderful peaceful quality to I live in boulder creek and I love it up here
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