• Alushta, Ukraine
• Jinotepe, Nicaragua
• Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela

• Sestri Levante, Italy
• ShingÅ«, Japan

A monument next to the downtown Santa Cruz post office has a small circular plaza surrounded by marble posts topped with bronze maps of each of the sister cities.

The sister city relationship with Alushta was established in the waning days of the Soviet Union before the fall of Communism and was controversial at the time.

Transportation

State Routes 1 and 17 are the main roads in and out of Santa Cruz. Geographically constrained between the Santa Cruz Mountains and the Monterey Bay, the narrow transportation corridor served by SR 1 suffers congestion. A highway widening project [http://www.hwy1-17.caltrans.ca.gov/]is underway. The ramp from SR 1 northbound to SR 17 southbound, onto Ocean Street, is commonly known as the "fish hook" due to its tightening curve.

The Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District provides bus service throughout Santa Cruz County. Metro also operates bus service between Santa Cruz (city) and San Jose, thanks to a partnership with the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority and Amtrak California; connections are possible in San Jose. (Complete transit itineraries between Santa Cruz and San Francisco Bay Area cities and major airports are available from iridethebus.org; see External Links, below.) Greyhound Lines bus service is another option for visiting Santa Cruz.

The nearest airports for commercial travel are San Jose International Airport, Monterey Peninsula Airport, San Francisco International Airport, and Oakland International Airport.

Santa Cruz has an extensive network of bike lanes and bike paths. Most major roads have bike lanes, and wide, luxurious bike lanes were recently installed on Beach Street, near the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. Additionally, there are levee bike paths along the San Lorenzo River. A Rail Trail -- a bicycle and pedestrian path beside an existing coastal train track -- is under consideration.

The Santa Cruz, Big Trees and Pacific Railway operates diesel-electric tourist trains between the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk and Roaring Camp in Felton, through Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park. Roaring Camp and Big Trees Narrow-Gauge Railroad operates two narrow-gauge trains, taking visitors through the redwoods to the mountain top year-round. These 3-cylinder, gear-driven, Shay steam locomotives draw many enthusiasts to Santa Cruz.

Education

K through 12

Elementary schools

Santa Cruz City Schools Elementary District is made up of elementary schools where a complete K through 5th grade program is offered.

• Bay View Elementary
• Gateway School (private)
• DeLaveaga Elementary
• Gault Elementary
• Westlake Elementary
• Monarch Elementary (alternative)

• Happy Valley Elementary
• LIve Oak Elementary
• Green Acres Elementary
• Del Mar Elementary
• Waldorf (private)

Junior high and middle schools

• Branciforte Middle School
• Mission Hill Middle School
• Georgiana Bruce Kirby Preparatory School (private)

• Pacific Collegiate School (charter)
• Shoreline Middle School
• Waldorf (private)

High schools

• Santa Cruz High School
• Cypress Charter High School
• Soquel High School
• Harbor High School
• Costanoa High School
• Georgiana Bruce Kirby Preparatory School (private)

• Pacific Collegiate School (charter)
• Empire Academy (private)
• The Ark (alternative)
• Delta Charter High School (charter)
• Waldorf High School (private)

Colleges & universities

While there are several colleges and universities proximate to Santa Cruz, the city itself only hosts one: the University of California, Santa Cruz.

UCSC was built starting in the 1960s with a residential college system based on the British system, (see University of Cambridge, University of Oxford, or University of York). To date, there are ten colleges, each with a different theme and architectural framework. The UCSC campus sits among a redwood forest and overlooks Monterey Bay. Originally, UCSC did not use letter grades in evaluating student academic performance and had no organized sports teams, although both of these have now changed, students are faced with the same choices as most other UC campuses. There are also a number of NCAA division III sports programs, including tennis, water polo, swimming, diving, basketball, rugby, and soccer. The university mascot, the banana slug, was established by students on an informal basis, and recognizes an indigenous creature that can be found throughout the campus. The campus administration attempted to assign the sea lion as the mascot in the early 1980s. However, after a 1986 student referendum voted overwhelmingly in favor of the slug, the then-Chancellor declared the slug the official UCSC mascot.

Attractions

Points of interest

• University of California, Santa Cruz, Arboretum
• Mission Santa Cruz

• Natural Bridges State Beach
• Cocoanut Grove

• Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk
• Santa Cruz Student Housing Co-ops
• Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History
• Santa Cruz Surfing Museum

Parks

State Parks & Beaches

• Santa Cruz Mission State Historic Park
• Twin Lakes State Beach
• Seabright State Beach

Greenbelt Districts

• Arana Gulch

• Lighthouse Field

• Moore Creek

• Neary Lagoon
• Pogonip

Regional Parks

• Harvey West Park

• DeLaveaga Park

• Depot Park

Neighborhood Parks

• Beach Flats Park
• Central Park
• Derby Park
• Frederick Street Park
• Garfield Park
• Grant Park
• John Franks Park

• Laurel Park
• Lighthouse Neighborhood Park
• Mike Fox Park
• Mission Plaza
• Moore Creek Overlook
• Ocean View Park
• Round Tree Park

• San Lorenzo Park
• Star of the Sea
• Trescony
• Tyrrell Park
• University Terrace
• Westlake Park

Recreation

Santa Cruz is well-known for watersports such as sailing, diving, swimming, paddling, and surfing. It is the home of O'Neill Wetsuits and Santa Cruz Surfboards, as well as Santa Cruz Skateboards and Santa Cruz Bicycles. Santa Cruz also houses Derby skate park, the first public skate park in the USA as well as the brand new Mike Fox skatepark. The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk is California’s oldest amusement park and a designated State Historic Landmark. Home to two National Historic Landmarks, a 1911 Charles I. D. Looff Carousel and 1924 Giant Dipper roller coaster, the Boardwalk has been owned and operated by the Santa Cruz Seaside Company since 1915.

Santa Cruz is the reputed site of the first surfing in California in 1885, when three Hawaiian princes, Prince Edward, Prince David and Prince Jonah Kalaniana’ole, surfed on locally milled redwood boards at the mouth of the San Lorenzo River. Santa Cruz has 11 world-class surf breaks, including the point breaks over rock bottoms near Steamer Lane and Pleasure Point, which create some of the best surfing waves in the world. Home to the Santa Cruz Surfing Museum at Steamer Lane, which continues to be staffed by docents such as Harry Mayo and others from the Santa Cruz Surfing Club who have surfed Santa Cruz waves since the 1930s, Santa Cruz hosts several surf contests drawing international participants each year, including the O'Neill Cold Water Classic, the International Longboard Association contest, and many others. Was home to the Miss California Pageant, state finals to Miss America for six decades.

The Santa Cruz Wharf is known for fishing, viewing marine mammals and other recreation.

Many outdoor sports are popular in the area such as skateboarding, cycling, camping, hiking, and rock climbing.

In addition to its reputation in surfing and skateboarding, which now has the first full pipe in Northern California, Santa Cruz is known for other alternative sports such as disc golf. The Santa Cruz Skatepark is open to the public 7 days a week and is free. The De Laveaga Disc Golf Course hosts PDGA tournaments, including the annual Masters Cup. De Laveaga was the disc golf and discathon venue for the WFDF-sanctioned World Disc Games overall event held in Santa Cruz in July 2005.

The Ken Wormhoudt Skate Park (formerly Mike Fox Park) is a 15,000 square foot park featuring a full pipe, two bowls with pool coping and tile, practice bowl and street course with steps, hubba ledges, wall-rides and metal rails. It is located at 225 San Lorenzo Boulevard at Riverside Avenue along the San Lorenzo River levee. The park opened in March 2007. It is open from 9 a.m. to sunset daily. All skaters must wear a helmet, elbow pads, and knee pads and have skateboards and in-line skates with composite wheels only. Bicycles, scooters, and metal skate wheels are not allowed in the skate park. The skate park will be closed during rainy or wet conditions.

Santa Cruz provides many opportunities for birding (see bird list) and butterfly watching.

Many residents consider downtown Pacific Garden Mall to be the heart of Santa Cruz culture with its historic buildings, locally-owned businesses, and street performers. Representing an aspect of the "Keep Santa Cruz weird" contingent is Robert Steffen, a gentleman who walks slowly down Pacific Avenue dressed in pink women's clothing and makeup, including a parasol, thereby attaining the moniker "Slow Robert" and "The Pink Umbrella Man".

The city also is often said to be a huge hot spot for Volkswagen Beetle enthusiasts, featuring many in local auto shows annually. One of the Volkswagen Beetle's custom variations, the "So-Cal" Bug, has received nationwide attention as a true California surf car. Many of these are seen on the beaches in Santa Cruz, as well as the occasional Volkswagen Bus.

Cultural attractions

• Shakespeare Santa Cruz holds an annual summer festival at UC Santa Cruz. The festival typically performs two Shakespeare plays and one other play every summer, many of which are performed in a unique outdoor space among the redwoods.

• Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music
• Santa Cruz Film Festival
• EarthVision International Environmental Film Festival
• Santa Cruz Blues Festival
• U.S. Open Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
• U.S. Open Capoeira
• Santa Cruz Digital Arts & New Media Festival
• Santa Cruz Fungus Fair, Sponsored by the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History and the Fungus Federation of Santa Cruz
• Arts & Lectures Presents, Sponsored by UC Santa Cruz Arts & Lectures
• Santa Cruz Pride
• Open Studios Art Tour
• O'Neill's Cold Water Classic
• Pro-Am Beach Soccer Championships

Gallery

<gallery> Image:Santa Cruz city hall.jpg|City Hall Image:Santa Cruz Victorian.jpg|Victorian home in downtown Image:Santa Cruz surfer.jpg|Surfer near the lighthouse on West Cliff Drive Image:AfternoonSailingSantaCruzCA.JPG|View of sailboats on the Bay from Long Marine Lab. Image:SC0267.JPG|Front Street downtown Image:IMGP0152.JPG|Corner of Pacific Avenue, downtown Image:Santa Cruz Victorian row.jpg|Victorian townhouses, downtown Image:Sunsetorange.JPG|Sunset at Seabright Beach, looking towards the wharf/boardwalk. Image:IMGP0220.JPG|The Clocktower Downtown Santa Cruz Image:SantaCruzSeaLion.JPG|Sea Lion preening under the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf. Image:Natural Bridge Santa Cruz.jpg|Natural rock bridge of West Cliff Drive (now partially collapsed) Image:WestCliffDrive.JPG|View of Natural Bridges State Beach and West Cliff Drive.

</gallery>

Media

Television

The Monterey-Salinas metropolitan statistical (or service) area (MSA) is served by a variety of local television stations, and is the 124th largest designated market area (DMA) in the U.S. with 222,900 homes:

• KOTR - Channel 2: - Monterey/Salinas/Santa Cruz (Comcast Cable 11)
• ABC 7 - Channel 7 (cable-only): - (ABC) - Del Rey Oaks
• KSBW - channel 8: - (NBC) - Salinas
• KMUV - channel 15: - (Telemundo) - Monterey/Salinas/Santa Cruz (Simulcast of KSTS 48)
• KQET - channel 25: - (PBS) - Watsonville (Simulcast of San Jose's KTEH)
• KDJT - channel 33: - (Telefutura) - Monterey
• KCBA - channel 35: - (Fox Broadcasting Company) - Salinas
• KMCE - channel 43: - (Azteca América) - Monterey/Salinas
• KION - channel 46: - (CBS) - Salinas
• KSMS - channel 67: - (Univision) - Monterey

ABC affiliate

The Monterey-Salinas area lost its American Broadcasting Company broadcast affiliate in 2000, when KNTV was purchased, and then became the NBC station for the San Francisco Oakland San Jose metropolitan area. KNTV, now known as NBC11, later moved its tower from Loma Prieta Peak to San Bruno Mountain, ceasing its coverage in Monterey. At that time, ABC reached an agreement with Comcast Cable to provide a slightly-customized feed of San Francisco ABC O&O KGO-TV for the Monterey area, branded simply as ABC 7 and occasionally referred to by the mock call letters AABC.

Radio

• KSCO, 1080 AM
• KUSP, 88.9 FM
• KZSC, 88.1 FM
• Free Radio Santa Cruz, FRSC 101.1 FM
• KHIP, 104.3 FM
• KAPU, 104.7 FM
• KPIG, 107.5 FM

Magazines

• 831 Magazine (a reference to the 831 area code)

Notable Santa Cruzans

Due to being the home of University of California, Santa Cruz as well as being bustling with local musicians, Santa Cruz has a number of notable residents.

Controversy

• After Huntington Beach, CA trademarked the Surf City USA® name, Santa Cruz politicians tried to stop the mark from being registered by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office because of 10-year-old controversy over Santa Cruz's nickname "Surf City." Huntington Beach has obtained a total of seven registrations for the Surf City USA® trademark. Importantly, however, none of these registrations of the trademark are on the principal register, but on the secondary register, which means that Huntington Beach has no exclusive right to assert ownership over the "Surf City USA" trademark. Indeed, trademark scholar and law professor Tyler Ochoa has called Huntington Beach's assertion of ownership over the "Surf City USA" mark "weak, dubious, and probably unenforceable." Two Santa Cruz surf shops, Shoreline Surf Shop and Noland's on the Wharf, sued the city of Huntington Beach in order to protect the public use of the term "Surf City." The parties reached a confidential settlement in January 2008, in which neither side admitted liability and all claims and counterclaims were dismissed. The Santa Cruz surf shops continue to print t-shirts, and the Visitor's Bureau retains the right to use the trademark.

Pop culture references

• In the 1963 Beach Boys song Surfin' USA, one of the verses features the lyrics, "You'd catch 'em surfin' at Del Mar, Ventura County Line, Santa Cruz and Trestle."
• Popular band The Thrills released a single called Santa Cruz (You're Not That Far).
• The amusement park scenes from the 1987 film The Lost Boys were filmed at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.
• Fatboy Slim has a song named "Santa Cruz"