From University Terrace Park to West Cliff Drive, between Bay Street and Western Drive. Plus Neary Lagoon, half of the Circles, a good chunk of the Rail-Trail, and much of Mission Street: City of Santa Cruz District 3 defies simple characterizations. 

Nearly half of our residents are renters, and about a third identify as BIPOC. “The Westside” has a reputation for being wealthy and white, but it’s much more complex and diverse than that. This is a place for longtime Santa Cruzans, students, families, newer transplants, and city workers. We have multi-million dollar single-family homes, ADUs hidden away, old and new multi-unit and multi-use apartments. We have people in transitional housing, seniors on fixed incomes, wealthy retired folks, students and younger workers bunked up in crowded houses, families struggling to meet mortgage and maintenance costs, tech commuters, and people living in vehicles and tents. 

We also have a complex geography and arguably  the most important piece of infrastructure in the city–the Wastewater Treatment Facility at Neary Lagoon. 

Nearly Lagoon alone is an amazing historical and biodiverse area, one which must have been of extreme importance to people of the Awaswas-speaking Uypi tribe who lived here before the Mission system and settler-colonialism. It is still important to members of the Amah Mutsun Tribal band, comprised of survivors of those genocides.

Mission Street is the gateway to Santa Cruz from the North, and is an important commercial and transportation asset for residents, visitors, and industry. Street safety for pedestrians and cyclists is of the utmost importance, as well as investing in Mission Street as our “Main Street” for walking, shopping, and dining.