Santa Cruz Changes 61: Westside turns toward UCSC

The far west side area of Santa Cruz bounded by Hwy 1, Swift Street, Delaware Ave. and Shaffer Road used to be primarily a light-industrial area, anchored by the Wrigley chewing gum factory, which opened in 1955 (the photo at right appeared in Bratton Online). Wrigley put the building up for sale in 1996, and it is now home to a variety of small businesses and organizations.

UCSC began to increase its presence on the Westside with establishment of the Long Marine Lab in 1978. The adjacent Seymour Marine Discovery Center opened in 2000, adding a public-facing aspect to the academic research facility.

In the 1980s and 90s, a number of Silicon Valley companies, including Intel and Silicon Systems, built manufacturing/testing facilities along Delaware Avenue. After 2000, Intel moved out, and the large Silicon Systems campus was acquired by UCSC to become home to the Genomics Institute in 2020.  

As the UCSC Westside presence increases, private business in the area has turned its attention toward the university community. New food/drink establishments have made the area a dining destination. A couple of new hotels are situated to tap into UCSC visitor traffic. A Fairfield Inn (left) popped up in 2017 on a former Mission Street empty lot, next door to Pacific Intercollegiate School. In 2020, a multi-story Hampton Inn replaced the older 1-story Sunset Inn motel at the corner of Hwy 1 and Swift. 

Residential development has also increased. The 300-unit Pacific Shores apartment complex on Shaffer Road (the far-western city limits) opened in the early 2000s. A large residential project slated for an empty parcel on Delaware Ave. has received city approval, but construction has not yet begun.

The rail line bisecting the area originally offered freight service to businesses such as Wrigley. A lack of customers, however, made that service unprofitable in this area, replaced by trucking businesses better suited to lesser volumes of freight. When Santa Cruz County acquired the railroad right-of-way in the early 2000s, new recreational possibilities were created. 

Development of the Coastal Rail Trail is now complete from California Street to Davenport. The photo above-right shows the rail trail at Natural Bridges Drive, with the former Wrigley's building in the background. 

Santa Cruz Changes 60: 111 Errett Circle

The center of the "Circles" neighborhood that author John Chase called "that marvelous planning disaster" has contained church facilities since its creation in 1889. The photo above shows the original "tabernacle" built in 1890 by the church-affiliated group the created the subdivision. No other structures are visible, so the tabernacle was apparently the first construction in the new neighborhood. A second church (below), which is unused but still standing in April 2023, was built in 1959.

* John L. Chase, The Sidewalk Companion to Santa Cruz Architecture (4th ed. 2023), 242-243.

The 130-year history of church use changed in 2020. The church had sold the parcel to a group of mostly-local individuals, and their rezoning/subdivision applications were approved by the City Council. Two alternative subdivision plans were approved for the rezoned circular parcel. One plan creates 12 single-family-residential lots and a central "common space". Plan 2 (site/landscape plan below) has 10 SFR lots, the same central common space, and a condo/ADU cluster. A demolition/grading permit application is under review, so a demolition date is yet to be determined.

Santa Cruz Changes 59: West Cliff Drive 2023

The Pacific Ocean eats away relentlessly at the Santa Cruz shoreline, but this winter's changes are more noticeable than any we've seen for decades, especially along West Cliff Drive. A one-block section of the street remains closed completely between Woodrow Avenue and David Way, because of damage to the bridge over the Bethany Curve creek. 

From Woodrow to Columbia Street, traffic is restricted to one-way westbound (the inland lane) because of erosion damage at several spots - especially the one shown in the photo above, near Columbia. The City plans to try out a permanent one-way arrangement, at least until repairs can be made.

Of course, coastal erosion along this route is nothing new. However, attempts to install a "permanent"  West Cliff Drive mean that the periodic move inland requires a lot more time and work.