Santa Cruz County has
had an
increase in population this past year, while the state has had and even
larger
increase. One might think with a real estate surge there might be an
exodus as
people leave the higher cost homes and migrate to lower cost ones, but
that is
not so.
It appears California
and Santa
Cruz County
have defied that concern. The
golden state has always been one of opportunity and has seen inflow and
outflows in part depending on the economy. Calculating from the last
census of
2000, records showed the State of California
had an increase of about 11.2%, which makes up more populous than Canada.
In just
the last year alone there has been an estimated increase of 438,000
people.
While California has
an
economy larger than that of many nations, it is well diversified. The
central
valley of California
is one of the nations
leading producer of fresh produce, with Salinas
being named the “Salad
Bowl of the World.” They produce lots of lettuce and many other
agricultural products.
Nearby Castroville
is
well known for their artichokes, which are favored throughout the
nation. There
is lots of other industry with one of larger road and bridge
construction
companies, Granite
Construction, being located in Watsonville,
Santa
Cruz County, California.
Locally there is Silicon Valley,
with its high
tech industry leading the world in many areas. Scotts
Valley is
the city in Santa Cruz County
that has the most
high tech businesses in the area.
With all the
diverse job opportunities in the area, it is no
wonder the area has grown. Santa Cruz County
has grown. While the increase was about 1.16% over last years count,
more impressively
the ratio of people moving in versus moving out is about 6 to 1. Santa Cruz
County’s
population grew to 265,183
according to the California
State Department of Finance.
While there
are currently more homes for sale now, this
demand was sated through new building developments, primarily in the
central
valley as well as many infill developments in the growing cities. In
part due
to the overzealous development, many areas have high foreclosure rates.
This
was fueled by the people moving here needing housing to live in as well
as
people wanting to own instead of paying rent. The local housing can be
seen in Santa
Cruz County and the
surrounding areas.
While Capitola
is small is has added small developments as
well in the past few years. The majority of the new housing growth
though was
in the City of Watsonville
as they are committed
to growing their city, while Santa Cruz has
generally been against much growth.
There
have been more infill high density projects in Santa Cruz in
the past
few years, than in many decades. This was not fueled by a change of
heart, but
by the city and county not getting state matching funds for many
projects if
they did not get their population densities up. That was also the fuel
for
Capitola as well. To see what is going in Capitola,
follow the
link.
See the Santa Cruz County School District
map of
the school districts in Santa Cruz County that your child may attend.
Click on the plus + or minus - buttons to enlarge the map. Before
making any decision on buying a home, call the school district to be
sure your potential home is in the district you want. As schools face
economic problems, some schools may close or the boundaries may have
changed. You can contact the Santa Cruz County Office of Education at
831-476-7140 or visit the
website of the schools or
districts and call the appropriate one.
Go back to the main
page of Property in Santa
Cruz
