Santa Cruz is a beautiful, coastal California city known for its laid-back, hip, progressive vibe, with a well-organized and very welcoming gay community. It’s a city known for its rugged mountains, beautiful redwood forests, and stunning sandy beaches. If you’re thinking of calling Santa Cruz home, you’ll find plenty about it to love!
A Look at Santa Cruz’s History
Santa Cruz, like much of California, was initially home to Native American peoples, before the arrival of the Spanish in the late 1700s. In 1769 specifically, Spanish explorer Don Gaspar del Portal discovered the area now known as Santa Cruz – the name meaning, “Holy Cross.” Religious missions were established in the area, which eventually became part of Mexican, and then United States territory. Santa Cruz was the twenty-seventh original county in California. When the railroad came to the area, tourism began to boom. That, along with the establishment of the University of California at Santa Cruz encouraged continued growth in the area. Today, Santa Cruz is a beautiful, vibrant, diverse, and progressive city that is welcoming to all.
A Few Fun Facts About Santa Cruz
Read more fun facts about Santa Cruz here.
Santa Cruz’s LGBTQ Community
Santa Cruz is a city that loves and supports its LGBTQ community with a variety of resources, including:
PFLAG Santa Cruz is Santa Cruz’s local chapter of the national PFLAG organization, which is the largest grassroots organization of its kind in the country. PFLAG is well-known for its mission of supporting LGBTQ people, friends, family, and allies across the country in a wide variety of ways. With 500 chapters and more than 200,000 members in the United States, PFLAG plays a critical and important role in providing advocacy, support, and resources to the LGBTQ community.
The Santa Cruz Diversity Center is a very active and involved community center that offers a variety of programs and events for Santa Cruz's LGBTQ community, friends, and allies. It’s a pillar of the city's LGBTQ community and is a wonderful place to meet friends and become involved.
What's the Weather Like in Santa Cruz?
If you love sunshine, mild temperatures year-round, and plenty of time to enjoy the beauty of the outdoors, chances are you’ll find a lot to love about the weather in Santa Cruz. High temperatures in July reach an average of 77°F, while lows in January rarely fall below 40°F. The city receives an average of 33 inches of rain each year, and no snow. Sunshine is abundant – in fact, Santa Cruz averages 262 sunny days per year, which is significantly more than the national average!
Can’t-Miss Events in Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz Pride is the city's largest annual LGBTQ pride celebration, and it's one event that you'll definitely want to put on your calendar. For almost 50 years, Santa Cruz has been celebrating its gay community, and all that adds to the city. Typically held in June of each year, the celebration includes parties, parades, networking opportunities, family-friendly activities, and more.
The Surf City AIDS Ride is a longstanding Santa Cruz tradition with the mission of raising funds for HIV-positive men, women, and children in the Santa Cruz area. Whether you're a professional athlete or an amateur cyclist, all are welcome to participate and enjoy. It's also a wonderful way to explore the stunning scenery of the California coast.
Where to Live in Santa Cruz
When considering where to live in Santa Cruz, you’ll have many wonderful options to choose from. Unlike some larger cities that tend to have one specific "gayborhood," in Santa Cruz, the LGBTQ community is spread out across the city. This simply means that there are many wonderful neighborhoods to choose from! Living in Santa Cruz can be expensive – in fact, the median sale price of homes in the area over the last year was around $1.2 million. If you can afford it, however, there are a wide variety of beautiful homes to choose from, each with its own unique character, and many friendly, welcoming neighborhoods to choose from as well.
Arts and Entertainment
The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk is iconic Santa Cruz. This beachfront amusement park offers plenty of games and rides – some of which are over 100 years old. It’s the perfect way to spend a beautiful Santa Cruz day having fun with family or friends.
The Rio Theatre is a Santa Cruz venue known for offering a wide variety of inspiring, enriching, and entertaining performances of all kinds throughout the year. Whatever your tastes, you’re sure to find a show – or several! – to enjoy here.
Parks and Recreation
Although there are no specifically "gay" beaches in Santa Cruz, that's simply because all of the beaches are gay-friendly! Some of the most popular beaches here include Bonny Doon Beach, Trestle Beach, and Laguna Beach. Each is uniquely beautiful in its own way.
Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park
The Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park is a place where you can truly walk among giants – giant trees, that is! These stunning redwoods are a unique California treasure that any nature-lover is sure to enjoy. The park offers plenty of opportunities for hiking, picnicking, and camping year-round.
Santa Cruz Nightlife
The Blue Lounge is perhaps the closest thing that Santa Cruz has to a “gay” bar. Its diverse crowd is known to enjoy great karaoke, cheap drinks, and plenty of great events including burlesque and drag show nights.
The Blue Lagoon Cocktail Lounge is another very diverse spot with an eclectic vibe and a friendly crowd. It offers a funky atmosphere, friendly customers, a big bar, and pool tables for visitors to enjoy.
Contact a Santa Cruz Gay Realtor Today
If you're ready to make a move to Santa Cruz, at www.gayrealestate.com, we're here to help you take the first step toward finding an agent who knows and loves the community, and who can help you find a home and a neighborhood you'll love. We're proud to have a network of excellent realtors in Santa Cruz, and we would love to help connect you with the right one. Contact a Santa Cruz gay realtor today for a free, no-obligation consultation!
