Santa Cruz, California

Santa Cruz, California refers to a city and county on the nothern edge of the Monterey Bay, about 100 miles (60 Km) south of San Francisco. The area was first settled by Ohlone Indians, Native American hunter-gathers. Santa Cruz was colonized in the mid-1700s by the Spanish, who established both a mission (Mission Santa Cruz) and a secular settlement named Branciforte. The town was named, as many of the early Spanish settlements were, for the Catholic feast day on which it was 'discovered'. The Ohlones were concentrated by the Spanish into the mission and suffered a rapid decline due to diseases and overwork.

Santa Cruz was settled by Americans in the 19th Century. Immigrants from Italy, China and Portugal also added distinctive contributions to the area's culture. In the 19th Century Forestry and Commercial Fishing were primary industries, as well as Dairy Farming and Leather production.

Santa Cruz is today best known for the prestigious University of California at Santa Cruz, which was built starting in the 1960s as an 'alternative' campus. Overlooking the Monterey Bay among the Redwood trees, UCSC is arguably the most beautiful of the University of California campuses. UCSC is known for its lack of letter grades and organized sports teams, although this may be changing.

Santa Cruz is also notable for the extensive damage it suffered during the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, which levelled the mostly unreinforced-brick downtown, killing five people. The downtown area, the Pacific Garden Mall, has been rebuilt almost from scratch.

The principal industries of Santa Cruz are Agriculture, Tourism, and High technology. Santa Cruz is a center of the organic agriculture movement, and many specialty products such as artichokes, grown in the Castroville area. Tourist attractions include a classic boardwalk on the beach, the Redwood forests and the unspoiled Monterey Bay, which has been protected as a Marine Sanctuary.

In recent years, because of its close proximity to Silicon Valley, Santa Cruz has supported a large high technology industry, particularly in the Scott's Valley area. Many workers from Silicon Valley live in Santa Cruz.

The climate is Mediterranian, with mild summers due to coastal fog. Winters tend to be rainy, although periodic droughts have occured in recent years.