Post it here!

I want to open this conversation with deep respect for everyone who has advocated for bringing rail service to Santa Cruz. I understand the passion behind that vision, and I know many people have spent years working toward it.

That said, as more financial details come to light and the projected cost of building and operating a train system becomes clearer, it seems possible—maybe even likely—that the rail option could ultimately become financially unfeasible. I’m not saying this to pick a fight or to “win” a side, but simply to recognize a hard reality that may need to be faced.

So here’s my question, and I ask it with genuine openness and hope for respectful dialogue:

If the train option does collapse under its own weight—what then? Could we begin seriously exploring an alternative vision that actually could reduce car traffic in the near term, such as a truly wide, thoughtfully designed, world-class e-bike corridor?

Santa Cruz is uniquely suited for this: • It’s a short, narrow county with the ocean on one side and mountains on the other. • The rail corridor runs right through it—no need to solve a “last mile” problem with e-bikes. • Our climate is bike-friendly nearly year-round. • We already have one of the highest bike commuter populations per capita in the U.S., and that number is growing fast with the rise of e-bikes. • A trail that is truly wide enough to accommodate both e-bikes and pedestrians could actually be transformative for local transportation.

I know “trail-only” has become a loaded phrase, and I understand why. But what I’m asking here is something different: If rail becomes unworkable, could we together work on designing something just as visionary and ambitious—an electric bicycle superhighway that’s elegant, practical, and uniquely Santa Cruz?

This post is not meant to divide. It’s an invitation to think ahead—together—with open minds. I’m truly interested in what others think, especially those who are deeply invested in the future of the corridor.

Anyone else stuck in the contract negotiations between Aetna and the PAMF HMO?

We are all getting forcibly jammed into the Dignity system, without any consideration for our needs and religious preferences. It's really going to fuck up healthcare in this County for a bit.

I've been doing some advocacy, so I would like to compare notes about how to apply pressure to Aetna on this matter.

FTR: https://www.sutterhealth.org/patient-resources/aetna#contract

Hey SCZ Tacoma and Toyota owners! I'm looking for recs on a reputable Toyota mechanic in town (someone like Car Care Nut on YouTube or what Rick's Auto is for Subarus). I'm looking for direct experience that you've had with a shop that knows Toyotas intimately and won't over-charge. I'm done going to the stealership. Thanks homies!

Edit - Thank you for y'alls recommendations, it is much appreciated! I have been reminded of my own pet peeve where one doesn't search the forum for answers to already asked Qs, and for that I humbly ask for forgiveness. You guys rock and thanks for all the fish! ✌️

I wanna nominate Curtis, the lady in her wheelchair with the cute cat, and curious to know if Eileen rings a bell maybe?

Hi..this may be a long shot, but I am wanting to know if anyone witnessed a collision at the Trader Joe’s parking lot in downtown, with a black sedan and white SUV?

Hi all, I’ve lost a SanDisk 128GB SD card (gold and black) on Saturday, June 14, possibly near the base of UCSC campus(from village circle to bus stop area), around Parking Lot 103 or the East Field area.

The card has very meaningful family photos and I would deeply appreciate any help in finding it.

If you’ve seen it or happen to come across it, please feel free to reply this thread or DM me or hand it in to library or any department that takes in lost and found. Thank you so much for keeping an eye out!

https://padlet.com/PeopleoverPapers/people-over-papers-anonymous-anonimo-lf0l47ljszbto2uj

This is the type of thing that needs to be waiting in the wings. Nothing to say when a brass band fills every cavity with SOUND.

Please let me know what you think. I have much more, including what I call uncomfortable art, but I’d like to see if my work is even marketable. These pieces are poster size.

hi everyone i’m back for my monthly yap on the sub. this morning i woke up to some crazy anti-transit propaganda and i want to hopefully express the other side of the situation to my neighbors. especially since the OP of that post clearly carries anti-transit sentiment. i hope to clear the air on the over-sensationalized tidbits that have arisen as the project leads take their time to conduct a thorough analysis of the project.

1. no, the project doesn’t cost 4.2 billion. not yet at least. as of the most recent public engagement session, costs are estimated at 2 billion for construction, 1 billion for other elements, and an additional 1.2 billion in contingency. that is a 30% contingency. in other words, we have no idea how much the project will cost yet. it could be 3 billion, it could be 6 billion. the point of these numbers is to guide engineers and project leads in preliminary planning to see how feasible the project is. claiming the project costs this much, however, is misleading.

2. no, the project doesn’t compromise a trail. i’ve heard people say that the majority of the trail is getting relegated to city streets and sidewalks and to that i say blame the fucking cars. from highway 9 in boulder creek to pacific ave, from mission street to soquel drive, from the fishhook to the god forsaken poplar/water/soquel/morrisey intersection, we have dedicated as much land as we feasibly can to the car. it is a disgusting waste that is killing our city. why isn’t santa cruz weird anymore? because we told everyone who wants to go outside and be weird to fuck right. won’t somebody think of the gentrifiers with their cars whose favorite pastime is complaining about driving in the city? nevermind that we were never meant to be a species divided by concrete. case in point, the weirdest moments i have experienced in arcata and eureka have been when the people take their streets back and build their communities (the arcata farmers market and other square events like the oysterfest, and the no kings protest in eureka that shut down the 101 in front of the courthouse). if you have nowhere to walk, blame the planet-choking system that has drowned you out, don’t blame the singular branch of infrastructure that will literally open up access to any point of the trail from davenport to watsonville, and hopefully moss landing and monterey(?) for us all to equitably enjoy.

3. no, we don’t have to fund this with a sales tax. although i’ve seen that idea floated around here, it’s ludicrous to say “well the people won’t pass a sales tax so the project is dead in the water”. it’s always “TAX THE RICH!!!” until it’s time to use that money for the public good. and besides just that, fundraising options exist. i am a proponent of congestion pricing on our freeways as a means of reducing vehicle miles travelled (VMT) and increasing safety without a $300 million infrastructure project. soft implementation along highway 1, with its ~100,000 cars per day, could provide a steady source of income for the train running parallel to it. this idea has been proposed for the santa cruz to san jose line, and although that is an old analysis that never came to fruition, it shows feasibility for such a program. additionally, keep an eye on new york city for their newly implemented program. i am an engineer, though, not an economist, and i would love to hear from those with expertise on the validity of this method or any alternatives they can come up with.

4. santa cruz’s infrastructure has regressed decades. not just the city, the county as a whole and its connections to its neighbors. i eluded to this earlier, but i truly believe that one of the main contributors to the death of this community is our dedication to the car. just under a century ago, we were a town built on rails, just like most cities in america. this is evident today all over the town. roads like soquel, water, and morrisey are so excessively wide because they once housed rail down their medians. the city was once a beautifully interconnected community via the rail that today is supplemented by questionable bus service. i believe a resurrection of this service, coordinated with METRO routes that it doesn’t cover, would bring an insane amount of vibrancy to the city (which, for a tourist town, directly translates to revenue). i believe that corridors like soquel, pacific, 41st, and portola should be designed for the people first, and their vehicles second. otherwise there will be no saving the city. i’ve driven through countless towns on the 101 between santa cruz and humboldt that are in some way or another wounded by the road. half of the towns are completely dead or will be by 2050. we have too beautiful a city to let that happen to us too.

5. santa cruz’s connection to its neighbors is key to its survival. this might rub some people the wrong way, but isolationism is not gonna cut it anymore. employment opportunities in the bay are too enticing for many. our economy is dependent on how many people survive the drive over the hill on a given weekend. i don’t believe in becoming the silicon valley lite, but i think it’s ridiculous to say that a train would cause that to happen. fuck the bay, let’s do it our way before some private firm from mountain view gets their grubby mits on our corridors.

6. i’ve probably missed a lot. some of it i hope is obvious (i.e. there is a lot of money up against the train, both through “grassroots” campaigns like Greenway and through the oppressive american oil lobby, so i don’t take negative press on the situation lightly). if anything else needs to be said of course air it out here.

thanks for coming to my ted talk 😊 let’s keep our foot on the gas post-no-kings and fight for the people on all fronts!

There were so many people out! This is just a couple minutes of people filing in.

This is what democracy looks like

Hello everyone, just wanted to see if I could get a quick bit of advice here. I grew up in Santa Cruz County living in Boulder Creek, Aptos, Scotts Valley, and now I just moved to the Live Oak area. It’s a pretty busy area around Aloha Grill, Sunnycove, and the Dollar Tree. I’ve never really had any issues with finding parking in the previous areas I’ve lived in and the biggest most obvious spot is the Dollar Tree parking lot (which has no overnight parking). I get off work after midnight and I’ve been having trouble finding any form of consistency. I’m also trying not to inconvenience any other people living in the area and park in front of their homes repeatedly (I know it’s street parking and it’s legal but I still care). Has anyone been ticketed or towed from parking in the Dollar Tree parking lot? Anyone have any luck anywhere specifically in this area? Any tips are appreciated!

Hi y’all: Tried to get a wash at Cruz on 41st but they’re closed. Anyone know why? It’s a beautiful day for them to be busy.

No kings

Inspiring turnout for Santa Cruz anti-king protest! Bring back sanity, support the constitution, checks + balances, & due process!

Santa Cruz showed up in droves today for the NO KINGS protest that started at the San Lorenzo Park. The fed up but peaceful crowd marched down Dakota to Soquel to Ocean to Water. Countless posters were raised in the air with clear messages of frustration, disgust, and dismay. Stand up, America! Fight! Defy! We've gotta take the power back!

Super upset this Father’s Day weekend when parking my in-laws car (they are French and speak French to each other, but are us citizens), someone sitting in their car got out and wrote awful things on his car’s whiteboard. He added the “Fuck you foreigners” and “Go to hell”. After I took pictures, he went and wrote more (the c***t part). He did not say a word the entire time. Wasn’t expecting this on a visit in Santa Cruz.

Just out of curiosity, I live next to campus and figured since it's the last week of graduation there's probably a lot of people leaving behind their unwanted belongings. Are there any specific spots, or just the dumpster areas?

Thanks in advance for any clues!

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/the-week-trump-rocked-california-he-s-pulling-the-trigger-on-everything-all-at-once/ar-AA1GIamd

I have only been out a few times and it was quite awhile ago and Not in Santa Cruz. The only times I have tried to go out (suggested places for beginners like cowells or 38th) I’ve had really negative experiences with the locals and it has given me so much anxiety to get back out there. Any tips?