Editor’s Note

There were a few qualities I sought out when I was looking for my ideal place in which to live—It had to have excellent schools, lots of culture, proximity to nature at its best and idealistic people who cared about helping the world.

I found it right here in this county of almost 280,000 people. In decades of living in Santa Cruz, I’ve never been bored and I’m always appreciative of the fact that tourists pay fortunes and travel hundreds and thousands of miles to enjoy what I wake up to every day.
I had to live over the hill for work for too long and it was torture. Yeah, the weather was fine, but there was far less to do around San Jose than there is here.

On any day you can find a great concert, a poetry reading or lecture, an art exhibit, a free street performance by truly talented people, a notable author sharing his or her work, a great bookstore and places to buy used vinyl, CDs or amazing clothes.
There are schools to teach kids mountain climbing, art, music, dance, goat farming and goat yoga – and fruit picking and pie sampling and a diversity of restaurants so broad that in all these years I still haven’t hit them all.

We are still a boutique community, especially compared to the rest of the country that seems homogenized with the same strip malls on an endless loop like you see from San Jose to Sacramento.

And we have a graceful population filled with people who want to do good above all. I have infinite respect for them and they are too many to name in this short space.

But my goal for 2023 is to help show you more of the things that keep this place special. That’s what print and online publications are really for, isn’t it?

We will keep profiling moms who make a difference, people who make charity and good will their main motivations and schools and teachers that go the extra mile.

And we will, as always, take your suggestions for the cream of the Santa Cruz crop and feature them. This is, after all, a joint community effort.

Thanks for your help getting through 2022 and let’s make our journey of growing up in Santa Cruz shine in 2023.

Brad Kava, Editor and Publisher