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Liberal Place: Santa Cruz, CA
These are comments on Santa Cruz, submitted by other Turn Left visitors. They do not necessarily represent the opinion of the webmaster. You may add a comment on Santa Cruz if you want.
Santa Cruz, California is one of the most liberal-friendly cities in the world. It is one of only two U.S. cities to have elected a socialist mayor. Its city government is dominated by the Santa Cruz Action Network (SCAN), a liberal political machine that gathers its strength from the University of California - Santa Cruz. The highly liberal student population at UCSC is politically active and rivals Berkeley for its radical politics. Naturally, Santa Cruz has attracted the frequent wrath of Rush Limbaugh. When Limbaugh published his second book, "See, I Told You So," the local bookstore, BookShop Santa Cruz, priced the book at its equivalent weight of baloney, and donated a share of the proceeds to feminist charities. Santa Cruz is a beautiful resort town on Monterey Bay, and thus is very pro-environmental. Well worth a visit!

...and another comment...

I love Santa Cruz... I've live here for 10 years, having fled the 80's conservatism of Colorado. But beware! Though SC is a wonderful place to be a lesbian family, though it has more organic farms and wellness workshops than you can shake an Odwalla juice at, it is also a very white bread, "more PC than thou" kinda town. I have left a social event more than once when it became obvious that I was the token lesbian guest.

And I once tried to convince a black friend from Oakland to move here... she just laughed and told me she doesn't want to have to work that hard at finding the black community where "lesbian" isn't an insult. (Her perception of SC's community, not mine.) A Chicano buddy told me that he and his M.D. roommate had a helluva time finding an apartment because their skin is brown. But then bigotry is everywhere. It's just that in SC, people aren't quite so 'obvious' about it. Me, I'd rather know who's dangerous to my wellbeing up front.

Then why do I live in SC? It's the way I feel just walkng down the street. I love to come home from work in "the Valley" (Silicon) and smell the ocean, hang out in my jeans and Uggs, and just feel relaxed!

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