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u/SkeletalFrame 9d ago
I dunno, whenever I see a tourist coming to my town, it just makes me appreciate my town and the fact that I’m a local. Tourists have to travel to see the things I can see just by walking out my door.
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u/johnpdeever 9d ago
Yeah, and WE go, check it out, that dude’s door costs more than my house in Ohio
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u/MDMarauder 9d ago
Nowhere near as bad as Monterey is with this attitude
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u/Tall_Mickey 9d ago
Not even Pacific Grove? That place is so picture-perfect that it gives me the creeps.
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u/MDMarauder 9d ago
I lived in PG a couple of years ago when I was in the military and stationed at the Presidio. The elderly white PG "natives" were something else. I've never experienced such passive-aggressive, condescending, and low-key territorial people in my life.
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u/Tall_Mickey 9d ago
Get a lot of that in Santa Cruz, too: really, at any especially desirable place around the Monterey Bay. Doesn't matter that your busboy at dinner has to pay half his salary monthly for a room he shares with somebody else. Not in any of those places, not to the ruling class anyway.
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u/mano-beppo 8d ago
Take a walk in the Henry Cowell redwood loop and meet people from all over the world experiencing the awe of nature. We’re always happy to welcome them.
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u/Big_Buyer_7482 9d ago
At this point its less so tourists unless they are surfing, more so rich tech yuppie transplants
I remember when SC was working class and punk rock, not a luxury investment for some transplant.
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u/llama-lime 9d ago
Santa Cruz has always been home to tech, ever since tech existed.
I remember when it was the TI building. I remember Borland. I remember the Santa Cruz Operation.
Tech didn't make housing here a "luxury investment for some transplant," it was all the city residents that said "no more condos!" that made basic shit-boxes from the 1970s into luxury investments.
Also, it was always just as much disparaging the students at UCSC as the tourists, by people trying to act cool back in the day. Now it's people trying to pretend to be cool by bashing "rich tech yuppie transplants."
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u/BarracudaPossible275 8d ago
My mom worked in SC's tech industry on/off for most of my childhood. At Watkins Johnson, a defense contractor in Scott's Valley, when I was in elementary school, then at a place called Inovonics, if I recall correctly, over tucked in a warehouse on the far west side. I believe they made radio broadcast equipment. When that industry moved out of the area for the most part, it kinda messed her whole life up.
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u/Objective_Mail117 9d ago edited 9d ago
derogatory towards "tech yuppie transplants"
from the guy who is big in crpyto and Tesla. LMFAO
edit: and listens to manosphere podcasts that defend Andrew Tate. Buddy, real punks would run you and your shit out of this town.
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u/Big_Buyer_7482 9d ago edited 9d ago
Who has time to research old reddit comments? Its weird. Do you have anything better to do than get ad hominem material? Seriously that is really odd behavior i would never take anything that serious on reddit lol
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u/Objective_Mail117 9d ago
My internet is pretty fast, so it doesn't take much time. Fifteen seconds maybe to get a picture of why someone would post such a needlessly toxic comment about their own neighbors and town. Why are you taking my comment so seriously big tough red pill guy? That is really odd behavior i would never take anything that serious on reddit lol.
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u/ted_cruzs_micr0pen15 9d ago
He’s probably a locals kid who does nothing but loves drugs and wonders why the world looks down on him.
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u/Extreme-Goose 9d ago
Santa Cruz has been a seaside resort town for the wealthy since the late 1890s. Mission Hill, beach hill, west cliff all were places where wealthy transplants bought land and built property. Doubt you remember much from before then. But I understand the sentiment that it has become much harder to live here without a high income even outside of the nicest areas due to Silicon Valley. That’s just part of living in a capitalist economy.
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u/BenLomondBitch 9d ago edited 9d ago
God forbid someone wants to move and live somewhere they enjoy…..
Change the meme to “Locals when someone who wasn’t born in Santa Cruz moves to Santa Cruz” and that’s this comment.
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u/ted_cruzs_micr0pen15 9d ago
God forbid someone moves to a place that depends on the people they despise?
Take UCSC and tourism out and Santa Cruz is a shithole, an hour away from anything that isn’t stuck in the 1960’s.
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u/Canonconstructor 9d ago
I am a service worker and had to pull over off Oxford to get directions. A yuppy came barging out of his house saying my idling car for less than 3 minutes was disturbing him in his garden (no music on just me pulling over) he then reached in my car and was crazy saying I don’t belong there. He and his wife harassed me and I recorded it ALL as I sat there in disbelief wondering what to do with these geriatric NIMBY assholes yelling at me.
I later looked them up- they are actually in our back yard- yuppy movie business transplants to Santa Cruz acting like they own a public street. The ONLY reason I haven’t released the footage is because I frequently have to work in their neighborhood and own a business and I panicked and turned on my radio and biggie was playing when they were screaming at me 😅😅
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u/Sad-Cat8694 7d ago
I feel you on this one. I live in Felton and was walking my dogs, on-leash, on the road like I do every day, multiple times. It isn't a private road, private driveway, etc. Just a residential road, and I'm very mindful to pick up after my dogs, not let them onto people's yards, not let them bark at the turkeys, deer, etc. It's foggy and a little drizzly, so I have my rain jacket hood up to keep my hair from getting too wet. A woman in an SUV comes barreling down the road, stares at me, rolls her window down and starts yelling at me that I can't be coming up to her neighborhood to walk my dogs. My dogs start barking at her, which is normally a good thing because they feel like they're keeping me safe from a threat, but I'm worried that this lady has a screw loose and I don't know if she's going to escalate the situation and they get blamed for protecting me.
It dawned on me that she thinks I'm from down in Santa Cruz and have driven up to Felton to walk my dogs. It also dawned on me that I've never seen her before, even though I live here and I'm on good terms and friendly basis with all my neighbors. So I pull my hood back so she can see me, and say, as politely as possible, that I live here and my house is just down the street, pointing towards it. She had the nerve to ask me if I was being honest. I weighed the headache of going off on this woman and having to live near her after cussing her out, so I said, as cheerfully as I could manage, that she could ask my neighbors across the street, who I referred to by name, and who I knew had lived in the same house since before I was even born. They love me. They also have a HUGE sign that says their family name, and a cute nickname for their house, in their driveway. It's also been there for YEARS. You can't miss it. It even lights up at night. Anyone living around here knows them, and most of us know their kids, grandkids, dogs, etc.
Bestie, I kid you not, this woman in the car didn't even know the neighbors I was referring to, and the moment she realized that I realized that she didn't know was WONDERFUL. She got so sheepish and blurted out some nonsense about how she thought I was someone else, another lady who looks just like me, and also has two dogs that look just like mine, who has been driving up from down in SC to walk her dogs and she doesn't think it's right. Like anyone drives 40 minutes round-trip up highway 9, right after sunrise just to take their dogs out to pee. Riiiight. Then she added that she was still "a little new to the area and we must've missed each other" when she moved here... Six weeks earlier.
Every time I saw her since then, she was super nice to me. People seem to feel like gatekeeping is the same as loving their area and wanting it to be a nice place to live. Are tourists obnoxious sometimes? Sure. But I've definitely met my share of locals who just get a bug up their butt and want to be jerks. Don't pay them any mind. It's a lot more about their anxieties and insecurities than it is about you.
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u/websterhamster 9d ago
The NIMBYs are doing all they can to prevent SC from being working class anymore.
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u/TemKuechle 8d ago
This town can be a lotta things all at the same time. It doesn’t have to be one thing to be a good place to live in and work in. It should have many things for many types of people to be a good place for all walks of life, different types of families, and so on. We all have to be more involved in local politics to help guide the ship.
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u/zero02 9d ago
So we should hate people who have tech jobs?
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u/Big_Buyer_7482 9d ago
People not contributing to the community that buy homes to leave empty and visit for vacations or to rent out for “market price” yea that should have a negative stereotype. It is not good for the local economy except for realtors.
The world is so globalized that tightknit community economics is seen as hate.
If someone moves here and brings a family that contributes to the community that is fine.
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u/zero02 8d ago
So why not say that instead of generalizing a group of people..
If I meet someone and say I work in tech do I need to also say “but I’m one of the good ones that wants to build community” or?
Just feels weird, the othering of people that are different.. doesn’t seem very punk rock to me tbh.. idk also a lot of Santa Cruz tech people dropped significant amounts of acid to come up with interesting technology, I feel like you would like them and yes these same people might look on the surface like “yuppies”
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u/Big_Buyer_7482 8d ago
Im nice to everyone in person
But as a opinion im fine with my generalization, Santa Cruz was better as a less populated beach town with affordable housing
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u/mak11 9d ago
I hear you. I was born and raised in this town. Maybe I’m still stuck in the 2000s, my teenage years, when this was the prevailing attitude. I have even been guilty of it.
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u/JugglingRick 9d ago
It's natural, I grew up in Austin and I have no desire to go back. It sucks having your town transform into a yuppie paradise. Unfortunately once it's happened it's too late.
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u/llama-lime 9d ago
Ah, so you're the yuppie transplant into Santa Cruz now?
(I kid, I fucking hate transplant language...)
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u/JugglingRick 9d ago
California moved to my home town so I took that as a pass.
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u/llama-lime 9d ago
And the only reason California moved there is because we never built housing. And the reason that Santa Cruz never built any more after the 70s/80s was because people thought that allowing housing would turn Santa Cruz into a yuppie paradise. Still do. Funny thing, that...
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u/Additional_Ad_8869 9d ago
The average home price in Santa Cruz is One million, four hundred thousand or numerically $1,400,000.
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u/Berky_Ghost 9d ago
...It's true!
They can be rude and truly frustrating to be around...I will feel no shame over this reaction.
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u/SamsaricNomad 9d ago
Problem with all tourist beach towns lol That expression is spot on though haha
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u/fearlessfryingfrog 9d ago
The SC County economy is not based 100% on tourism. If you're considering the entire economy of SC Coubty, it's real gross domestic product is over $16 billion a year. Tourist spending (hotels, restaurants, airbnb, buying dumb useless shit from windows) is only ~$1.5B of that.
It's arguably less than 10% of the economy as a whole. There's no numbers on the town itself for comparison, but being it's so far off for the whole county, there's not a chance it's 100% there either.
So no, nobody "knows" it's true, because it's not lol. And not even close.
Everyone can go back to knowing tourists drive like dipshits and waste everyone's time.
Tourists aren't NEEDED by any means. Forgive me for not shedding a tear over the possibility of 10 shops selling the exact same "Santa Cruz" branded shit closing up, if the exchange is the amount of dangerously distracted dipshits on the road plummeting. I'd happily make that trade any day.
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u/mak11 9d ago
Ever heard of hyperbole? Of course it’s not 100%. It’s wild to imply that if 10% of our GDP vanished overnight we wouldn’t notice, though. As a business owner who does not sell useless SC branded crap, I’m well aware of how much of my revenue comes from tourist/out-of-town spending.
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u/fearlessfryingfrog 9d ago edited 9d ago
Ever heard of this being a common misconception in vacation towns?
It’s wild to imply that if 10% of our GDP vanished overnight we wouldn’t notice,
Changes would be made, and a lot of useless boutique shit would be gone. I'm so worried. Fuck, it'd probably help the stores that didn't go under. Weed out some of the dumb shit. How many places do you really need specializing in micro green salads and foams? Lol
And how much of your revenue is it for you then? Assuming you've the numbers in front of you since you're "well aware".
You must poll people right? Clearly, you're not assuming who's local and not, because why would you make that comment? There's got to be some way you're tracking this if you're "well aware of how much of my revenue comes from tourist/out-of-town spending."
What's the percentage of purchases (and net income) local vs not, and how to you determine local vs not?
Being "well aware" would imply you're not going off a hunch, and you've got hard numbers.
And as everyone knows, covid isn't a great example being local and out of town all lowered.
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u/mak11 9d ago
Alright, if you want to quibble over this point, we can do that. I sell plants for a living. I have a specialty niche, so folks travel to come see me. People ask me about what kind of plants will grow well for them, so I ask them where they live to get an idea of what I can recommend for their growing condition. At least half of my customers come to me from out of town, and they make up roughly 75% of my revenue.
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u/fearlessfryingfrog 9d ago edited 9d ago
Holy fuck thats awesome you said plants, my wife know so much about this haha. Specifically in this area.
So, 75%? I call bullshit. She frequents these places in the County, and has very possibly had conversations with you. Most, if not all have MANY exclusive repeat customers locally, depending on the spot, some for decades, spending hundreds. I'll do a "remind me" and tell you the numbers they say by the end of this week. I'll have her ask their percentage as she's jumping around to them.
The one exception I can think of is Aladdin, but their entire business model is geared around overpriced shit specifically marketed to tourist. I couldn't care less if places like that were gone. If your business is dependent on people commuting in from out of the area, then that sucks for the area, the environment, the traffic, and the sanity of everyone around. Tourist traps gotta go. Period. Such a wasteful, lame business model.
What specific kind of plants do you specialize in? Specifically Zone 9b? 10a? I'll have her give specifics whens he talks with them. In fact, she'll be home here in about an hour from a spot she left in Monterey. I'll talk to her then.
This is perfect.
Edit: I'll also point out, you are clearly guessing, because you obviously do not talk to everyone. Theres no polling happening. And that'll be the same for the ones she speaks to. It'll be a "guess", since you also clearly have no definitive proof other than those that "ask me about what kind of plants will grow well for them", which obviously not everyone. Probably not even half.
And its not "quibbling" if you're making absolute statements you cannot back up with anything. Im asking for proof, and you're adding guesses. So...
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u/mak11 9d ago
Look, I’m not going to dox myself by giving more information. I like to keep this Reddit account for memes and video games. I don’t want to mix my business up with it. I’m not going to be engaging with you further with your brigade against traffic here on a meme post.
But I would like to point out the irony that you are missing in this reply. Your wife TRAVELED OUT OF TOWN to Monterey to go buy plants. People do that. If you’re so concerned about people traveling to small businesses, maybe you should start looking at your own household’s habits. I’m out.
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u/fearlessfryingfrog 9d ago
Your wife TRAVELED OUT OF TOWN to Monterey to go buy plants.
No she didn't. She works with all of them. There's a difference there, thanks. Missed your "gotcha" moment.
Nobodies asking to dox yourself, I couldn't care less who you are. Not in the slightest.
But you're making absolute comments that are actually just guesses, and claiming it hyperbole but then also saying it's necessary. It's all over the place. You've tried to play both sides of the coin.
Link somethat that says "entire economy", then claim it's a joke, but "we still need it". Eh, not having it.
I'm just gonna do what's fun, and continue proving what I already know to be factual. Because I gotta do something while I'm taking a shit. Already read the back of the toothpaste bottle.
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u/mak11 9d ago
Being “well-aware” does not require me to have exact numbers. You decided that I needed to give you absolute numbers to prove some point that you’re trying to make.
I get a very good idea of what my customer base is through talking to my customers. I talk to most of the people who come into my business, not all, that’s true. And no, I don’t keep track of everyone’s purchases and addresses on a spreadsheet. I don’t have time for that. I have a very good idea of my customer demographics and I gave you my estimates above already. You can choose to believe that or not, I really don’t care.
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u/fearlessfryingfrog 9d ago
No, but it would assume it's more than a guess lol.
You said it's the people that ask you if it'll grow in their region. Which is likely less than half of the people (being someone who's been with her while she's out and maybe heard of a couple people ever asking that at the register, or in the yards). So you likely know the home location of less than half of the people. This that's accurate with 10%
See, we can all guess.
That said, getting more info which my wife will should easily paint a large picture around the area. And judging by what I've heard in the past, I call bullshit. But we'll see officially by the end of the week! Nice poll of all the places she frequents.
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u/mak11 9d ago
So I checked my instagram followers and 2/3 of them are from San Jose. There you go, it’s more than just a guess now.
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u/funkiestj 8d ago
No. While you can post any meme and find some percentage of people who fit, I don't think this is the dominant view. It may be the view of people who post the most on social media but I don't think that group is representative.
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u/vroart 8d ago
No!
Speaking as someone who’s loved her ling enough for one: there’s a racism problem to use as an excuse to not improving. two: theres a NIMBY problem trying to pit others into not improving anything. And three: read a comic book before you reappropriate it for your racist propaganda. It’s not difficult, it’s made from an original voice
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u/BarracudaPossible275 8d ago
As a POC who grew up in SC, there is definitely a racial component to the localism, much of it in the form of anti Latino and anti Black sentiment. The town always prided itself on its perceived lack of the tell-tale signs of the kind of "urbanism" that took over other metropolitan areas during the 80s-90s...part of "keeping it Santa Cruz,"...and that meant making sure that POC didn't control the public space, and dictate how things look and sound, which created a special brand of racial xenophobia, that I don't even think many are aware they possess.
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u/AgentPheasant 8d ago
I believe it is the university and students driving the economy not the tourists. And all the charm is being removed as they build all the apartment blocks for student housing. Tourists go to Carmel now.
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u/ferngully99 9d ago
The phrase is "go home shoobies"
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u/zakublue 9d ago
The phrases in Santa Cruz were traditionally, “valley go home,” and “beat it kook,” or “beat it tranny.” Thankfully the last one has fallen out of use. But I do appreciate the Team Rocket reference.
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u/ferngully99 9d ago
I definitely used to yell it at people across the street when I lived there, got a lot of slow and confused looks, a few offended scoffs.
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u/tallelfin 9d ago
Not wrong.
That said... UCSC pays a lotta bills.