Having managed four transit systems before making his way to Santa Cruz, Michael Tree lives and breathes public transportation. With a recently secured $40 million from the state, the head of the Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District sat down with Lookout to discuss what that money will help fund, how his past experience informs what to do in Santa Cruz, the difficulties in building passenger rail, and more.
A nearly $40 million infusion of state funding for public transit and transit-oriented housing is good news for our community, says Lookout politics columnist Mike Rotkin. It will kick-start needed climate-friendly improvements, including a push to make our buses carbon-neutral and establish a “bus on shoulder” lane for Highway 1. Transit is the biggest cause of greenhouse gasses locally, so getting more people to ride buses and bikes is key. But we can’t be the national leader we want to be on par with cities like Boulder and Portland without even more money, he says. He suggests a small sales-tax increase to get us there.
For the latest installment of the How I Got My Job series, Santa Cruz native Tina Somers a self-described science illustrator, printmaker, muralist and painter spoke with Lookout about her path to opening her own studio, advice to up-and-coming artists and the challenges of being in the business.
UC Santa Cruz and the City of Santa Cruz have been embroiled in a lawsuit since February 2022 over UCSC’s plan to boost enrollment by an additional 8,500 students by 2040. The Long Range Development Plan, approved in 2021, set off a wave of lawsuits from the city and the county over potential worsening impacts on the region’s housing market. But now, Santa Cruz Mayor Fred Keeley says the two sides are in talks to end the LRDP lawsuit and a second, separate lawsuit related to water access on campus.
A run-of-the-mill shopping center is one of the latest parcels in Santa Cruz to be turned into a construction site as it undergoes a facelift and prepares to bring in new tenants. It’s a welcome update for a structure that has seen a fair amount of trouble in recent years.