Beach Hill / Beach Flats, Santa Cruz, CA

Beach Hill / Beach Flats is the Santa Cruz of postcards, crowded together between the bluffs, the Wharf and the Beach Boardwalk. Family-run since 1907, the Boardwalk keeps its Giant Dipper coaster and Looff carousel turning beside Main Beach, and both rides hold National Historic Landmark status. Homes here are small and close together. The flats hold older cottages, duplexes and apartment buildings, and the slope of Beach Hill rises behind them with larger older houses and some views of the bay. Streets are tight, and many lack driveways. Outdoors is simple and sandy. Main Beach and Cowell Beach lie within the area, and the Wharf juts out into the bay with room for walking, fishing and watching the sea lions. Beach Flats Park, on Leibrandt Avenue, pairs a playground and picnic tables with a small stage and colorful murals, and Poets Park sits a little way down Raymond Street with its own playground and community garden. Eating is built around the beach crowd. The Penny Ice Creamery on Beach Street scoops from-scratch flavors in hand-rolled waffle cones, and Humble Sea runs a seasonal taproom out on the Wharf from Thursday through Sunday. Boardwalk stands sell garlic fries and fried chicken, and the arcade and bowling alley stay open late on busy nights. Daily needs are handled with a short trip toward downtown, where grocery stores and the Metro bus hub are reachable on foot or by bike. Highway 1 is a few minutes beyond that. The beach is steps away, and Pacific Avenue is a walk inland. Visitors are the plain tradeoff. Summer brings traffic, noise and a lot of drivers circling for parking, and permit parking around the neighborhood park keeps outside cars out of some blocks. When the Giant Dipper starts rattling on a warm afternoon, the sound carries over the rooftops and becomes part of the background in Beach Hill / Beach Flats.