Tanner Heights, Santa Cruz, CA

Tanner Heights sits on the north edge of Santa Cruz, near the junction of Highways 1, 9 and 17. It's a small, hillside pocket with the feel of a place where the city runs out of grid and the woods of Pogonip begin. Homes are a mix of single-family houses and small multi-unit buildings, many of them built from before 1960 into the 1980s, set on sloped lots and reached by short winding streets. Trees and brush crowd the edges, and some properties back right onto the open land. There is little retail, so the character is quiet and mostly residential. Pogonip is the big draw, a public open space of grassland, redwood stands and trail loops that begins close by. The old polo fields are now open meadow, and the Spring Trail links the main field to the surrounding streets. Harvey West Park lies down the slope with ballfields, a pump track, bocce courts, a seasonal pool and trails that connect to Pogonip. Food nearby is a short drive. Pogonip Pizza Co. On Cardiff Place makes award-winning pies with local toppings, and the New Leaf at 650 River Street, open every day from early morning to evening, is the closest natural-foods grocery. Coffee and breakfast run to the Westside along Mission Street or downtown. The junction of Highways 1, 9 and 17 is minutes away, so heading over the hill, up the San Lorenzo Valley or down to the coast is simple. Metro buses serve River Street and Mission Street, though most daily trips are made by car. Distance from services is the honest downside, since a loaf of bread or a cup of coffee usually means getting in the car. The payoff in Tanner Heights is the trailhead: on a weekday morning you can be among redwoods and open meadow within a few minutes of leaving the house.