Westlake, Santa Cruz, CA

Westlake sits on the upper Westside of Santa Cruz, where the street grid starts to climb toward the redwoods of Pogonip. The namesake is Westlake Park, a pond with a playground and picnic tables on Bradley Drive off Spring Street, and it sets a slower pace than the traffic along Mission Street below. Homes are mostly modest single-family houses and cottages on small hillside lots, with a few older apartment buildings and some newer infill mixed in. Streets bend with the slope, so one block can feel quite different from the next, and yards often carry mature trees. Expect pitched driveways, stairs to front doors, and views that open up in odd places. The pond is the everyday outdoor stop. Wildlife is easy to watch from the edge, dogs stay on leash and out of the water, and boating isn't allowed. There's no restroom and parking is on the street, so visits tend to be short. Wagner Grove, one of the entrances to Harvey West Park, also falls inside the area, and the trails there lead on toward the meadows and woods of Pogonip. For a meal, Pogonip Pizza Co. On Cardiff Place is the local pie shop, run by a Santa Cruz restaurant family and known for seasonal toppings such as Route One Farms strawberries. Coffee runs to The Abbey Coffee, Art & Music Lounge, just over the line in Mission Hill. A drive down Mission Street reaches Companion Bakeshop, where the sourdough pastries are the draw. Groceries and errands mean heading down to Mission Street or over to the New Leaf on River Street. Metro buses serve the main roads, and the junction of Highways 1, 9 and 17 is close, which makes Westlake handy for both the coast and the drive over the hill to San Jose. UC Santa Cruz rises up the slope to the north and west. The hills are the cost of living here. A walk down for supplies is easy, and the walk back is not, so most shopping trips end up in a car or on an e-bike. Pond, trailhead and pizza oven all sit within the same handful of streets, which is unusual on this side of town.