While the City of Santa Cruz operates on July – June fiscal year, as we head into the holidays, we’d be remiss to not reflect on the work that the Economic Development and Housing Department has accomplished in calendar year 2024. Our rapidly growing team of just under 20 people are continuing to push the limits of what is possible in order to advance the economic vitality of the City of Santa Cruz. Below, we highlight milestone wins for this year which merely scratch the surface of the work that our team is doing on a day-to-day basis. Let’s dive in.

Infrastructure

$13,663,869.40: The total Housing, Community Development, and Infrastructure Grant funds awarded by Economic Development and Housing in 2024

$110,700,000: The total funding (tax credit + bond) approved for the library and affordable housing bond project

$8,659,700: The total amounts of funds raised for the Wharf Resilience Improvements Project

92,030: The total square feet of graffiti cleaned between December 23rd, 2023 and November 24th, 2024 (not including the total cleaned via graffiti abatement volunteers)

Business

93: The number of new business licenses issued

17: The number of outdoor dining parklets installed

$52,847.09: The total Storefront Beautification Grant funds issued

345: The number of businesses contacted for services

2617: The number of people that rode the Santa Cruzer this summer

Housing

1000+: The number of affordable housing units monitored (Units are monitored annually, helping to maintain existing affordable housing throughout the City)

29*: The number of households assisted under HOME security Deposit Program

121*: The number of teens participated in the Teen Center Program

871*: The number of children and adults participated in programs and received services from Nueva Vista Community Resources

28,000+*: The number of people provided resources through Second Harvest Food Bank

*All of these were made possible through CDBG Program funds for the 2023 Program Year (7/1/2023 – 6/30/2024)

Arts & Culture

3 films, 12-minute runtimes, 15+ film festival screenings nationwide: The number of short films and screenings supported by the CARD program by local filmmaker Megan Martinez Goltz in partnership with the founder of Senderos.

12: The number of productions All About Theatre (whose parent company, Theatre 831 took the helm of the Colligan Theatre in 2024) has planned for all age children that will bring 600 families to the Tannery Campus to dance, sing, build connections and solid foundation through performing arts education.

144: The number of feet of new temporary art by CARD artist Rica Smith de la Luz that wraps the construction site at lower Pacific