Ithaca and Santa Cruz: Sister Cities under the skin

 by Marie Adinolfi

14850 Magazine > September 2001 Issue > Ithaca and Santa Cruz

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This time two years ago, we were packing up our cares and woes and way to much too much other stuff. My husband and I were saying goodbye to Ithaca and were off to the Wild West Coast, looking for adventure and seeking our fortunes. Our destiny came in the shape of Santa Cruz, California, which is located at the top of Monterey Bay.

We said goodbye to all the people we could in the short about of time we had left. We ate at all of our favorite restaurants; Ling-Ling's, Purity, Manos (the Diner of Fate), Rongovian Embassy, Thai Cuisine, Coyote Loco, Lucatelli's Ristorante, and especially Hai Hong, where we had our First Official Date. We caught a few last shows at "Bound for Glory." We drove around Ithaca and drank in all the sights we could.

We packed up our books, clothes, more books, dishes, more books, etc. in many, many, many boxes. If you've ever moved, you know the net result. You swear you will never, ever move again, or if you do you are going to become a Zen Buddist and have almost no personal property by that point in time. And that's what we thought, that we were not going to be coming back. That life would be so much more palatable out there that we wouldn't give Ithaca a second thought. And the next thing we know, we're in California!

As it turns out, we thought about Ithaca a lot.

There were many great things about Santa Cruz that reminded us about Ithaca. Lots of art, lots of theater, lots of people concerned about the environment and politics. I really liked Santa Cruz. It was a lot like being in Ithaca, with the exception that the weather was perfect almost every day. My husband would say that the weather was "boring." The people there were really into supporting their community. And there was art EVERYWHERE! There were lots of murals to enjoy! There was great music. I hope Ithaca continues to encourage the local artists, like Michael Maier, who is organizing artists to create murals on places like GIAC and AJ's Automotive.

Santa Cruz has a downtown "mall" area that is a lot like our Commons. Beautiful shops, lots of local talent in the forms of art and usable art, lots of public art, people playing music. There was usually someone on the mall that was playing an instrument or two with varying degrees of skill. You can drive through it now, but they are planning on closing off the road for foot traffic only. I yearned for it to be more like Ithaca's Commons with the amount of pedestrians in the street. I think it would be a lot safer it their road was converted to a walkway instead. I wouldn't recommend driving in that area unless it was extremely early in the morning. Cars going through the mall have to keep their eyes open for pedestrians. The pedestrians in California have a lot more faith that cars will not hit them than the average New York pedestrian. Now, I know that pedestrians have the right of way, but I've never experienced this lemming-like faith Californians have in the Average Driver, and I certainly wouldn't grant that kind of faith in a California Driver.

I hope The Commons doesn't get changed back into a part of Ithaca's road network. I don't know what will solve the ills of Ithaca traffic, but I don't think plowing up the Commons will be the answer. I really like what they've done with the new fountains, and the new art is wonderful.

For a time, we lived near the harbor and I would walk the dog on the beach almost every day. One of my favorite things about Santa Cruz was "Dog Beach," which was near the Lighthouse Museum. It was a nice beach that was enclosed by high cliffs, you had to go down a set of stairs to get to the beach. Dog lovers could let their dogs roam free without a worry of the dogs running into the road. It was wonderful! There didn't seem to be much trouble with any dogs being too unmanageable or violent. I'm assuming dog owners who had unmanageable dogs didn't take them out in public.

I understand that Ithaca may soon have a "Dog Park" of its own, near the marina. I certainly hope so. As far as I know, there isn't any place you can legally have your dog off a lease. I think if there was a designated "Dog Park," most dog owners would bring their dogs there, which would help both the dog owners and dogs socialize.

There is something that I miss very much about California. The way that the state government involves the individual voter in the issues. Residents of California would receive an informational package in the mail that would explain the propositions up for vote. . After being exposed to this type of interactivity that California asks of their residents, I hope for it for the rest of the country, including New York and Ithaca.

After spending about a year and eight months in beautiful Santa Cruz, we ended up in the packing and moving cycle again. We had both had been very homesick for our families, friends, and Ithaca. Unfortunately, we had yet to achieve the goal of dividing ourselves from our material possessions, so it was still a trial to move. But it was well worth it to be back here. Ithaca is the same beautiful place that we left with some improvements. More visual art is present on the Commons, the wonderful Skate Park, the new fountain on the Commons, the art present at the Octopus area. And now we have two new favorite restaurants, too, "Q" and "The Boatyard." It was very nice to live in Santa Cruz, and it's helped us to appreciate Ithaca all the more.


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14850 Magazine > September 2001 Issue > Ithaca and Santa Cruz