Santa Cruz County Featured on “Top 10″ Lists
Contact: Christina Glynn, Communications Director/Film Commissioner
Phone: 831-429-7281, ext. 112, email: cglynn@santacruz.org
March 25, 2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SANTA CRUZ COUNTY, CA— If Santa Cruz County was a celebrity, it would no doubt have access to the most exclusive clubs behind the velvet rope. But that’s not the style in this laid-back, California beach town. Instead, Santa Cruz County chooses to share the joy of its status with countless visitors annually. From beaches to supermodels, Santa Cruz is tops on many “Best of” lists.
Not only did Outside magazine name Santa Cruz the #1 Best College Town in North America in 2003, it also hailed it as one of the 30 Best Towns in America a few years later, citing its “Predawn long boarding, midday burritos, single track mountain biking, afternoon kite boarding, and fine local wines”. Cheers to that!
Santa Cruz County’s 29 miles of coastline also played into Travel + Leisure’s July 2009 issue, featuring Santa Cruz as one of 6 Great Beach Towns. And giving a nod to its rich history of surfing, Santa Cruz ranked #1 of the Ten Best Surf Towns in the U.S. by Surfer Magazine that same month. And speaking of outdoor adventure, the Wall Street Journal, in its July 31, 2009 edition, named Santa Cruz as home to one of “America’s Favorite Skateboard Parks.”
All this exercise leads up to the next honor on the list: local Santa Cruzan Marissa Miller was featured in the E! Network’s special Top 10 Beach Bodies – and came in at #1! Among other career highlights, Marissa appeared in every Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue from 2002 to 2008.
But Santa Cruz has beauty and brains: Sierra magazine, the magazine of the Sierra Club, gave top nod to U.C. Santa Cruz when it named it “One of the Top Eco-Enlightened Universities” in September 2009. (although this month, Forbes magazine did name U.C. Santa Cruz one of the world’s most beautiful colleges, citing its natural setting and architecture.)
Already Northern California’s favorite amusement park, the century-old Boardwalk was named “Best Seaside Amusement Park,” in the world by amusement industry experts. Not only that, but it was also named “One of the Top 10 American Boardwalks” by Forbes magazine, and “One of America’s Best Retro Escapes” by Travel + Leisure magazine.
Although the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk tempts visitors with funnel cakes and cotton candy, locals also know how to eat healthy. Maybe that’s why Santa Cruz ranked as the 8th healthiest county in California in a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and University of Wisconsin study, released this month. And herbivores in-the-know are already hip to Santa Cruz, since Veg News magazine named it “One of the 12 Hippest Hometowns” for Vegetarians!
Christmastime is a special time of year in Capitola, where jolly Saint Nick and his reindeer ride the waves to shore at Capitola Beach. Travel + Leisure magazine cited this distinctive event and other examples of surfside holiday spirit when it announced that Santa Cruz is one of the best places in the world to spend Christmas.
And speaking of Capitola, it was named “One of the Top 20 Best Small Towns in the West” by Sunset magazine, and the “Best Place to Shuck Your Shoes” in Via magazine.
Overall, Santa Cruz was honored with the title of one of the “50 Best Places to Live” by Men’s Journal magazine. So why not grab a vegetarian burrito and hit the beach? Who knows? You might just meet a supermodel!
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