The Cost of Change

I didn't do any shopping while we were in California. I mean, I shopped, but I didn't buy anything, other than a pound of coffee beans. Downtown Santa Cruz is one of those places that is valiantly resisting being homogenized into resembling every other urban shopping strip in our country, and while I applaud that spirit, the stores tend to be aimed at a customer base somewhat younger than me.

The downtown area of Pacific Avenue has an excellent independent bookstore, one of the best I have found anywhere. Interestingly, Borders has taken aim at them and installed a branch a few blocks down the street. I did not go into the Borders, but I was in Bookshop Santa Cruz for about 45 minutes, and it seemed as busy as it always has, which is good. I suspect the Borders will pick up some business from tourists, but BSC will keep on serving the locals, the students, and those like us who prefer to support independent businesses.

Not surprisingly, the clothing stores along the street tend to reflect the lifestyles and pursuits of the people who live in the area, so there's plenty of outdoorsy stuff for hiking and backpacking, and several stores that sell a version of the surfer style that's persisting out there on the other coast. Neither of these has any interest for me. There is a good Patagonia outlet store in Santa Cruz; it's not on the downtown strip, but it's not far away either, and worth a visit if you find yourself there.

As you would expect in a city like Santa Cruz, there are lots of little galleries, craft boutiques, and one or two examples of what used to be called head shops when I was a kid. But over the course of several visits, I have noticed that the downtown is starting to change. There's a lot of construction going on. Buildings are being converted to condos, and there is also new housing construction happening.

Folks who choose to live in urban areas and who can afford this type of real estate tend to expect certain amenities nearby, and the retail mix has started to shift. In anticipation of the influx of affluent residents, landlords start raising rents for their retail tenants, forcing some independent stores to close or relocate, and gradually they are replaced by national retailers who can afford to be there.

The coffee chains were, naturally, among the first to infiltrate, but as with the bookstores, the indies are holding their own against Starbucks and Peet's. There's now a Gap, which was not there six months ago, and American Apparel, which has been there a bit longer. I actually overheard a teenaged girl say to her friend, "Isn't there a Banana Republic around here?" I wanted to say, "Check back in another six months."