When I was down at the Begonia Festival the other day, checking out the floats, I picked up a flyer about the Capitola Village Residents Association (CVRA). I love these kinds of resident associations – I find that the communities that have them are generally much better run and have higher property values than comparable communities that do not.
Apparently, it’s a new association. Here is an excerpt from the flyer:
We are forming an association of residents of the Capitola Village and the nearby neighborhoods. Our goal is to closely follow issues of importance to the quality of life the residents of these neighborhoods and to participate effectively in the political process when the City Council makes decisions that affect us.
Some of the “hot topics” right now regard traffic circulation, parking/neighborhood permits and parking meters.
The CVRA Neighborhoods are: Central Village (including Fanmar), Upper Village (including Beulah/Burlingame, Pacific Cove, and McCormick areas), Depot Hill, Riverview Terrace, and the Jewel Box (excluding west of 47th Avenue)
According to the flyer, the plan is that the association will not meet often, but will communicate by e-mail and by a Capitola Village Residents Association Google Group that has been set up.
As anyone who lives here knows, the Capitola Village has a long history as a major tourist draw, and the commercial interests of keeping the visitors coming has had a big impact on the livability of the area. Tourism is a big part of the economic base of the area, but people have to live here, too, and this effort to involve residents to a higher degree in the ongoing development of the area should help to make the area more livable, as well as more prosperous.
Take all your equity when you move
