Midtown

Midtown runs along Soquel Avenue between downtown and the Live Oak line, and it is the part of Santa Cruz where the everyday business of the city actually happens. Longtime residents often still call it the Eastside, and the Midtown name has only been in general use since around the turn of the century, pushed along by local businesses and the city’s economic development efforts. Both names are correct depending on who you are talking to and how long they have lived here.

The commercial strip is the draw. Shopper’s Corner, the independent grocery that has anchored the corner of Soquel and Branciforte for generations, The Buttery and The Crepe Place are all genuine Santa Cruz institutions rather than recent arrivals, and the stretch has a density of useful, unglamorous businesses that the tourist end of town does not.

Behind the avenue the residential streets are mostly older single family bungalows on small lots, built as the city expanded east in the early and middle twentieth century. Lots are compact, houses are modest by current standards, and a good share are single story, which is more useful to my clients than square footage. This is also one of the more walkable residential pockets in the city, which matters a great deal once driving becomes less comfortable.

Schools run through Santa Cruz City Schools, which operates the elementary and high school districts jointly. Cabrillo College in Aptos serves the wider county with a community education program plenty of retired residents use.

For services, Dominican Hospital on Soquel Drive is essentially straight out this corridor, which is about as good as hospital access gets in this county. The Downtown Senior Center at the London Nelson Community Center is a few minutes west, the Santa Cruz Public Libraries serve the area, and the Volunteer Center of Santa Cruz County runs falls prevention, home repair and transportation programs for older residents.

Beaches are close in both directions, with Seabright and Twin Lakes a short drive south and the harbor just beyond. Santa Cruz METRO runs frequent service along Soquel Avenue, and the Highway 17 Express to San Jose leaves from the downtown transit center a few minutes away. Highway 1 is close, with the usual caveat that it backs up badly at peak hours near the Highway 17 merge.

On price, the typical Santa Cruz home is running around $1.35 million as of late summer 2026, up roughly six percent year over year. Midtown bungalows generally sit at or below that figure, which combined with the walkability makes this one of the more sensible places in the city to buy if you are thinking about the next twenty years rather than the next five. Estimates of days on market vary by source from about three weeks to about six. My Santa Cruz home prices page tracks the trend and the full Santa Cruz area guide covers the rest of the city.

Older bungalows reward preparation more than newer houses do, and knowing which repairs return money and which do not is most of the job for a seller here. That, along with capital gains planning and the Proposition 19 rules that let homeowners 55 and over carry their property tax basis to a new home, is what I handle for older adults and their families. Book a call with me for an honest assessment, or read how I prepare and market a home.