Do you know the best local Facebook pages in Santa Cruz?
If not, keep reading. If so, keep reading and then add your favorite accounts in the comments section.
Following up on my Twitter list of Santa Cruz’s best, it made sense to do the same thing for Facebook, so here it is!
A quick tip for following Facebook pages before we get started:
Hover your cursor over the “Like” box on any page.- Select Get Notifications to receive every post from this page. Or…
- Select Settings then choose to receive all updates, most updates or only important updates.
Who To Follow On Facebook In Santa Cruz
Bloggers
Santa Cruz Life – Local events and interesting activities in Santa Cruz and a heads up on some of the best local activities.
Positively Santa Cruz – Local pictures, some light news, events coverage and the occasional insight into local life.
Santa Cruz Community Media Lab – The top posts from the Santa Cruz blogging community.
Motherhood: A Descent Into Madness – Same vulgar hilarity and mom humor as on Twitter, but with more characters to play with.
Sandy Toes Creations – All the best from one of Santa Cruz’s busiest homeschooling mom bloggers.
The Aums – “Mother of 4 blogging for world peace, or at least a few minutes of peace.”
Seasonal Eating – Learn about making and eating local, organic food in season. You can read the blog here.
Native Santa Cruz – Mark takes great photographs from all over Santa Cruz County.
News
San Lorenzo Valley News Network – Much like on Twitter, SLV News has an active and entertaining Facebook page.
Santa Cruz Sentinel – Local news from Santa Cruz’s oldest newspaper.
Santa Cruz Patch – Hyperlocal news source for Santa Cruz.
Santa Cruz News – A relatively new independent Santa Cruz news outlet.
Santa Cruz Weekly – An alternative weekly news publication covering local news, food, drink, arts and music.
Good Times Santa Cruz – A weekly publication featuring local news, events and entertainment.
Community
Civinomics – Stay engaged with community issues and share creative solutions to common issues with Civinomics.
We Are Live Oak – A community page dedicated to Live Oak.
I Love the Great Morgani – Keep updated on one of Santa Cruz’s iconic downtown personalities. (He’s the guy in the full body costume playing an accordion).
Santa Cruz CA Locals – Clued into the local scene, this account has some cool local info and their questions inspire some great dialogue.
Homeless Garden Project – The HGP teaches ecological sustainability and provides transitional employment and job training for homeless men and women in Santa Cruz.
Vintage Santa Cruz – A community page that shares vintage black and white photographs of Santa Cruz.
Santa Cruz Farmers’ Market – Food menus, vendor offerings and photos for the Downtown, Westside, Live Oak, Felton, and Scotts Valley Farmers’ Markets.
Santa Cruz Waves – Local surf related photos and news.
Capitola By the Sea – An affiliate of Santa Cruz Waves, this page has photos celebrating the beauty and lifestyle of Capitola.
Visit Santa Cruz – Photos, information and attractions for visitors to Santa Cruz County.
365 Santa Cruz – There’s something to do every day of the year in Santa Cruz and this Facebook page shares photos and events of what’s going on in the community.
Capitola Village – Many of the best attractions and events of Capitola Village can be found by following this account, which also posts great photos. You might even win a gift certificate for some free shopping or dining at a local business!
Santa Cruz Local Foods – A truly local organic grocer that uses the CSA model (Community Supported Agriculture), most of their food comes from within 100 miles of Santa Cruz.
Bookshop Santa Cruz – A great account to follow to learn about events, readings and sales at Santa Cruz’s independent downtown bookstore.
Technology
Cruzio – Tech savvy and community focussed, Cruzio is where a lot of great ideas start and where a lot of smart people meet each other. Get in the loop!
Next Space – Combining workspace and community, Next Space (like Cruzio) rents office space to freelancers and telecommuters. The company was co-founded by former Santa Cruz Mayor Ryan Coonerty.
TEDx Santa Cruz – A locally organized group that brings the TED experience to Santa Cruz by hosting local talks and viewings.
Santa Cruz Tech Beat – News and information about what’s happening in the local tech. community.
Event Santa Cruz – A monthly speaker series featuring local business leaders from the community.
TechRaising – Stay up to date on technology with this group that fosters a sense of community and collaboration in the local Santa Cruz tech scene.
Sports
Santa Cruz Warriors – The Developmental League’s basketball team for the Golden State Warriors came to town in 2012 and were an instant hit with locals. You can find their 2013 schedule here.
Santa Cruz Derby Girls – The Derby Girls have plenty of news, photos, videos and event announcements to satisfy all your Santa Cruz roller derby cravings.
Outdoors
City of Santa Cruz Parks and Recreation – Parks and Rec. events, news and programs offered in Santa Cruz.
Hilltromper – The ins and outs of Santa Cruz’s many outdoor treasures.
Cabrillo College Outdoor Club – An active college club that explores the Central Coast and promotes sustainable living.
Save Our Shores – S.O.S. organizes beach cleanups and events throughout the county to raise awareness and protect our local marine ecosystem.
Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk – Photos, information and event news from the Boardwalk.
Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks – The Facebook page for That’s My Park, a non-profit working to sustain and preserve state parks and beaches.
Arts
Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History – There’s always something interesting going on at the MAH and they post plenty of event photos on their Facebook page.
First Friday Santa Cruz – The first Friday of each month, there are art shows all over the county and the Facebook page will keep you posted on the who, what, where and when.
The Muse Santa Cruz – Get tuned into the Santa Cruz creative life with Muse, Santa Cruz, a project of the Santa Cruz Sentinel Arts Editor Wallace Baine and local artist Kirby Scudder.
Open Studios Art Tour – Santa Cruz Open Studios is an event that lets the public into the studios of local artists to view their work. (Click here for the virtual tour.) The group also advocates for the local arts.
Kuumbwa – Terrific jazz concert hall in Santa Cruz that attracts some amazing musicians.
Catamaran Literary Reader – Based out of the Tannery Arts Center, the Catamaran is a quarterly literary publication that features fiction, prose, poetry and fine art.
Santa Cruz Film Festival – Our yearly film festival celebrates innovative and creative film making locally and worldwide.
Santa Cruz Fringe Festival – Annual performing arts festival that presents a wide variety of shows over the course of a week at venues around Santa Cruz.
Schools
UC Santa Cruz – All the latest from the “City on a Hill.”
Cabrillo College – Great resource for Cabrillo students, they share deadlines and important dates regularly.
Add your favorite Santa Cruz Facebook Pages in the comments or submit your own!
I am surprised Studio 501 is not listed in your Arts section. They have been around for over 3 years and it is they have the BEST art classes in Santa Cruz, completely individualized for each student.
When local reporters do not encourage locally owned services for our children, elderly & military it concerns me.
Without customers, these businesses go under (like the Candle/Soap place in Scotts Valley)
Hi Robin,
Thank you for mentioning Studio 501.
Here is a link to their Facebook page for anyone who wants to check them out: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Studio-501-Santa-Cruz-Art-Studio/115735441840824
Thanks Ethan!!!!! You rock!!!!
Awesome list! Thanks for including me! Looking forward to checking out those pages I haven’t had the pleasure to yet.
Thank you so much for the inclusion! 🙂
Thanks for including Santa Cruz Tech Beat. Aside from being a great list to stay in touch with the Santa Cruz community, this is also a list I will share with clients to see examples of how folks are using Facebook for local business.
Awesome! Thank you Sara!
You missed: TBSC (Take Back Santa Cruz) and The Clean Team!!
Those two are both Facebook Groups, and for this particular post we limited the listings to FB Pages. FB Groups…that’s a post for another day 🙂
Thanks, I added a few more to my “Likes”. 🙂
Do you do a best blogs of Santa Cruz? I’d like you to check out mine. It is an ask and answer legal blog where I answer all kinds of questions like “how can I legally have two wives” and “are bitcoins legal. It is at http://www.ask-roxy.com. I also have a Facebook page you can “like” that I just started where I will share my blog posts
at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Law-Office-of-Roxanne-Olson/190476324317664
Sounds like some interesting topics for a legal blog. Thanks for sharing.
To answer your question, we haven’t done a “best blogs” post…yet. It’s on the editorial calendar though so stay tuned 🙂
HI, Please check out the Facebook page for the Capitola Village Business Association https://www.facebook.com/CapitolaVillage
We hold many giveaways each year and give updates on businesses in the Village, events and news.
Nice list. I’d already “Liked” most of them before, great community resources.
I would like to add one of the fastest growing (37 to 1,200 Friends in just over 2 months) and most active community pages in the area, the My Scotts Valley FB CommUNITY at:
http://www.facebook.com/myscottsvalley
Nice job on your list, good stuff!
Ethan love this list. Many clients moving to the area are interested in just these types of activities of interests. Thank you for compiling, we will use and pass on!
Great list!
Please submit our FB page too:
https://www.facebook.com/loola.org
LOOLA (Live Oak Off Leash Advocates) is a collective of local Live Oak community dog owners who support an off leash initiative for the 20th avenue beach area in the Live Oak area of Santa Cruz CA.