The voices of Santa Cruz’s everyday people on the Palomar Inn, Neary and spirulina.
Everyday People
Thank you Santa Cruz Weekly for your article about Palomar Inn in downtown Santa Cruz (“Inn Depth,” May 22.html).
Yes, Palomar is for lower-income people, some disabled, others are everyday working people, and some seniors, as myself, on Social Security after working 40 years of my life.
This place is a safe haven for a lot of people (five floors).
Having said this, I also—considering the influence the editor of Good Times must have, and his personal mission to remove us from downtown Santa Cruz—have to say I consider it a miracle that we can still live in this beautiful place downtown.
I have lived at Palomar Inn for twelve years. I believe buildings like the Palomar show living proof that Santa Cruz really does acknowledge the reality of the need for the lower and upper classes to exist together.
Thank you Santa Cruz Weekly for caring about the everyday people.
Name Withheld By Request
Santa Cruz
Neary Future
Regarding the “sarcastic” letter to the editor (“Hoping This is Sarcasm,” Letters, May 1.html). Unfortunately, this attitude may be shared by Mercy Housing as well. Since Neary is no longer a co-op, they are at the “Mercy” of the for-profit company that now runs it. Although they currently have an obligation with the city to maintain some sort of low-income housing, this would no longer be required if they were to go bankrupt. If they were to, say, spend a lot of money for a complete remodel of all the units (which they are currently doing), and had to shut down for financial reasons, then what's to stop them from reopening under a different arm of the same company? And then charge whatever nearby complexes are charging? Which, by the way, is exorbitant. But people pay it, and they will pay at Neary, as well; but they would be the white middle-class, unlike most of the population at Neary now: working families, the elderly and disabled. The remodel is going on, and there is talk of Neary shutting down in the next couple of years. Would they really sink a bunch of money into this place, only to close it in a couple of years, without ulterior motives? Anybody heard of gentrification?
Jake M
Santa Cruz
FROM THE WEB
Green Valley
Re: “The Truth About Spirulina” (Wellness, May 15.html): I was introduced to spirulina by the late jazz pianist, Larry McDaniel, my friend and first jazz teacher back in the late 70s. I was living across the street from Forest Pool, which at that time was using the pool area for the cultivation of the green stuff.
It's been around the SLV for years.
Another great article, Maria.
Gene Ervin
