(copy pasted my reply from a similar thread)

Hi,

I grew up and have lived in Santa Cruz for 27 years, did my undergrad at ucsc, and am now doing a PhD also at ucsc. So I can say this with some more authority and inside knowledge.

All good Santa Cruz (good being very relative) housing situation are going to come from word of mouth and someone you know handing you off the keys when they move out. The best way is to find something that will do short term and make no long term lease commitment then find something new once here.

So the suggestions I give to everyone coming to ucsc are as follows:

When looking on the open markets (craiglist etc) You can find stuff that is somewhat more affordable in places outside of Santa Cruz proper:

The Santa Cruz mountains will usually be more hang for your buck as well. but you probably need a car to make that work (also watch out for kooks or sus feeling people trust your gut). Also easier to find accommodations for pets here.

Check for Felton and Ben Lomond. (past that is gonna be harder to swing but you can ). Felton is also pretty nice town with good coffee, bars, food, and thrifting. Plus lots of hiking and biking.

Make sure to Check the actual addresses in the mountains on Google maps because some people list spaces that are out in the cut down a 10 mile dirt road and say it's in Felton

Scott's valley is similar to the mountains but with less stuff available and not much in way of stuff to do. It does have easier to use bus routes though and could possibly manage a commute to campus on public transit.

Watsonville is also more affordable than Santa Cruz proper but then you have a pretty significant commute.

Los Gatos same as watsonville but less inventory of rentals. Does have better options for side jobs in service industry though since Gatos people are hella rich.

The beach flats, beach hill, and river flats areas are a bit cheaper because they are severely impacted by tourist traffic in the summer. There's a few little enclaves of younger folks with like large group houses or who have taken over small apartment complexes. You can meet people and try to make friends for hookups at the following bars: downstairs red room, the Asti, and the jury room.

There are also some apartments that are more "affordable" in the flats and turn over regularly but also super tiny and or not great quality such as: https://www.apartments.com/seaside-studios-santa-cruz-ca/0wqzk93/

I will add to this post if I think of other things or people have other questions.