Aptos, California

Aptos is a great suburb to Santa Cruz for families and beach lovers alike. Clean, modern new housing developments and great schools make the town a great place to raise a family, far enough removed from the underground Santa Cruz drug scene for it to be safe, but close enough to enjoy the fun family activities that this beach town has to offer. For those who aren’t hip to the sheep-like feel that housing developments sometimes have, older homes in other neighborhoods have unique, charming touches like loft-style upstairs areas and spiral staircases.

But let’s not kid ourselves; it is not the family atmosphere or the STAIRS in the houses that make people want to live in Aptos. People live here for one thing: sheer proximity to the beach. And Northern California beaches have something that its LA and OC neighbors do not: redwood trees. It is one of the few places in the world where one can go for a hike in the redwoods and go surf in the same day: the same morning, even!

True to form for the area, real estate is not cheap, although one could find a single room rental in the area for a relatively reasonable price. While not quite as expensive as some of its neighbors on the other side of the hill, the town’s coastal location makes it come pretty close. But it does offer the best of many worlds: surf, sand, suburbs, Santa Cruz, and a beautiful redwood forest nearby.