SANTA CRUZ — The stoke was high among farmers market shoppers Wednesday afternoon as the Downtown Santa Cruz Farmers Market officially opened at its new location on Lot 16 and along Cedar and Lincoln streets, with community members already filling the closed-off corridors lined with vendors, local businesses and community organizations.
Walking through the Cedar Street portion of the market, the Sentinel caught up with former Santa Cruz Mayor and affordable housing advocate Don Lane, who was impressed with the market’s new digs.
“I was just having lunch and I thought I should come and check this out,” said Lane. “One thing I like is this linear quality. And I am excited that so many people are already here because there’s always trepidation around change.”
Retired city planner and Santa Cruz resident Frank Barron had just rode in on his bike to grab a few things at the market and wondered how the closure of Cedar Street will pan out in the long term.
“This is going to mess with traffic,” said Barron. “I was under the impression that they were just closing Church Street, which would mess with traffic a little bit, but this is a major street. You’d think they would close Pacific Avenue but that doesn’t get a lot of sun in the winter.”
Longtime Downtown Santa Cruz Farmers Market patron Gina Pearlin said she was getting a feel for the new setup and liked the space so far. She hoped that the city of Santa Cruz would allow free parking in the Cedar-Church Garage adjacent to the market.
“Because parking is an issue,” said Pearlin. “I just think that it would be nice if they opened the garage right here. That would be a great gesture. If they could just take a little break from making money for the afternoon that would be terrific.”
City of Santa Cruz Arts Commissioner and Liminal Space Collective founder Weston Mossman was enjoying a turkey leg from one of the local food vendors stationed next to the Downtown Santa Cruz Branch Library in Lot 16, which served as an outdoor food court and al fresco dining area.
“This is beautiful and so walkable,” said Mossman. “It’s full of people and spacious and it seems like there’s more vendors. And I go to the farmers market every week and I’ve seen twice as many people that I know.”
Friends of the Santa Cruz Libraries Executive Director Sarah Beck and team member Sarah Clark were stationed in Lot 16 to promote their fundraising campaign for the new Downtown Branch Santa Cruz Library. The pair were excited about the recent donation of $400,000 from the Monterey Peninsula Foundation, alongside the recent relocation of the farmers market.
“It looks more like a farmers market than the old farmers market,” said Clark. “It seems bigger and the booths are bigger. And it also integrates the nearby businesses.”
Beck added that the relocation of the farmers market is one of the puzzle pieces in the changing downtown.
“We’re excited,” said Beck. “Everyone seems very positive and happy.”
Cruzio Internet Marketing Lead Brianna Heredia was one of the nearby businesses taking adavantage of the new foot traffic on Cedar Street just outside of the coworking space.
“We are excited about the new foot traffic here because a lot of the time this street doesn’t really get much,” said Heredia. “We hope that this brings more business to us and to the cafe, Hidden Fortress. We’ll see how it goes.”
David Jackman, owner of Chocolat in downtown Santa Cruz, has been sourcing ingredients from the farmers market for decades and said he was stoked about the new location.
“Obviously, the vibe is up today, so that’s pretty exciting,” said Jackman. “I love that most of the farmers are together and I love that overall it is much more protected by the wind, which means a lot to the farmers. They can cope with the rain but the wind is really tough. And this is a lot more fun. I like this a lot and the farmers seem jazzed about it.”
Farmer Robin Gammons with Four Sisters Farm said that it was just the first day in the new location, but the transition seemed fairly smooth.
“It’s only been a few hours but so far, so good,” said Gammons. “I’m fine with it. It’s different. We’ll get used to it. Nobody really likes change but it is busy here. It is really busy. I think it’s going to work out pretty well.”
For information, visit santacruzfarmersmarket.org.