Tourism

From its early years as a stop on the stage route across the mountains, the Scotts Valley area has provided services to travelers. With the growing usage of the automobile in the early 20th century, the area became commercialized and tourism developed as a local industry.

In the early 1920s, Edward Evers established Camp Evers at the junction of the State Highway and Mt. Hermon Road. Camp Evers consisted of a small store, gas pumps, dance hall and tents, becoming a resort and rest stop for travelers.

The Beverly Gardens were established in the 1930s and featured a collection of exotic birds and animals, a restaurant, and cabins.

Axel Erlandson opened The Tree Circus in 1947, featuring trees grafted and trained in strange and unusual shapes. Bright "life size" painted dinosaurs overlooking Highway 17 were added to the Tree Circus in 1964 when it changed its name to The Lost World. Surviving trees have since been moved to Gilroy Gardens.

Santa's Village, one of three locations in America's first theme park chain, was established in 1956. It was the most popular of the many attractions, attracting millions of visitors to Scotts Valley for over twenty years, and it was the last of Scotts Valley's theme parks to close its doors, in 1979. H. Glenn Holland, who had already developed a Santa's Village elsewhere the previous year, leased 25 acres (100,000 m²) at the former Lawridge Farm, which was a portion of the former Rancho San Augustin for the Scotts Valley location of Santa's Village. The park maintained a historically correct team of Mexican burros that lived on the back 20-acre (81,000 m²) field. Four reindeer from Unalakleet, Alaska, pulled Santa's sleigh. All the buildings were designed to look like log chalet-type structures, replete with snowy roofs and gingerbread trim. One chalet housed a legendary fresh gingerbread bakery. Theme-appropriate music flowed from speakers hidden in towering redwood trees. In 1977 the Santa's Village Corporation had filed for bankruptcy, and in 1979 the park's gates were finally closed. The site is currently a playing field at the former headquarters of Borland.

Scotts Valley is also near Big Basin Redwoods State Park, Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park, and Roaring Camp Railroads. The town is surrounded by coast redwood forests. The city of Santa Cruz lies to the south. A relatively large municipal skateboard park, where pro skateboarder Eric Costello died in October 2005 due to improper helmet use,^[8] is near Skypark, the site of a former airport, in central Scotts Valley.

Three hotels operate in Scotts Valley: a Best Western hotel located near the Granite Creek entrance to Highway 17, a Four Points by Sheraton located on Scotts Valley Drive, and a Hilton hotel located near the Mount Hermon junction with Highway 17.

Redevelopment and high technology

Evidence regarding blighted conditions in the Redevelopment Area of Santa's Village and the Skypark Airport was established in the year 1990.^[9]

E-mu Systems, Seagate Technology, Sessions, and Borland Software Corporation were all formerly headquartered in Scotts Valley.

Zero Motorcycles manufactures all-electric motorcycles in Scotts Valley.

Netflix's first headquarters were established in Scotts Valley by Reed Hastings, a Stanford graduate, in 1997. The headquarters were later moved to nearby Los Gatos, California.

In May 2016, the University of California, Santa Cruz signed a 20-year lease to occupy the former Borland headquarters establishing its Scotts Valley Center.^[10] The center serves as the professional offices for three of its divisions — Information Technology services, Business and Administrative services, and University Relations.^[10]

Top employers

According to Scotts Valley's 2021 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report,^[11] the top employers in the city are:

2010

The 2010 United States Census^[13] reported that Scotts Valley had a population of 11,580. The population density was 2,520.4 inhabitants per square mile (973.1/km²). The racial makeup of Scotts Valley was 9,958 (86.0%) White, 101 (0.9%) African American, 57 (0.5%) Native American, 590 (5.1%) Asian, 18 (0.2%) Pacific Islander, 292 (2.5%) from other races, and 564 (4.9%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1,158 persons (10.0%).

The Census reported that 11,308 people (97.7% of the population) lived in households, 264 (2.3%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 8 (0.1%) were institutionalized.

There were 4,426 households, out of which 1,588 (35.9%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 2,423 (54.7%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 474 (10.7%) had a female householder with no husband present, 189 (4.3%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 206 (4.7%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 43 (1.0%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 1,054 households (23.8%) were made up of individuals, and 516 (11.7%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.55. There were 3,086 families (69.7% of all households); the average family size was 3.03.

The population was spread out, with 2,863 people (24.7%) under the age of 18, 969 people (8.4%) aged 18 to 24, 2,513 people (21.7%) aged 25 to 44, 3,660 people (31.6%) aged 45 to 64, and 1,575 people (13.6%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41.7 years. For every 100 females, there were 95.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.0 males.

There were 4,610 housing units at an average density of 1,003.4 per square mile (387.4/km²), of which 3,248 (73.4%) were owner-occupied, and 1,178 (26.6%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.4%; the rental vacancy rate was 3.2%. 8,558 people (73.9% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 2,750 people (23.7%) lived in rental housing units.

2000

As of the census^[14] of 2000, there were 11,385 people, 4,273 households, and 2,969 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,473.7 inhabitants per square mile (955.1/km²). There were 4,423 housing units at an average density of 961.0 per square mile (371.0/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 88.63% White, 0.48% African American, 0.40% Native American, 4.62% Asian, 0.18% Pacific Islander, 2.15% from other races, and 3.53% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6.40% of the population.

There were 4,273 households, out of which 36.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.3% were married couples living together, 7.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.5% were non-families. 23.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.56 and the average family size was 3.05.

In the city, the population was spread out, with 25.8% under the age of 18, 7.0% from 18 to 24, 30.2% from 25 to 44, 23.2% from 45 to 64, and 13.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.6 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $72,449, and the median income for a family was $88,573. Males had a median income of $74,183 versus $40,492 for females. The per capita income for the city was $35,684. About 0.9% of families and 2.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 1.2% of those under age 18 and 4.0% of those age 65 or over.

The Barn

In the fall of 1965, Eric Nord,^[20] proprietor of coffee houses including the Hungry I in San Francisco, and the Sticky Wicket^[21] in Aptos, also opened The Barn (1965—1968), an art gallery and coffee house, with a large area for concerts, on the site of the Frapwell Dairy Barn (1914—1948), in Scotts Valley.^[22][23][24] Janis Joplin^[25] and the Grateful Dead performed at The Barn.^{[citation needed]} Tom Wolfe describes the Merry Pranksters and Ken Kesey, from La Honda, at The Barn, in the last chapter of The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. At Scott's Valley Drive, just off Highway 17, The Barn as a nightclub closed by 1968, with the Baymonte Christian School taking control of the property. The Barn resurrected as a dinner theater in an RV park in the 70s, and eventually a warehouse for Seagate Technologies. The Barn was torn down in 1991.^{[26][27][28][29][30][31][25][32][33][34][35][36]}

Santa's Village

Unrelated to the prior Santa's Village (Jefferson, New Hampshire) (1953—), Santa's Village (Scotts Valley) (1957—1979) was an amusement park, built after Santa's Village (Lake Arrowhead) (1955—1998, 2016–present), San Bernardino County, and built before Santa's Village AZoosment Park (1959—2006, 2011–present), East Dundee, Illinois, located near highway 17, Borland would later built its campus on the site.

Climate

Air in Scotts Valley is typically maritime in origin, as it moves over the land from the Pacific Ocean. Summers are warm and dry, while winters are mild and generally rainy. Most rain falls as a result of winter Pacific storms between the months of November and April. Sound levels in Scotts Valley are typically in the range of 57 to 65 dBA, except for somewhat higher levels within 150 feet (46 m) from Highway 17.

Scotts Valley has mild weather throughout the year, enjoying a Mediterranean climate (Köppen Csb) characterized by cool, wet winters and warm, mostly dry summers. Due to its proximity to Monterey Bay, fog and low overcast are common during the night and morning hours, especially in the summer.