Santa Cruz, Calif., located 60 miles south of San Francisco and 150 miles west of Fresno, houses one of Monterey Bay's most important ports, and has quickly become an epicenter of export-oriented industries such as tanning and lumber. With this strong economic base, as well as the striking natural beauty of the region, it’s no surprise Santa Cruz has consistently had a progressive, modern economy.

Santa Cruz County has been at the forefront of major economic trends of this century. The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, founded in 1907, pioneered the tradition of beach recreation, which gave Duke Kahanamoku the venue to first exhibit and popularize surfing as a recreational sport in the continental United States. Local Santa Cruz electronics company, Plantronics, represents the strength of the city’s technological industries by producing headsets for the Mercury and Apollo space programs. Other notable businesses headquartered in Santa Cruz include Cruzio Internet, Fullpower Technologies Inc., O’Neill, RF Micro Devices, Santa Cruz Biotechnology Inc., Giro, and Santa Cruz Skateboards. These firms, and many others, form the economic base of Santa Cruz County.

The accompanying charts demonstrate demographic, supply and operating statistics as of February 2010.

Pasadena, Calif.-based Self Storage Data Services Inc. publishes the ISS Flash Report, the Self-Storage Performance Index and other statistical data on self-storage operation. The company also reports on supply-and-demand factors affecting the industry. For more information, call 626.304.2920; visit www.ssdata.net.

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