Obsession
People in Santa Cruz seem to be obsessed with plastering the backs of their cars with bumper stickers, many of them with an anti-war message or other liberal cause.
Community Pride
Santa Cruz Locals love to show how much they love Santa Cruz. Neighborhood names, landmarks, and "Locals Only" themes easily make up the majority of Santa Cruz stickers.
Stickers supporting local Santa Cruz
Most everyone in Santa Cruz will recognize one of Tim Ward's Santa Cruz typographic mermaids.
People will often modify stickers or combine stickers to express their own creativity
A Couple of Kissing Mermaids
LocalSantaCruz.com has a whole line of Victorian style Santa Cruz Stickers stickers celebrating the diverse neighborhoods and history of Santa Cruz.
Stickers that show elements of Santa Cruz's history by using the Victorian style that was prominent in the founding of Santa Cruz.
Political Statements
With the political climate that UCSC has helped anchor in the very fiber of modern Santa Cruz life we have more than our fair share of political activists. Although the bumper sticker culture in Santa Cruz tends to lean left, many members of our community have something to say. From Vegan and Anti-Vegan to Shock and Irony, every aspect of the political spectrum is represented in Santa Cruz.
This car has enough stickers to obscure the view of the window. (It is legal as long as they have an outside mirror on each side.)
Business and Advertising
Thanks to some of the great entrepreneurs and motivated people in our community, the name "Santa Cruz" is an almost universally recognized brand. With companies like Santa Cruz Skateboards through artist Jim Phillips, creating icons like the Santa Cruz Red Dot and Screaming Hand. Add to the mix Santa Cruz Bicycles, and it is almost difficult to picture the "A"s in Santa Cruz as anything other than legless. These brands have helped take our community to a world-wide stage of name recognition, and as a result you will see thousands of their stickers throughout Santa Cruz.
Parking with a message.
Sticker Walls and Graffiti
Some business in Santa Cruz have areas dedicated for local stickers. The Mens room at the Blue Lagoon, the front windows at Cole's BBQ and the front door at Chill Out Cafe are great examples of local businesses embracing and celebrating our community. There are other less embraced practices, like the stickering of newspaper boxes across town that fall more into the realm of vandalism that we as a community will have to continue to learn to deal with as a side effect of having such a creative and outgoing community.
Stickers nearly covering the front window at Cole's BBQ 
The front door at Firefly Coffee
A walk in freezer covered in stickers
