Pajaro Dunes, CA

Pajaro Dunes is a small Santa Cruz County community built out on the sand at the mouth of the Pajaro River. Most of the homes and condominiums went up in the late 1960s and early 1970s, creating a beachside development across the rolling dunes. That setting is the whole story: waves, wind, river mouth, and a neighborhood that has had to manage erosion and storm exposure as part of its ongoing upkeep. The Pajaro Dunes Geologic Hazard Abatement District, formed in 1998, handles maintenance of coastal armoring and related improvements. It is a place defined less by a traditional town center than by the narrow strip of coast, the dunes, and the river opening into Monterey Bay.