The Downtown area is small but vibrant, consisting of Pacific Ave and adjacent streets west of the San Lorenzo River. It boasts indie movie theaters, book shops, clubs, galleries, occult boutiques, the bus depot, and a weekly Farmer's Market. The streets are usually crowded with tourists, shoppers, street performers and an odd mix of old hippies and club kids.

The Boardwalk is a seaside amusement park and Santa Cruz's most famous attraction. Admission is free, and it's open year-round. There are souvenir shops, arcades, food and game booths, carnival rides, laser tag, indoor mini-golf, and the Cocoanut Grove banquet hall. The Boardwalk is a vampire haven.

Despite butting right up against the touristy Boardwalk, the roughly triangular neighborhood at the mouth of the San Lorenzo River is notorious as one of Santa Cruz's roughest areas. The housing in the area is cheap and poorly maintained, drug dealers prowl the street corners and parking lots at night, and the hotels tend to rent by the hour.

The area west of Downtown, between the University and the beach, encompasses affluent coastal neighborhoods, the busy commercial area around Mission St, residential streets, wineries, and several beaches. At the north end lies Harvey West, an area that contains shipping warehouses, storage facilities, wholesale stores, quarries, cheap motels, a park and a homeless shelter.

Across the river from Downtown, the Uptown area is a sprawling collection of commercial and residential neighborhoods. It contains natural food and organic grocers, shops and restaurants. It is the home of Dominican Hospital, the harbor, the cemetery, and Ocean St, that long line of all-night diners, ice cream parlors, gas stations, and hotels that connects the highway to the beach.

Since 1965, UC Santa Cruz has overlooked the city from its perch in the foothills. The campus is split into 10 residential colleges that sprawl over the landscape, leaving much of the woodland intact. There are a number of ravines, caves, and forested areas through which poorly lit footpaths criss-cross. Deer are common on campus, and mountain lions have been spotted.

The mountains that hem Santa Cruz in against the coast are densely forested and perpetually foggy. The spirit world has a strong influence here, and even the most adventurous hikers leave the woods before dark. There are a few roads that wind through the mountains, and a few small pockets of human civilization huddling against the wilderness. The mountains are the domain of the werewolves.

A few small towns cluster around Hwy 17 and 9 as they snake through the mountains. Scotts Valley is by far the largest, the last real bastion of civilization on this side of the mountains as one heads east on Hwy 17. Along more remote Hwy 9 lies Felton, with nearby Bonny Doon located closer to the North Coast, both tiny towns supporting small populations and dwindling businesses.

Hwy 1 winds north of Santa Cruz, hugging the coastal cliffs and bluffs where the narrow, cold beaches are popular with surfers. Davenport is located here 9 miles north of Santa Cruz, a tiny town supporting a cement plant, a few farming and fishing operations, and a scattering of businesses. The North Coast is considered neutral territory, but is rife with spectral activity.