Talk:Mountain View, California
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[edit] Naming
The difference in importance between this and the other Mountain View is so vast that I'm inclined to just put this one at Mountain View, California and disambig at the top - the other one is a bedroom community of Martinez not even marked on most maps. Stan 17:03, 3 Dec 2003 (UTC)
- Works for me. -mhr 17:51, 3 Dec 2003 (UTC)
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- Well, after 457 days with no argument, I moved them. :-) Nohat 05:25, 5 Mar 2005 (UTC)
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- Hee hee, how time flies! Stan 13:08, 5 Mar 2005 (UTC)
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[edit] Etymology
What's the history of the name Mountain View? Why is the town called that way? Does it refer to any mountain(s)?
- yes, the Santa Cruz Mountains. Nohat 00:19, 14 Jun 2005 (UTC)
What are the main issues concerning the city of mountain view, particularly with the department of recreation?
- Don't know about recreation but I could do with some lower rent myself. Dalf | Talk 06:06, 27 July 2005 (UTC)
[edit] Huff House
Never heard of it myself. With the "its for sale" sign on the linked page I'm wondering. . . John (Jwy)
Don't know about recreation, but gang activity is appearing alot in the newspaper.
Nick Galiotto is mayor now, not Neely.
[edit] Schools
Unless this section gets beefed up, I think what is there should be removed. Its more a current events thing than an encyclopedia item, don't you think? John (Jwy) 18:04, 18 March 2006 (UTC)
- I would be more than happy to beef it up. What do you think it needs? Links to Voice articles? No problem; anyone can get those. Scans of MVWSD handouts showing the chart of enrollment in total, and broken down by lunch assistance category? I hve some from last month; will do. --James S. 04:05, 19 March 2006 (UTC)
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- You seem to misunderstand me. I'm not looking for more current events. My problem with the section is that it is currently about a single school shutting down. If we have a school section, I would expect it to describe the schools system - for example, some metrics of how good it is (% going on to college, that kind of thing), some history of the system, etc. That's what an encyclopedia should have. As it stands, it appears to be a protest of the school closing. John (Jwy) 06:01, 19 March 2006 (UTC)
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- The best predictor of how good schools are is the student-teacher ratio, which I have added. This predicts public school student performance in college better than absolute and relative teacher salaries, student economic background, or any combination thereof. Today's current event is tomorrow's history. --James S. 19:38, 19 March 2006 (UTC)
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Assuming it costs $100,000 to hire a teacher and staff a classroom, the $690,000 which Google is paying for Slater will only go about a fifth of the way towards being able to reduce class sizes to Palo Alto Unified levels. 63.164.145.198 04:49, 20 March 2006 (UTC)
- Also, by leasing Slater, there aren't enough extra classrooms to significantly reduce class size anymore. All of the wealthy families who were going to Slater are probably going to want to flee to private schools, too. --James S. 18:40, 24 March 2006 (UTC)
It would take about $15 million per year to get the student/teacher ratio down to the 14.4 of nearby Juana Briones Elementary, the best in Palo Alto. One would think, since the implementation of the Joint Powers Agreement between the City, school districts, and the Shoreline Regional Authority (or whatever the business park property tax-levying organization is called these days) that it would be easy, and you would think that the voters of Mountain View would want property values commensurate with such a low ratio, but not a peep. Here is the rest of Santa Clara and San Mateo counties' districts for comparison:
| District name | FTE student/teacher ratio |
|---|---|
| WOODSIDE ELEMENTARY | 12.3 |
| PORTOLA VALLEY ELEMENTARY | 14.1 |
| LA HONDA-PESCADERO UNIFIED | 14.6 |
| HILLSBOROUGH CITY ELEMENTARY | 15.6 |
| LAS LOMITAS ELEMENTARY | 16.0 |
| MENLO PARK CITY ELEMENTARY | 16.6 |
| REDWOOD CITY ELEMENTARY | 17.5 |
| PALO ALTO UNIFIED | 17.6 |
| LOMA PRIETA JOINT UNION ELEMENTARY | 19.3 |
| BRISBANE ELEMENTARY | 19.4 |
| LUTHER BURBANK ELEMENTARY | 19.6 |
| BELMONT-REDWOOD SHORES ELEMENTARY | 19.7 |
| BURLINGAME ELEMENTARY | 19.9 |
| RAVENSWOOD CITY ELEMENTARY | 20.0 |
| FRANKLIN-MCKINLEY ELEMENTARY | 20.0 |
| SUNNYVALE ELEMENTARY | 20.0 |
| LOS GATOS UNION ELEMENTARY | 20.1 |
| SAN JOSE UNIFIED | 20.1 |
| MILLBRAE ELEMENTARY | 20.5 |
| LOS ALTOS ELEMENTARY | 20.5 |
| MOUNTAIN VIEW-LOS ALTOS UNION HIGH | 20.5 |
| SAN MATEO-FOSTER CITY ELEMENTARY | 20.6 |
| MT. PLEASANT ELEMENTARY | 20.6 |
| CAMBRIAN ELEMENTARY | 20.7 |
| MOUNTAIN VIEW-WHISMAN ELEMENTARY | 20.7 |
| OAK GROVE ELEMENTARY | 20.8 |
| CAMPBELL UNION ELEMENTARY | 20.9 |
| GILROY UNIFIED | 20.9 |
| ORCHARD ELEMENTARY | 20.9 |
| UNION ELEMENTARY | 21.1 |
| SAN MATEO UNION HIGH | 21.3 |
| SEQUOIA UNION HIGH | 21.3 |
| MORELAND ELEMENTARY | 21.3 |
| BAYSHORE ELEMENTARY | 21.4 |
| ALUM ROCK UNION ELEMENTARY | 21.4 |
| SARATOGA UNION ELEMENTARY | 21.4 |
| SANTA CLARA UNIFIED | 21.5 |
| SAN CARLOS ELEMENTARY | 21.6 |
| BERRYESSA UNION ELEMENTARY | 21.7 |
| CABRILLO UNIFIED | 21.8 |
| SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO UNIFIED | 21.8 |
| SAN BRUNO PARK ELEMENTARY | 21.9 |
| JEFFERSON ELEMENTARY | 22.0 |
| MORGAN HILL UNIFIED | 22.0 |
| EAST SIDE UNION HIGH | 22.1 |
| CUPERTINO UNION SCHOOL | 22.3 |
| MILPITAS UNIFIED | 22.3 |
| PACIFICA SCHOOL DISTRICT | 22.4 |
| EVERGREEN ELEMENTARY | 22.5 |
| JEFFERSON UNION HIGH | 23.0 |
| LOS GATOS-SARATOGA JOINT UNION HIGH | 23.1 |
| FREMONT UNION HIGH | 23.7 |
| CAMPBELL UNION HIGH | 25.3 |
(Source: NCES, 2003-4) --James S. 22:10, 27 March 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Citywide wireless Ethernet
What kind of card do you need for the new system? 802.11_?—The preceding unsigned comment was added by David Jordan (talk • contribs).
[edit] Telephony history?
I thought we already have articles on area codes which are quite decent. Do we really need sections on telephone system history in the city pages? What a mess that would make. What do we do next, history of the city's sewer and power systems? This is ridiculous! If we need to mention the history of the telephone system in the mid-Peninsula region, we can always do a "See also" link at the end to 650 area code. --Coolcaesar 05:40, 10 April 2006 (UTC)
I agree, and removed this portion:
- During the 1960s, Mountain View telephone calls were switched by a large Pacific Telephone operated Western Electric Number 5 Crossbar system. This is an electromechanical switch. Two-party service was common in residential areas. Telephone numbers in the 1960s all started with YOrkshire and had five additional digits. These eventually evolved to 96x-xxxx numbers in the mid 1960s. With the roll-out of area codes, Mountain View was in (415). There was permissive dialing to (408). This meant you did not have to dial (408) to call into that area code. In those days, the number plan was constructed so that no office codes or prefixes were duplicated across area codes (408) and (415).
I did leave in a sentence about the area code switch in 1997. --James S. 21:18, 14 April 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Revenue limit vs. basic aid school district funding
I deleted the mention of revenue limit district and basic aid funding after the comparison to Palo Alto's class size ratio, because these things change from year to year -- Mountain View might not remain a revenue limit district if property values go up, and Palo Alto might not remain a basic aid district if they go down. Plus, those terms were undefined and unlinked, so I think they were more confusing than helpful. 1of3 17:28, 11 September 2006 (UTC)
- That is inappropriate. The difference in class size might also disappear with time and you do not seem to be letting up on that because you seem to be latching onto some unfavorable comparision to make at Mountain View's expense. Did you bother to mention the differences in property valuations? No. Did you do any other analysis with the less weathy neighbors such as Sunnyvale or Santa Clara. No. The current class sizes and the current tax structures both apply. Otherwise we just cut the whole section. -- PinkCake 03:27, 18 September 2006 (UTC)
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- Inappropriate? It is the truth. And, contrary to your insertions, Basic Aid districts aren't so rare in Silicon Valley; in fact the MVLA High School district is one. I've included additional explanatory material about the Shoreline Regional Park Community District, which is the real reason for MVWSD's low budget relative to Palo Alto and Los Altos. 1of3 03:59, 19 September 2006 (UTC)
OK, there is a fairly new web site that might help us to see what is happening on the ground here. http://www.zillow.com// . Uh, type in downtown zip code, or just http://www.zillow.com/search/Search.htm?citystatezip=94041&mode=browse
Mountain View 94040 $951K South 94041 $922K Downtown 94043 $680K North of commuter rail line
94304 $937K (stanford, so does not really count) 94305 $937K - downtown 94306 $1.1M - south (more single-family houses)
So, the problem is that Mountain View has to carry 94043, which has a lot more townhouses and such. Also, Palo Alto has East Palo Alto cordoned off both by a near fortress-like barriers of Hwy 101 AND they also got the county line to follow 101 at that point, long ago.
I still say that it is not fair to compare class sizes between MV and PA, but I am only looking for fairness and I can wait. The text can stand as it is for now, I am just trying to help us see clearly what is happening on the ground there and I know that, with time, we will both come closer to a deeper mutual agreement on how the text should read. -- PinkCake 17:07, 19 September 2006 (UTC)
See, Palo Alto does not have its equivalent of 94043 because of two things: Hwy 101 and East Palo Alto. East Palo Alto is a hell-hole of poverty and violence but it is never, ever included in the statistics or the city life of Palo Alto itself, except for the few beggers who dare to venture into the neighborhood. And, since money and space are the driving forces, the black people of East Palo Alto are slowly being driven out of the area by the forces of gentrification anyway, so EPA's days as a hell-hole are numbered. That section called "Whiskey Gulch" is now all business office high-rises full of lawyers and other professionals. The Home Depot at 101 and Willow has launched a full-scale invasion of money into that sector of EPA. While comparing this 101 "sound barrier" to the wall that Isreal is contructing between it and Palestine is not fair, it is instructive to do so because it provides insight into what is happening on the ground there. As long as you do not get offended, I could compare the yuppies who are brave enough to live on the fringes of EPA with Isreali settlers. Remember: I am not talking about absolutes, I am talking about trends here. Space is the limited resource: you cannot make more of it unless you do something crazy like landfill into the bay, only to watch it liquify in an earthquake like it did up in San Francisco in the Loma Prieta EQ. I do not want to hear any backtalk about this comparison: it is flawed, but it is useful if you want further insight into what is really happening on the ground there.
I want to point out one other thing: there was a nice poster you could buy around 1990 of the enter bay of a composite satellite photo of the entire bay area. The thing that struck me about it was how green (i.e. old neighborhoods) that PA had and the sharp boundary of 101 and the lack of green in EPA, but also the greyness of MV and on down south. That contrast is less apparent 15 years on this modern images. My point is: the PA neighborhoods were well-planned and they are older. They are wealthier and have had time to build nice schools. Another little vignette: MV grade schools are completely gutted about every 20 years (each taking their turn) because they are very modular in their design. Me? I grew up back in New York in a place where the schools are made of red bricks and motar and they are designed to last for about a century. Also, I went through stricly the private Roman Cathoilc school system (but the construction of the public schools was similar) It is a different mind-set out here. It seems like the schools out here were all designed by the same architects in a growth spurt of about 20 years as planners "suddenly" realized that the schools had to be built in crash program before available empty spaces were broken up by patchword development. The children go there and I know that they are happy, but I am the son and brother of an architect and, to me, the designs are very monotonous. On the other hand, the local Roman Catholic grade school is very boring in its design (well, the building is still brick, which is nice, but it still has a very back-East institutional feel to it) but at least, in theory, people are unified by that religion thing. Still, I acknowlege that the schools in Palo Alto are superior in almost every way. But when you ask "Why?", you cannot just blame the gov't or something so simple as that.
Whew! That was a long two paragraphs. Anway: you get the idea: PA is more wealthy than MV, it has Stanford professors and whatnot, and so I would expect it would have a better style of living and quality of life, including smaller class size. I would expect this to still be true 50 years from now. THAT is what is Important. -- PinkCake 17:07, 19 September 2006 (UTC)
According to the table above, Redwood City does slightly better than Palo Alto, and La Honda-Pescadero does a LOT better. I would have thought, on aggregate, that those places would have property values below Mountain View's, although out in La Honda I really have no idea. Indeed, Zillow says Redwood City's median is $889,045 (compared to Mountain View's $808,757 -- zoom out one click to get the whole cities instead of the zip codes) and La Honda's is $764,093 -- so how come they have so much smaller class sizes than Palo Alto and we do? Skadoo23 22:09, 19 September 2006 (UTC)
I assert a hypothesis that it is the elevating effect of Stanford faculty on the surrounding community. I also assert that companies like HP (well, less so since Carly Fiorina's tenure) and other startups that are staffed or managed by many Stanford grads have an effect as well. Google is in MV, but I expect that it takes decades for the deep effect to take root. I do not know how to prove it, but just use your common sense and I think you will see that there is SOMETHING to my assertion. -- PinkCake 01:31, 20 September 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Martello
The cited articles make it clear that Martello and the council never reached an agreement about the date of his disclosure of the affair. I don't agree with the abridgment of the scandal which obscures that fact and deletes the summary of the Metro's investigation of the surrounding facts. 1of3 04:10, 19 September 2006 (UTC)
- I would prefer that we restrict ourselves to strictly legal outcomes, which tend to retain their Importance over longer periods of Time. If Mike got his penis all erect and into Pamela, who was, hopefully, all nice and wet, and they enjoyed it, well... so did a bunch of other people in that area around that time, some of those adulterous as well (with or without the other spouse's permission and blah blah blah. Gosh, this is such a soap opera!). I do not see how this is so Important that it deserves the space it is getting, but I am letting it go.... for now. See what I mean? "Encyclopedic" is supposed to mean that it might still be important ten years from now. And why are you going on about the $740K? It may sound like a lot of money to some readers, but it is less than the price of one single-family home in the downtown area. You should focus on percentages because inflation and whatnot tends to degrade the immediate usefulness of this information over time. If we are going to keep this info around for 100 years, it should be in a format where the future-reader can easily appreciate whether it was a big or a small increase. -- PinkCake 16:46, 19 September 2006 (UTC)
Peoples private lives are just that and should remain so. Adultery, on the other hand, is the breaking of a publicly declare, socially sanctioned and legally recognized bond. It is, in fact, the most egregious bond that can be broken. This is a much worse stain on one's character than breaking other types of legal contracts. If you don't want your relationships to subject to public scrutiny, you should buy a public license ("to give official or legal power to") and a public promise. This should be common sense. I'm a civil libertarian, and no one going to force people to wear a scarlet letter (literally), but by what rights should people enjoy immunity from public scorn? One man's news is another man's gossip, but if the facts are wrong, they have recourse to the courts. If they are a public figure, their character is of paramount importance and anything that blights it should be public knowledge (including adultery).
Don't like it? 1) Don't get married 2) Don't commit adultery 3) Don't get caught!
You are exactly right about the money being dated in the future; Percentages will fail for the same reason (base value will fluctuate); May I suggest using something along the lines of ...$740,000USD[2006] or 740,000[2006,US$]...?
~KC
Oh yeah, what I came here for... Why is there such a crappy map? Can't someone just link to the google.map for this city, or something similar. I'm sure google shouldn't be to eager to "cry foul" -oops, colloquial- over "deep linking".
~KC, 2006(US$$$$baby!)
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- So, uh, can we come to an agreement that 2-3 months from now, maybe we can knock it down by a few sentences? That is about all I am willing to wait. This is ridiculous. -- PinkCake 04:38, 21 September 2006 (UTC)
The info in this Scandals section is three-years old now. At the time, it was an interesting current event, but it seems odd to have such a detailed "Scandals" section here when so many other facets of Mountain View have yet to be included. Can we at least cut the length? Urbanic05 08:43, 22 February 2007 (UTC)
- Agreed. The Mario Ambra misconduct was a much bigger deal and it only gets one brief mention. Martello doesn't need more than that. And the header itself needs to be changed to something less POV. CovenantD 09:11, 22 February 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Library circulation
1.4 million items per year works out to more than 11 items per minute, solid, during business hours. Even when they are really busy, they aren't nearly that busy, and most of the time they aren't really busy. However the number apparently checks out with city publications. Can it be right? 75.37.23.162 03:06, 21 December 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Message at the Top of the Page
At the top of the page, there is a message that reads For other places called "Mountain View", see Mountain View. I motion to delete this because Mountain View does not redirect to this page, but rather to a Mountain View disambiguation article. The only way someone would get to this article internally would be to type in Mountain View, California on the address bar, and then they wouldn't be looking for any other Mountain View. I motion to delete, but as always, comments appreciated. BlackBear 19:12, 27 March 2007 (UTC)
- Well, one of those "Other places called 'Mountain View'" is in California. (It's even in the same metropolitan area; see Mountain View, Contra Costa County, California.) It's comparatively insignificant (which is why this one gets the "Mountain View, California" title) but it's possible someone might come looking for it. This way they can find it. So I think we should keep the link. -- Why Not A Duck 02:17, 29 March 2007 (UTC)
