Mountain View, California

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For the census-designated place, see Mountain View, Contra Costa County, California. For other places called "Mountain View", see Mountain View.
City of Mountain View, California
City Hall, Mountain View
City Hall, Mountain View
Location of Mountain View within Santa Clara County, California.
Location of Mountain View within Santa Clara County, California.
Coordinates: 37°23′34″N 122°2′31″W / 37.39278, -122.04194
Country United States
State California
County Santa Clara
Government
 - Mayor Tom Means
Area
 - Total 12.2 sq mi (31.7 km²)
 - Land 12.1 sq mi (31.2 km²)
 - Water 0.2 sq mi (0.4 km²)
Elevation 105 ft (32 m)
Population (2000)
 - Total 70,708
 - Density 5,863/sq mi (2,263.7/km²)
Time zone PST (UTC-8)
 - Summer (DST) PDT (UTC-7)
ZIP code 94035, 94039-94043
Area code(s) 650
FIPS code 06-49670
GNIS feature ID 0277611
Website: http://mountainview.gov/

Mountain View is a city in Santa Clara County, in the U.S. state of California. The city gets its name from the views of the Santa Cruz Mountains.[1] As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 70,708.

Mountain View's sister cities are Iwata, Japan and Hasselt, Belgium.

Contents

[edit] Geography

  • According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 31.7 km² (12.2 mi²). 31.2 km² (12.1 mi²) of it is land and 0.4 km² (0.2 mi²) of it (1.39%) is water.

[edit] History

After the former rancho of Don Mariano Castro was split, the south eventually became the city of Sunnyvale, and the north became Mountain View. The town began as a stage stop on the route between San Francisco and San Jose (corresponding to El Camino Real), close to present-day Grant Road. With the coming of the railroad, the center of town eventually moved to its current location at Castro Street.

Much of Mountain View was agricultural through the 1940s, 1950s, and most of the 1960s. Row crops and orchards were common during this era, when there was still open space between Palo Alto and Mountain View. In Bittersweet: Memories of Old Mountain View, an Oral History, residents of Japanese ancestry recall their family's strawberry fields adjoining Moffett Field. Orchards lined much of Grant Road and Miramonte. In the early 1900s, grapes were a common crop in the area of present-day Continental Circle. Phylloxera ended grape production in Mountain View in the early 1900s.

In the 1950s, the most popular places for young folk were the Monte Vista drive-in movie theater on Grant Road, Johnny Mac's Scottish-themed burger drive-in (the building still stands vacant on El Camino), and the Eagles Shack dances in the Adobe Building.

During the Cold War, the drone of Navy P-3 turboprop aircraft was a constant presence, Moffett Field being the home of squadrons of them and their almost constant touch-and-go training flights. The horns of railroad locomotives were also frequently heard.

Mountain View was once the home of Arrow Development, a designer and builder of amusement park rides. During its time in Mountain View, Arrow was contracted to build many of the original rides at Disneyland. [1]

The El Camino Hospital District, a government entity called a Special District under the California Government Code, came to life in the 1960s. The hospital facility at 2500 Grant Road has been in continual operation since.

Nearly anyone using the term Silicon Valley would include Mountain View in that region. An early Silicon Valley company was Fairchild Camera and Instrument Company, located along Whisman Road. Several of Intel's founders came from Fairchild. Local watering holes for workers included Chubby's Broiler (which once stood at Ellis and Fairchild near Hwy 101, but which moved in 1999 to near Tasman and Lawrence Expressway in Sunnyvale[3]) and Walker's Wagon Wheel on Middlefield Road near Whisman (since torn down). Folklore was that semiconductor pioneers were collaborative and met at the Wagon Wheel to discuss problems they were having with production.

[edit] Downtown

  • Mountain View has a pedestrian-friendly downtown along Castro Street that is six blocks long.
  • The 100 block is next to the Caltrain lines.
  • The police station is two blocks away on Villa Street.
  • Going south towards El Camino Real, there are four blocks of restaurants and shops. The restaurants leave their chairs out on the sidewalk overnight.
  • Kapps Pizza displays many photographs of the downtown from 100 years ago.
  • In a one-block civic center are nestled City Hall, the Center for Performing Arts and the Mountain View Public Library. Behind these buildings is Pioneer Park, which enjoys a quiet environment resulting from the Civic Center blocking out the noise on Castro Street.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census[4] of 2000, there were 70,708 people, 31,242 households, and 15,902 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,263.7/km² (5,861.4/mi²). There were 32,432 housing units at an average density of 1,038.3/km² (2,688.5/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 63.77% White, 2.53% African American, 0.39% Native American, 20.67% Asian, 0.26% Pacific Islander, 8.32% from other races, and 4.07% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 18.26% of the population.

There were 31,242 households out of which 23.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.0% were married couples living together, 7.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 49.1% were non-families. 35.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.25 and the average family size was 2.97.

In the city the population was spread out with 18.0% under the age of 18, 8.3% from 18 to 24, 43.4% from 25 to 44, 19.8% from 45 to 64, and 10.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 106.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 106.9 males.

According to a 2006 estimate the median income for a household in the city was $80,599, and the median income for a family was $98,836.[2] Males had a median income of $64,585 versus $44,358 for females. The per capita income for the city was $39,693. About 3.6% of families and 6.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.2% of those under age 18 and 5.9% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] Corporate residents

Mountain View is one of the major cities that make up Silicon Valley, and has many notable Silicon Valley companies either headquartered there or with a large presence, including:

[edit] Government

Mountain View has a council-manager government system. An executive city manager is in charge of several departments, while the city council, supported by several boards, commissions, and committees, is the legislature responsible for the ordinances of the city code. The executive in turn enforces the code and promulgates administrative regulations to execute it. The city clerk and attorney perform supporting roles. The Community Development Department is the agency responsible for planning and zoning.

As of January, 2008, the City Manager is Kevin Duggan, the Mayor is Tom Means, the Chief of Police is Scott Vermeer, and the Fire Chief is Mike Young.

[edit] State and Federal legislators

In the state legislature Mountain View is located in the 13th Senate District, represented by Democrat Elaine Alquist, and in the 22nd Assembly District, represented by Democrat Sally Lieber. Federally, Mountain View is located in California's 14th congressional district, which has a Cook PVI of D +18[5] and is represented by Democrat Anna Eshoo.

[edit] Scandals

In April 2002, after five years of conflict, former mayor Mario Ambra was found guilty of misconduct and removed from office for directly ordering city employees instead of going through the city manager.[6][7]

In May, 2004, City Attorney Michael Martello admitted to having an extramarital affair with Pamela Read, the head of Foothill Disposal Co., the city's garbage company, who was also president of the Chamber of Commerce's board of directors. Martello was accused by Read's husband of lying to city council members about when the affair began, and misusing city funds in supporting an increase totaling over $740,000 for the garbage company.[8] While the accusations concerning whether Martello promptly disclosed the affair were not resolved, he was cleared of financial wrongdoing after sixteen city employees said that he "had no involvement with the increased garbage fees or any other matters involving ... the Chamber of Commerce."[9] The City Attorney's Office is responsible for drafting contracts pertaining to the City's business.[10]

[edit] Schools

Beginning with the 2006-2007 school year, Mountain View has twelve public and eight private schools. The public elementary and middle schools, which are (with the exception of Springer Elementary) governed by the Mountain View-Whisman School District, are: Benjamin Bubb Elementary School, Castro Elementary, Crittenden Middle School, Graham Middle School, Huff Elementary, Landels Elementary, Monta Loma Elementary, PACT School a progressive public school [3], and Theuerkauf Elementary. Springer Elementary, located within the city's borders, is governed by the Los Altos School District. The public high schools, governed by the Mountain View-Los Altos Union High School District, are Alta Vista High, Freestyle Academy of Communication Arts & Technology, Mountain View High School and Los Altos High School, which is located within Los Altos city boundaries.

Mountain View-Whisman School District students
qualified for free and reduced-price lunches
Year Enrollment Free Reduced
1999-0 4710 n/a n/a
2003-4 4418 1375 (28%) 454 (10%)
2004-5 4391 1593 (37%) 435 (10%)
2005-6 4313 1898 (44%*) 409 (11%)
Source: MVWSD/Sodexho Food Service Dept., November, 2005
and 2005-6 General Fund Budget Assumptions Presentation
* inconsistent percentage values verbatim in source


In Mountain View public elementary schools the class size ratio is 20.4 students per full-time-equivalent teacher,[11] while that of the neighboring Palo Alto Unified School District is 16.9.[12] The Mountain View-Whisman district is a "Revenue Limit" district, meaning that the state provides additional funding to bring per-pupil spending up to a certain minimum limit, while the Mountain View High School District and neighboring Palo Alto's school district are "Basic Aid" districts, meaning that no additional funding is required to meet the state's per-pupil spending minimum, and the district keeps any excess above it. Mountain View taxes a large portion of its most valuable commercial and industrial properties in the Shoreline Regional Park Community at very low relative levels, and until the creation of a joint-powers agreement (JPA) in 2006, none of those property taxes reached any local schools. After the creation of the JPA, the Shoreline Regional Park Community will be sharing less than $1 million per year with the elementary and high school districts.[13][14]

A citizen-supported parcel tax, largely aimed at reducing class size, was recently renewed with an overwhelming positive vote[15]

[edit] Private Schools

[edit] Usage of Slater Elementary by Google

Because of declining enrollment, and after a long decision process, Mountain View-Whisman School District opted to close the Slater Elementary School.[16][17][18] Google has leased the former Slater Elementary for use as a private preschool and corporate daycare.[19]

[edit] Library

Mountain View has one central public library, the Mountain View Public Library, offering video, music, books, self-check out, and access to the Internet. During fiscal year 2006-7: 810,589 customers visited the Library. Circulation was more than 1.4 million, 105,870 reference and information questions were answered, 36,693 children listened to stories and participated in children's programs and 27,342 new books and media items were added to the collection which includes holdings of 300,000, including 210,000 books and 423 periodical subscriptions. The library also provides valuable outreach services through the bookmobile and S.O.S. volunteer program to those in Mountain View, who are unable to come to the main branch. The building was built in 1997. The second floor of the library has a special collection in a room devoted to the history of Mountain View, next to a portrait of Don Mariano Castro, for whom the downtown main street is named.

The award-winning library hosts the innovative Mountain View Reads TogetherProgram.

[edit] Transportation

Mountain View is served by the Caltrain rail system, which runs from San Francisco to Gilroy. It also served by the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, including various bus lines and the Mountain View - Winchester light rail line.

Moffett Federal Airfield is located just north of Mountain View, but its use is restricted to aeromedical, government and military users. The nearest major airports are Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport (SJC) and San Francisco International Airport (SFO). The nearest general aviation airport is the Palo Alto Airport of Santa Clara County.

See also: List of airports in the San Francisco Bay area

[edit] Communications

On August 16, 2006, after over a year of test deployments, Google declared, as planned, that its implementation for free IEEE 802.11g wireless service for all of the City was fully operational.[20] Mountain View is the first city in the United States entirely covered by a free wireless Internet access network provided by Google.

[edit] Notable features

Centennial Plaza at the Mountain View Caltrain station
Centennial Plaza at the Mountain View Caltrain station
1960s Mountain View logo.
1960s Mountain View logo.
  • Scenes from the movie Raising Cain, starring John Lithgow, were filmed at Mountain View City Hall.
  • Mountain View was home to the World Famous St. James Infirmary Bar & Grill. Opened in 1967, it was known for its kitchy decor, notably a 30-foot-statue of Wonder Woman and great Buffalo Wings and burgers. Sadly, The Infirmary was destroyed by an arson fire in 1998.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Munro-Fraser, J. P. [1881]. History of Santa Clara County, California. San Francisco: Alley, Bowen & Co., 262. Retrieved on April 2008. 
  2. ^ US Gazetteer files: 2000 and 1990. United States Census Bureau (2005-05-03). Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
  3. ^ From burgers to burritos, Chubby's eatery has it all
  4. ^ American FactFinder. United States Census Bureau. Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
  5. ^ Will Gerrymandered Districts Stem the Wave of Voter Unrest?. Campaign Legal Center Blog. Retrieved on 2008-02-10.
  6. ^ Timeline of some key events mentioned during Ambra trial
  7. ^ Ambra guilty of misconduct
  8. ^ Letter prompted city probe
  9. ^ Council clears city attorney
  10. ^ City of Mountain View - City Attorney
  11. ^ District Detail for Mountain View-Whisman Elementary
  12. ^ District Detail for Palo Alto Unified
  13. ^ "Flush times at high school district," Mountain View Voice, June 30, 2006
  14. ^ "Mountain View Shoreline Regional Park Community Act," uncodified Act of the California Legislature, 1969, Chapter 1109.
  15. ^ http://www.mv-voice.com/news/show_story.php?id=638
  16. ^ Mountain View Schools
  17. ^ Slater's neighbors want their space
  18. ^ Closure would end math program
  19. ^ Google may lease Slater school
  20. ^ Google Says It Has No Plans for National Wi-Fi Service

[edit] External links

[edit] Other points of interest

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