For the community near Martinez, California, see Mountain View, Contra Costa County, California.

Mountain View's Castro Street

Mountain View is a city located in Santa Clara County, in the U.S. state of California, USA. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 70,708. It is one of the major cities that make up Silicon Valley. Google headquarters, Microsoft MSN/Hotmail divisions, and NASA Ames Research Center are just few of the high tech institutions that are located in Mountain View.

Geography

Mountain View is located at 37°23'34" North, 122°4'55" West (37.392640, −122.082023)¹.

Mountain View is located at the north end of California Highway 85, where it meets US Highway 101. (In 2003 construction began to rebuild this interchange — which was constructed in the 1960s. It is planned to be complete in 2006.) El Camino Real also runs through Mountain View.

Mountain View is bounded to the northwest by Palo Alto, to the southwest by Los Altos, to the southeast by Sunnyvale, and to the northeast by the San Francisco Bay.

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 is water. The total area is 1.39% water.

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.

Demographics

As of the census² of 2000, there are 70,708 people, 31,242 households, and 15,902 families residing in the city. The population density is 2,263.7/km² (5,861.4/mi²). There are 32,432 housing units at an average density of 1,038.3/km² (2,688.5/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 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. 18.26% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There are 31,242 households out of which 21.9% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.0% are married couples living together, 7.3% have a female householder with no husband present, and 49.1% are non-families. 35.6% of all households are made up of individuals and 7.0% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.25 and the average family size is 2.97.

In the city the population is 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 are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 35 years. For every 100 females there are 106.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 106.9 males.

The median income for a household in the city is $69,362, and the median income for a family is $80,379. Males have a median income of $64,585 versus $44,358 for females. The per capita income for the city is $39,693. 6.8% of the population and 3.6% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 7.2% of those under the age of 18 and 5.9% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.

Notable features

• Shoreline Park runs along the bay north of Highway 101. It includes Shoreline Amphitheatre as well as historic Rengstorff House.
• Stevens Creek runs through Mountain View from the south. A lengthy paved pedestrian and bicycle path, the Stevens Creek Trail, runs alongside the creek for nearly its entire distance in Mountain View.
• Moffett Field is a Federal Airfield near the bay; that is home to both NASA Ames Research Center and Onizuka Air Force Station (a United States Air Force base).
• Castro Street is at the center of Mountain View's downtown. It features a large number of restaurants, particularly of the Asian and Italian variety.
• San Antonio Center is a popular shopping mall in Mountain View, California.
• The Computer History Museum is located at 1401 North Shoreline Blvd (http://www.computerhistory.org/bldg/shoreline/) in Mountain View, just north of Highway 101.
• The historic Huff House (http://davisfields.com/huff/) is also located on Diericx Drive, built by the first postmaster of Mountain View in 1929.

External links

• Shoreline Park (http://www.ci.mtnview.ca.us/citydepts/cs/shoreline.htm)
• Shoreline Amphitheatre (http://www.shorelineamp.com/)
• Friends of the Stevens Creek Trail (http://www.stevenscreektrail.org/)
• Rengstorff House (http://www.r-house.org/)
• A Guide to Mountain View (http://www.guidemv.com/)
• NASA Ames research center at Moffett Field (http://www.arc.nasa.gov/about_ames/moffett.html)
• The Computer History Museum (http://www.computerhistory.org/)
• City of Mountain View Web site (http://www.ci.mtnview.ca.us/)
• Maps and aerial photos
  • Street map from Mapquest (http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?latlongtype=decimal&latitude=37.39264&longitude=-122.082023&zoom=6)
  • Topographic map from Topozone (http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?lat=37.39264&lon=-122.082023&s=200&size=m&layer=DRG100)
  • Aerial photograph from Terraserver (http://terraservice.net/map.aspx?t=1&s=14&lon=-122.082023&lat=37.39264&w=750&h=500)