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Mountain View
Mountain View
Located in the northwest corner of Santa Clara County, Mountain View remains the location for many high-tech company headquarters, including Google, Mozilla Foundation, Symantec, and Intuit. It was also the location of the Shockley Semiconductor Factory--the first company to develop silicone semiconductor devices that led to nicknaming the area “Silicon Valley.”
What would become Mountain View began as a stagecoach station and agricultural community between San Francisco and San Jose until World War II. It then grew more urbanized by engaging in the new aerospace and electronic industries. High technology is now the foundation of the local economy. Specialized tax districts in Mountain View’s technology sectors led to recreational growth along the North Shoreline and investment in its well-maintained Downtown district.
Mountain View is mostly made up of residential neighborhoods with the majority of business parks in the North Shoreline area north of Highway 101 and east of Highway 85. It has a lively downtown well-suited for daytime activities, nightlife, and community events. It includes both private and public schools with a sought-after ratio of students to full-time-equivalent teachers of 20.4 to one.