Mountain View, The Job Hub!

By Deniece Watkins, Realtor

Recently, I was on an airplane and met a woman who had moved to California from Ohio. She told me she was renting a condominium in Los Gatos with her husband. She was in property management; he was starting a web based company about personal health care. When I mentioned that I sold real estate in the Los Altos/Mountain View areas, her comment was very interesting. "Mountain View is awesome. Wish we could live there. What a job hub!"

“Job hub?,” I thought.

Having grown up in the Bay Area, I have seen close to 40 years of the South Peninsula's transformation into Silicon Valley. In choosing to make Los Altos my office location and Mountain View my home location, I have seen, for the last 10 years, the transformation of Mountain View from coal to diamond in the rough, and anticipate nothing less than further shine and sparkle of this terrific little city.

When I first decided to sell in the Mountain View area, I researched a bit of Mountain View’s history. I was happy to learn that, since inception, Mountain View was built on the principle of including everyone. This meant every economic class, every culture, every gender, and every religion. As I drive down the streets in downtown Mountain View, I see what Realtors refer to as “single family homes” (which soon enough will be inappropriate, if not already), duplexes, triplexes, various other small multi-unit properties, and apartment buildings all mixed together. When I go downtown to eat, I choose from an extensive array of cultural foods (read more in the restaurant section of this article). Consistently, I hear from neighbors of nearby cities saying they come to Mountain View for entertainment, night life, good food, and more and more..for business.I wanted to understand the perspective of the general public, not just my own. So as I have been working at open homes, or meeting people in general, I have asked what is it about Mountain View? The answers are consistently:
1) The downtown is exciting, with multi-cultural restaurants.
2) The weather is great.
3) The diversity is more desirable than other close by homogeneous cities.
4) Public transportation is easily accessible and takes you straight into San Francisco or San Jose.
5) They have a good nightlife.
6) Jobs, jobs, jobs!

So here are the details I learned after looking into this gem with a jeweler’s loupe.

Restaurants
There are 115 restaurants that are listed on Google Earth. They are American (Steak Houses and Seafood), Chinese, Coffee Houses, Fast Food, French, Greek, Indian, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Mediterranean, Mexican, Middle Eastern, Mongolian, Spanish, Thai, Vegetarian, Vietnamese and more. What a smorgasbord!!

Weather (from www.weather.com)
The local weather in Mountain View averages 79°F in the summer and 58°F in winter with approximately 16 inches of rain annually.

Demographics (from www.Wikipedia.com)
As of the censusGR2 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.

Location and Transportation (from Google Maps)
Mountain View is conveniently located 40 miles South of San Francisco (Go Giants!) and 12 miles North of San Jose (Go Sharks!). The beach in Half Moon Bay is 31 miles away. Santa Cruz Beach is 35 miles away. There are plenty of golf courses right by, including one in Mountain View. There is a 16 theatre movie complex and parks galore.

There are both a train station and a light rail station that stop in the heart of downtown Mountain View. Busses run conveniently up and down El Camino Real, again right at the heart of the city.

Night Life (from www.MetroActive.com)
Mountain View offers some fun night life, from coffee houses to breweries, to hole-in-the-wall bars, to swanky restaurants where you can sit outside and sip your mango mint margarita. There is dancing and billiards and people watching everywhere you look.

Alberto's Salsa Studio & Nightclub
736 W. Dana St 650.968.3007

Buddha Lounge
251 Castro St 650.965.7665

Cascal
400 Castro St 650.940.9500

Fred's Place
2534 Old Middlefield Way 650.940.9838

Kapp's Pizza Bar and Grill
191 Castro St 650.961.1491

King of Clubs
893 Leong Dr 650.968.6366

Molly Magee's Irish Pub
241 Castro St 650.961.0108

Monte Carlo
241 Castro St 650.998.1500

Office Bar
820 El Camino Real 650.969.2098

Shoreline Billiards
1400 N. Shoreline Blvd #C-1 650.964.0780

Sports Page
1431 Plymouth St 650.961.1992

St. Stephen's Green Irish Pub and Restaurant
223 Castro St 650.964.9151

Tied House Café and Brewery
954 Villa St 650.965.2739

Ugly's
1313 El Camino Real 650.965.8255

Zucca Ristorante
186 Castro St 650.864.9940

Jobs
I asked some locals who have grown up here their opinion of Mountain View as a job hub. Everyone refers back to the restaurants and thriving downtown, but more in a way of entertainment than jobs. They all mention Google.

Yes, we locals are very familiar with Google. However, even when you travel out of the city, out of the state, out of the country, people know that Google’s headquarters are in Mountain View and that the company has done extremely well. What surprised me when researching them on the internet today, was how many positions they are still hiring. My goodness! Can you say growth?!

Although Google is huge and dynamic and amazing, I have learned that there is so much more than Google in Mountain View. The detailed list below of other mentionable companies who have bases, if not headquarters, in Mountain View is astonishing! I have included a link to each company’s main page, a link to their “contact us” page, revenue information and employee information (from www.zoominfo.com) for each. The information is about the whole company, not just their Mountain View location.

Notice that if one were to total the revenues of these companies who have a large presence in Mountain View, it would be a whopping $63.7 Billion!!! In fact, when I search “Mountain View, 94043” on http://www.zoominfo.com/ without any revenue limit, 865 businesses are listed. When I change criteria to $5 Million or more in revenues, there are 94 companies. The outcome of companies when changing revenue criteria to $10 Million or more is below with some editing to make sure the company, in fact, is still in Mountain View. Behold!

(HQ Indicates the company has headquarters in Mountain View)

Major Business/Technology

Microsoft
Software, Services, Solutions
Revenues $44.3 Billion
Employees 71,000
1065 La Avenida
(650) 693-4000

Google (NASDAQ GOOG)
Innovative Search Technology
Revenues $6.1 Billion
Employees 5,696
Google Map HQ
1600 Amphitheatre Pkwy(650) 253-0000

KPMG
Accounting and Tax Consulting Services
Revenues $4.1 Billion
Employees 18,165
500 E Middlefield Rd
(888) 528-4222

Wipro Technologies
Software Services
Revenues $2.4 Billion
Employees 58,371
Wipro Technologies map
1300 Crittenden Ln(650) 316-1042

Intuit Inc.
Business Management Software
Revenues $2.3 Billion
Employees 7,500
2632 Marine Way HQ
(650) 944-6000

VeriSign (NASDAQ VRSN)
Voice and Data Networking
Revenues $1.6 Billion
Employees 4,076
Verisign Inc. HQ
487 E Middlefield Rd(650) 426-5555

Synopsys, Inc.
Semiconductor Design Software
Revenues $1.1 Billion
Employees 5,130
700 E Middlefield Rd HQ
(800) 843-5669

HP Mercury (NASDAQ MERQ)
Business Technology Software
Revenues $843 Million
Employees 2,659
379 North Whisman Road
(650) 603-5200

Netscape Communications
Software Development and Design
Revenues $244.7 Million
Employees 2,400
501 East Middlefield Road
(415) 528-2600

Alvarion Ltd. (NASDAQ ALVR)
Computer & Network Equipment
Revenues $191 Million
Employees 600
2495 Leghorn Street HQ
(650) 314-2500

Actel Corporation (NASDAQ ACTL)
Single Chip FGPA Solutions
Revenues $179.4 Million
Employees 565
2061 Stierlin Ct HQ(650) 318-4200

Optonics, Inc.
Semiconductor Products
Revenues $137.2 Million
Employees 1,631
2593 Coast Avenue, #100
(650) 605-0082

NetLogic Microsystems, Inc. NASDAQ NETL
Semiconductor Processors
Revenues $81.8 Million
Employees 110
1875 Charleston Road HQ
(650) 961-6676

Pinnacle Systems (A division of AVID Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ PCLE)
Digital Video Broadcast and Production
Revenues $72.6 Million
Employees 851
280 North Bernardo Avenue HQ
(650) 526-1600

MIPS Technologies, Inc. NASDAQ MIPS
Processor Architecture Provider
Revenues $61.2 Million
Employees 150
1225 Charleston Road HQ
(650) 567-5000

MMR Technologies
Micro Miniature Refrigerators
Revenues $51.8 Million
Employees 95
1400 N Shoreline Blvd, Suite A5 HQ
(650) 962-9620

CyberSource Corporation NASDAQ CYBS
Electronic Payment Processing
Revenues $50.5 Million
Employees 168
1295 Charleston Road HQ
(650) 965-6000

Elance, Inc
Business Marketing
Revenues $46.4 Million
Employees 100
510 Logue Avenue HQ
(650) 316-7500

KCE America, Inc.
Circuitboard Production
Revenues $41.7 Million
Employees n/a
954 San Rafael Avenue HQ
(650) 934-3700

HALO Electronics
Magnetic Components
Revenues $40 Million
Employees 11
1861 Landings Drive HQ
(650) 903-3800

LaserCard Corporation, Formerly Drexler Technology (NASDAQ LCRD)
Optical Security ID Cards
Revenues $39.9 Million
Employees 164
1875 N. Shoreline Blvd.
(650) 969-4428

Azul Systems, Inc.
Server Appliances
Revenues $23.4 Million
Employees 200
1600 Plymouth Street HQ
(650) 230-6500

Optibase, Ltd. (NASDAQ OBAS)
Video Server Upload and Streaming
Revenues $21.8 Million
Employees 170
880 Maude Avenue HQ
(650) 230-2400

Integral Development Corp
Software for Automated FX Trading
Revenues $19.3 Million
Employees 150
2027 Stierlin Court HQ
(650) 919-1000

Barracuda Networks
Spam Filters and Firewalls
Revenues $18.1 Million
Employees 200
385 Ravendale Drive HQ
(408) 342-5400

Xora, Inc.
Products to Improve Mobile Employees
Revenues $17.7 Million
Employees 50
501 Ellis Street HQ
(650) 314-6460

CSA Engineering, Inc.
Vibration Suppression
Revenues $14.9 Million
Employees 53
2565 Leghorn Street HQ
(650) 210-9000

Teledyne Microwave
DRO’s, Frequency Synthesizers, Transceivers
Revenues $14.5 Million
Employees 250
1274 Terra Bella Avenue
(650) 962-6944

Encover, Inc.
Service Contract Software
Revenues $12.7 Million
Employees 1001975 El Camino Real West, Suite 205 HQ(650) 417-9000

Narus, Inc.
Real-time Traffic IP Services
Revenues $11.5 Million
Employees 80
500 Logue Avenue HQ
(650) 230-9300

CustomerSat, Inc.
Customer Feedback Software
Revenues $10 Million
Employees 40
500 Ellis Street HQ
(650) 237-3300

Major Life Science Companies

ALZA Corporation/Johnson & Johnson (NYSE AZA)
Drug Delivery Solutions
Revenues $139.1 Million
Employees 1,845
1900 Charleston Road HQ
(800) 506-2826

Omni Cell (NASDAQ OMCL)
Revenues $121.5 Million
Employees 514
1201 Charleston Road HQ
(650) 251-6445

eHealth, Inc. (NASDAQ EHTH)
Individual Health Insurance
Revenues $41.8 Million
Employees 319
440 East Middlefield Road HQ
(877) 456-7180

Perlegen Sciences (NASDAQ AFFX)
Genetic scan for medical benefit
Revenues $40.5 Million
Employees 105
2021 Stierlin Court HQ
(650) 625-4500

Iridex Corporation
Medical lasers for eyes and aesthetics
Revenues $37 Million
Employees 114
1212 Terra Bella Ave
(650) 940-4700

Hitachi Chemical Diagnostics, Inc.
In Vitro Allergy Test
Revenues $21.5 Million
Employees 190
630 Clyde Court
(650) 961-5501

Medimmune Vaccines
Nasal Flu Vaccine
Revenues $20.6 Million
Employees 340
319 N. Bernardo Avenue
(650) 919-6500

Clontech Laboratories, Inc.
Biological products for life science
Revenues $17 Million
Employees 175
1290 Terra Bella Avenue
(800) 662-2566

Telecommunications

Tellme Networks, Inc.
Voice Query for Information
Revenues $100 Million
Employees 330
1310 Villa Street HQ
(650) 930-9000

OpenTV, Inc. (NASDAQ OPTV)
Delivery Solutions for Digital Interactive TV
Revenues $87.4 Million
Employees 325
1215 Terra Bella Avenue(650) 962-2100

Ditech Networks (NASDAQ DITC)
Telecom Equipment Supplier
Revenues $54.9 Million
Employees 216
Ditech Communications Corp. HQ
825 E. Middlefield Road
(650) 623-1300

Bytemobile, Inc.
Simplified Deployment of IP Services
Revenues $23.2 Million
Employees 145
2025 Stierlin Court HQ
(650) 641-7700

Trades

Caliper Technologies Corporation
Construction Consultants
Revenues $87 Million
Employees 443
665 Clyde Ave(650) 254-1909

Coulter Construction
Commercial and Residential Construction
Revenues $52.7 Million
Employees 527
1961 Old Middlefield Way HQ
(650) 964-8229

O’Grady Paving, Inc.
Asphalt and Paving
Revenues $14.8
Employees n/a
2513 Wyandotte Street
(650) 966-1926

Vivus, Inc. (NASDAQ VVUS)
Pharmaceutical focusing on obesity and sexual health
Revenues $14.7 Million
Employees 114
1172 Castro Street HQ
(650) 934-5200

Downer-Gruman Architects
Architects
Revenues $13.6 Million
Employees n/a
550 Ellis Street HQ
(650) 943-1600

When adding the number of employees working for only the companies with their (HQ) Headquarters in Mountain View, there are 25,283 positions. Remember, this is in companies with revenues of over $10 Million. So, taking into consideration the other companies with fewer revenues and the service jobs needed to support these employees in Mountain View, I think it is fair to say that there are plenty of jobs here.

Going back to the fact that I am a Realtor, let me show you a few more Mountain View pluses from the investment real estate side of things. It still costs a lot less to buy a home in Mountain View than the two nearest and most desirable cities, Los Altos, or Palo Alto. The average price of a single family home in Mountain View (from reil.com annual statistics for 2006) is $990,795. In Los Altos it is $1,782,975 and Palo Alto $1,516,037.

A huge factor for our local areas not losing home value as much as other markets locally and statewide is excellent schools. Below I have compared public school API scores (from http://www.greatschools.net/) in Mountain View with Palo Alto, and Los Altos. Mountain View has not been haled as the great schools city..yet. As you can see their high school scores are higher than nearby Los Altos High School. Huff Elementary ranked 911 on the API scores, making it one of the best elementary schools in all of California.

School Level
Mountain View
High School Avg. API 827 Highest 827
Middle School Avg. API 757 Highest 787
Elementary Avg. API 800 Highest 911

Palo Alto
High School Avg. API 886 Highest 887
Middle School Avg. API 924 Highest 935
Elementary School Avg. API 928 Highest 983

Los Altos
High School Avg. API 797 Highest 797
Middle School Avg. API 957 Highest 961
Elementary School Avg. API 962 Highest 982

In 2003, I happened upon residency in Mountain View more by taking advantage of an opportunity, than by choosing it as my most desirable place to purchase. However, day after day, I thank goodness that I did happen upon that opportunity.

Working here I meet dynamic people who consist of the twenty-five percent of folks in California who can afford a home. I show them what I believe to be the best buy for what they want. I prepare their homes for the best marketing they could ever have. I negotiate a purchase or sale for some of the most dynamic, savvy and intelligent people I've ever met.

I have a nice garden in my backyard that grows well because of the weather. I take the train into San Francisco now and then for a Giants game. When I want a little evening entertainment, I stroll downtown for an adult beverage with my sweater on, and can walk right back home. The only difficulty with living here is choosing which cuisine to eat when I’m hungry. Could be worse!