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Comment by Lewisham | Hacker News Reader

One thing that this article doesn't mention is that Mountain View is soul-crushingly boring. It would be one thing if it was a place of character and interest that was being eroded (I can sympathize with some elements of the SF community on that front), but it is not and it never was. It's a boring suburb with no identifiable features. Palo Alto, Los Gatos and Santa Cruz and other towns have something to them. I don't understand what the "residentialists" are trying to protect.

I'd love to live nearer the Googleplex, but I wouldn't move into Mountain View.

Disclaimer: I work for Google, but I had this opinion of MTV far before joining them, and I have no voting rights in MTV politics. I live in Santa Cruz and much prefer it.

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I worked at Google MTV in 2013 and my wife and I thought that Mountain View had a lot to offer: good restaurants, bookstores, shopping, and the nice (huge!) movie theatre complex very close to the building where I worked. San Francisco, Santa Cruz, San Jose, and Monterey were all close for more entertainment. My only complaint was that it cost us $6000+ per month to live there. I quit and went back home to Arizona where my income is smaller but the cost of living is very inexpensive.

Also Shoreline Amphitheatre, which regularly gets reasonably good concerts.

Except that they completely ruined the sound there in order to protect the houses that got built too close to it.

Where are the houses that are close to the amphitheater?

Right here: https://www.google.com/maps/@37.4160266,-122.0710641,17z

That seems pretty far away considering the Santa Barbara Bowl is very close to homes and can be heard quite a few blocks away. To my knowledge, shows need only finish by 10pm.

https://goo.gl/maps/MFy1h

I am further away than that - and I guarantee you that I can hear concerts at Shoreline.

Many people like boring. It makes for a stable place to raise a family. If your boring little town becomes overwhelmed with traffic, etc, then it is no longer a simple task to run your kids to their swimming lessons and soccer practices. Mock that suburban life all you want, it won't change the fact that boring towns work well for many families.

I'd rather (and did) live in Mountain View than Palo Alto. I like Castro Street.

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