I am amused and sad all at the same time, at the knee jerk NIMBY reaction. Let the apartments create a sense of community on the rooftop. Isn't Mountain View all about community? Aren't Mountain View residents so lucky to have the beautiful weather conducive to outdoor gathering? And if you live close to downtown, you don't get 50 acres of solitude to yourself.

When I first met my wife, a PhD Stanford graduate, she lived in a restricted entrance studio apartment right on University Ave in downtown Palo Alto. The roof was accessible to tenants and their friends. Occasionally she would invite friends for a rooftop social gathering, sometimes there were other neighbors up there too. it was very social and fun, normal adult behavior. not a college party brawl as many opponents expect from this nice luxury apartment complex. It's not East Palo Alto, or a rowdy college dorm.... Let Mountain view grow upwards, not outwards.