well, of course mountain view has changed over the years. there now is an extraordinarily high cost of living. how ravagingly bad that it has changed like this over time. maybe there's life in old mountain view. you better be able to afford to live there

Fifteen years ago I worked two jobs for years to save to buy a house here for 200K and we were always amazed at how people could afford to pay 300k and then in a few years it became 400K. Who could possibly afford 400K. But still the people kept on coming.

The truth is these houses at 1 million and up that you complain about are CHEAP, really CHEAP compared to many countries. In ten years time you will still be complaining, that they now cost 5 million. Well you could bought it at 1 million, but you didn't just like you could have bought it fifteen years ago for 250K, but you didn't. Do you really think the world owes you a living?

Castro Street does indeed have a diverse collection of restaurants which makes it quite interesting...what makes it less interesting is the dated buildings and the tired look of downtown...Campbell has a nicer downtown than MV...Castro Street has a feeling of an open air food court one sees at the mall...and Old Mountain View is just that...old...and way overpriced...it's all in the hype...

The diversity and character of the mix of buildings that grew up naturally along Castro Street (both ends of it) appeals very much to most people. New stuff looks pretty much all the same, all bland and built at the same time. It soon will be out of date, yet still characterless.

The most beautiful trees I can recall in MV were the "Trees of Heaven" recently murdered that were along the sidewalk on Moffett near the expressway. How walkable is it now with these outstanding shade providers gone? Why could they not have remained to shade the street and the sidewalk? They would have maybe required only a couple of feet off part of the big fat building planned to go up there. Come on.

These exceptional trees took decades to grow, were perfectly suited to that exact place, were in excellent health, and were truly "trees of heaven." A slight curve or indentation along the side of the building would have incorporated them nicely, just like that curve on the new construction at Bryant & Dana that saved a giant Oak.

@ oldtimer

"Do you really think the world owes you a living?"

No the world does not owe us a living, but here in silicon valley the owe us more than $10 an hour.

I wonder where this entitlement is coming from. No, they don't owe you over $10 per hour. Minimum wage is just the state's way of saying, "i'd pay you less, but it's illegal"

But to get serious for a moment, the housing market in Mountain View does price a lot of people out. Its a shame, but its also reality.

Funny how housing prices went up all over. You could buy a condo in Fremont for $80K in 1995. Now that 2 bedroom condo is worth $400K+. Even with the thousands of houses and apartments that have been built in Fremont since then.