I moved here with my wife from Europe two and a half years ago. We're delighted that we chose to settle in Mountain View and will hopefully remain here for the foreseeable future (depending on rental costs of course.... another issue). We're always very impressed at the maintenance and cleanliness of the city and parks, with just one big exception...

We're both quite surprised at the condition of the sidewalks on Castro St. They can only be described as filthy in certain places, like outside the bars and nightclubs (also the ice cream stores!). We're not the type of people to nitpick over this kind of thing, it's just that we've never seen sidewalks so dirty anywhere and it really lets down the city's main street. I'm talking vomit, spilled drinks and food, and overflowing trash cans don't help. Can business owners not be compelled to clean outside their premises even occasionally?

California doesn't get the constant deluges of rainwater that my home country gets so cleaning is the only option. I've never witnessed the sidewalks being cleaned myself. Contrast this with the VTA platforms just off Castro that are cleaned religiously with the zeal of someone with OCD (a waste of water for somewhere that needs little cleaning in comparison). Surely some of those resources could be diverted to a higher traffic area?

A lot of businesses are stymied by the water usage restrictions imposed by the city. VTA obviously pays no heed. But most businesses avoid use of water completely, and for the past 2 years things have been dirtier than previously.

The WORST example I have seen is in the El Monte (CVS) Shopping Center on El Camino Real. In between the Jamba Juice and the Panda Express is a sidewalk that is COVERED in dropped juicy runoff from garbage. It REEKS. If anything should be cleaned up, then this should.