By Ken Rosenberg
My wife and I moved to downtown Mountain View in 1997 to buy our first home. We wanted to live in a house that was within walking distance to restaurants and night life. We felt that downtown Mountain View, an area that seemed a bit less trendy than Palo Alto or Los Gatos, would appreciate at a faster pace than other areas. There seemed to be a renaissance going on in this quaint area, so we settled down here. And we got it right.
As we gear up to move (in order to have a bigger home for our family), we reminisce about our life here for the past twelve years. I didn’t intend to get so involved in the neighborhood, but after a career change (as a result of the dot-bomb era of 2001), it was imperative that I do some “social networking.” In 2002, I volunteered for the Steering Committee of the Old Mountain View Neighborhood Association. I also signed up for Leadership Mountain View, a class given by the Chamber of Commerce. I joined OMVNA Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), and later the Board of the Chamber and the City’s Downtown Committee. Through these organizations, I met many wonderful people who not only live in Mountain View, but serve to make it a better place to live, work, and conduct business. At the hub of the greatness of our city is the downtown neighborhood, which is special in its own right.
We live in an area that people desire. They come here from all over the world to do business with our great companies, and they come to our downtown for the festivals and the food. I think there is no better way to spend an evening than having a wonderful dinner, walking over to the theater to see a world class performance, then strolling a few blocks home hand-in-hand with your significant other. It’s like a permanent vacation. We will truly miss living here.
This Spring, as our children were approaching their teens, my wife and I struggled with the most difficult decision since starting a family: where should we raise our kids as they get older? After months of debate, we concluded that the best thing for us was a bigger house on a bigger piece of land. If we could have had our way, we would have stayed downtown with our friends and familiarity. Alas, there wasn’t anything here that met our needs.
Although we are saying goodbye to this neighborhood, we’re moving less than a mile to the Springer-Meadows Neighborhood. I’m sure I’ll join their Steering Committee and get involved there too; neighborhood service has been very fulfilling. I hope to see you at next year’s OMVNA ice cream social!
