Mountain View is a city in Santa Clara County, in the San Francisco Bay Area of California. It is named for its views of the Santa Cruz Mountains. From its origins as a stagecoach stop, it grew to a model suburb with a pedestrian-friendly downtown, free wi-fi, and a population of 74,066. The city borders on Moffett Federal Airfield and the San Francisco Bay. Situated in Silicon Valley, Mountain View is home to many high technology companies. In 1956, Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory, the first company to develop silicon semiconductor devices in what came to be known as Silicon Valley, was established in the city by William Shockley. Today, many of the largest technology companies in the world are headquartered in the city, including Google, Mozilla Foundation, Symantec, Symphony Teleca and Intuit. The original Byte Shop, computer store was opened at 1063, El Camino Real, Mt. View by Paul Terrell and the first 50 Apple I Computer were delivered and sold from that location. The city’s tax base helps support public education. Local transportation networks integrate the city closely with the neighboring cities of Palo Alto, Los Altos, and Sunnyvale.
