Sunnyvale, California facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Sunnyvale, California
City
Downtown Sunnyvale
Seal
Location in Santa Clara County and the State of California
Sunnyvale, California Location in the United States
Country	United States
State	California
County	Santa Clara
Incorporated	December 24, 1912
Government
• Type	Council–manager
Area
• Total	22.78 sq mi (58.99 km2)
• Land	22.06 sq mi (57.14 km2)
• Water	0.72 sq mi (1.86 km2)  3.09%
Elevation	125 ft (38 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	155,805
• Rank	2nd in Santa Clara County 36th in California 176th in the United States
• Density	6,839.6/sq mi (2,641.21/km2)
Time zone	UTC−8 (PST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−7 (PDT)
ZIP codes	94085–94090
Area codes	408/669 and 650
FIPS code	06-77000
GNIS feature IDs	1656344, 2412009

Sunnyvale (/ˈsʌniveɪl, vəl/) is a city located in the Santa Clara Valley in northwest Santa Clara County in the U.S. state of California.

Sunnyvale lies along the historic El Camino Real and Highway 101 and is bordered by portions of San Jose to the north, Moffett Federal Airfield and NASA Ames Research Center to the northwest, Mountain View to the northwest, Los Altos to the southwest, Cupertino to the south, and Santa Clara to the east.

Sunnyvale's population was 155,805 at the 2020 census, making it the second most populous city in the county (after San Jose) the seventh most populous city in the San Francisco Bay Area, 36th in California, and 176th in the US.

As one of the major cities that make up California's high-tech area known as Silicon Valley, Sunnyvale is the birthplace of the video game industry, former location of Atari headquarters. Many technology companies are headquartered in Sunnyvale and many more operate there, including several aerospace/defense companies.

Sunnyvale was also the home to Onizuka Air Force Station, often referred to as "the Blue Cube" because of the color and shape of its windowless main building. The facility, previously known as Sunnyvale Air Force Station, was named for the deceased Space Shuttle Challenger astronaut Ellison Onizuka. It served as an artificial satellite control facility of the U.S. military until August 2010 and has since been decommissioned and demolished.

Sunnyvale is one of the few U.S. cities in California to have a single unified Department of Public Safety, where all personnel are trained as firefighters, police officers, and EMTs, so that they can respond to an emergency in any of the three roles.

History

The Santa Clara Valley was heavily populated by the indigenous Ohlone people when the Spanish first arrived in the 1770s. However, following the arrival of the Spaniards, smallpox, measles, and other Old World diseases greatly reduced the Ohlone population. While some of the Ohlone Native Americans died from diseases, others survived and were converted to Christian faith by the Spanish. In 1777, Mission Santa Clara was founded by Franciscan missionary Padre Junipero Serra and was originally located in San Jose (near what is now the San Jose International Airport runway).

1800s

Lupe Yñigo was granted Rancho Posolmi in 1844, covering the northern part of Sunnyvale and Mountain View.

Libby Water Tower, a heritage landmark in Sunnyvale

In 1843, Rancho Pastoria de las Borregas was granted to Francisco Estrada and his wife Inez Castro. Portions of the land given in this grant later developed into the cities of Mountain View and Sunnyvale. Two years later, in 1844, another land grant was provided to Lupe Yñigo, one of the few Native Americans to hold land grants. His land grant was first called Rancho Posolmi, named in honor of a village of the Ohlone that once stood in the area.

Martin Murphy Jr. came to California with his father as part of the Stephens-Townsend-Murphy Party in 1844. In 1850, Martin Murphy Jr. bought a piece of Rancho Pastoria de las Borregas for $12,500. Murphy established a wheat farm and ranch named Bay View. Murphy had the first wood-frame house in Santa Clara County; it was shipped from New England. The house was demolished in 1961 but was reconstructed in 2008 as the Sunnyvale Heritage Park Museum. When he died in 1884, his land was divided among his heirs.

In 1860, The San Francisco and San Jose Rail Road was allowed to lay tracks on Bay View and established Murphy Station. Lawrence Station was later established on the southern edge of Bay View.

In the 1870s, small fruit orchards replaced many large wheat farms, because wheat farming turned uneconomical due to county and property tax laws, imports and soil degradation. In 1871, Dr. James M. Dawson and his wife Eloise (née Jones) established the first commercial fruit cannery in the county. Fruit agriculture for canning soon became a major industry in the county. The invention of the refrigerated rail car further increased the viability of an economy based upon fruit. The fruit orchards became so prevalent that in 1886, the San Jose Board of Trade called Santa Clara County the "Garden of the World".

In the 1880s, Chinese workers made up roughly one third of the farm labor in Santa Clara County. This percentage reduced over time after the Chinese Exclusion Act was passed. In the following decade, the 1890s, many immigrants from Italy, the Azores, Portugal, and Japan arrived to work in the orchards.

In 1897, Walter Everett Crossman bought 200 acres (810,000 m²) and began selling real estate. He advertised the area as "Beautiful Murphy" and later, in the 1900s, as "the City of Destiny". Also in 1897, Encinal School opened as the first school in Murphy. Previously, children in the town had to travel to Mountain View for school. The area also became known as Encinal.

1900s

In 1901, the residents of Murphy were informed they could not use the names Encinal or Murphy for their post office. Sunnyvale was given its current name on March 24, 1901. It was named Sunnyvale as it is located in a sunny region adjacent to areas with significantly more fog.

Sunnyvale continued to grow and in 1904, dried fruit production began. Two years later, Libby, McNeill & Libby, a Chicago meat-packing company, decided to open its first fruit-packing factory in Sunnyvale. Today, a water tower painted to resemble the first Libby's fruit cocktail can label identifies the former site of the factory.

Also in 1906, the Joshua Hendy Iron Works relocated from San Francisco to Sunnyvale after the company's building was destroyed by fire after the 1906 earthquake. The ironworks was the first non-agricultural industry in the town. The company later switched from producing mining equipment to other products such as marine steam engines.

Joshua Hendy Iron Works Museum

In 1912, the residents of Sunnyvale voted to incorporate, and Sunnyvale became an official city.

Fremont High School first opened in 1923. The year 2023 marked the school's 100 year anniversary.

In 1924, Edwina Benner was elected to her first term as mayor of Sunnyvale. She was the second female mayor in the history of the state of California.

In 1930, Congress decided to place the West Coast dirigible base in Sunnyvale after "buying" the 1,000-acre (4.0 km²) parcel of farmland bordering the San Francisco Bay from the city for $1.

This naval airfield was later renamed Naval Air Station Moffett and then Moffett Federal Airfield and is commonly called Moffett Field.

In 1939, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA, the forerunner of NASA) began research at Ames Laboratory.

During World War II, the war economy began a change from the fruit industry to the high-tech industry in Santa Clara County. The Joshua Hendy Iron Works built marine steam engines, naval guns and rocket launchers to aid in the war effort. As the defense industry grew, a shortage of workers in the farm industry was created. Immigrants from Mexico came to Sunnyvale to fill this void of workers.

Following the war, the fruit orchards and sweetcorn farms were cleared to build homes, factories and offices.

In 1950, the volunteer fire department and the paid police department were combined into the department of public safety.

In 1956, the aircraft manufacturer Lockheed moved its headquarters to Sunnyvale.

Since then, numerous high-tech companies have established offices and headquarters in Sunnyvale, including Advanced Micro Devices and Yahoo.

The first prototype of Atari's coin-operated Pong, the first successful video game, was installed in Sunnyvale in August 1972, in a bar named Andy Capp's Tavern, now Rooster T. Feathers. Atari's headquarters were located at 1196 Borregas Avenue in north Sunnyvale.

By 2002, the few remaining orchards had been replaced with homes and shops. However, there are still city-owned orchards, such as the Heritage Orchard next to the Sunnyvale Community Center.

In 1979, an indoor mall called Sunnyvale Town Center opened in what used to be a traditional downtown shopping district. After years of successful operation, the mall started to decline in the 1990s. After numerous changes in plans and ownership, the mall was demolished in 2007.

2000s

Sunnyvale celebrated its one-hundredth anniversary on August 25, 2012.

According to the Bay Area Census, there was a total population of 130,885 people in households and 875 people in group quarters in 2000. In 2023, the city has a population of 145,302 residents; however, the city's population is declining at a rate of −6.77% since the 2020 census, which claimed that Sunnyvale had a population of 155,860 residents.

Downtown development

In November 2009, previously closed portions of the main streets in downtown Sunnyvale were reopened as part of the ongoing downtown redevelopment of the Sunnyvale Town Center mall, marking the first time in over three decades that those street blocks have been open to vehicle and pedestrian traffic. Part of the project involved building new apartment buildings, however during the Great Recession the property was repossessed by Wells Fargo in 2009; the developer countersued, leaving the project in legal limbo through 2015.

The two office buildings are now fully occupied by Uber. Mixed-use developments have been built at the former Town and Country location near the Plaza del Sol just north of Murphy Avenue. By mid 2015, new multistory apartment complexes had opened, including a number of ground-floor businesses, and the lawsuit against Wells Fargo was resolved in the bank's favor. The development was sold to Sares Regis in late 2016. Redwood Square reopened as a park in 2017. Many apartments are occupied, and more are being completed in 2020. A Whole Foods Market and AMC Theatres multiplex opened in October 2020.

Major businesses

In the 2010s, Sunnyvale became home to operations from numerous major technology companies including Apple, LinkedIn (now headquartered in Sunnyvale), Google, Amazon, Meta, Walmart Labs, and 23andMe.

Google announced major development plans in the Moffett Park area in 2017 adjacent to Moffett Field, with these offices ultimately opening in 2022. In addition, Amazon and Meta began leasing buildings in Sunnyvale in 2017 and 2021, respectively.

Geography

Sunnyvale is located at 37°22′7.56″N 122°2′13.4″W / 37.3687667°N 122.037056°W / 37.3687667; -122.037056.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 22.7 sq mi (58.8 km²), of which, 22.0 sq mi (56.9 km²) of it is land and 0.69 sq mi (1.8 km²) of it (3.09%) is water. Its elevation is 130 feet above sea level.

Climate

Like most of the San Francisco Bay Area, Sunnyvale has a Mediterranean climate (Köppen Csb), with cool, moist winters and warm, very dry summers. Average daytime summer temperatures are in the high 70s, and during the winter, average daytime high temperatures rarely stay below 50 °F (10 °C). Snowfall is rare, but on January 21, 1962, and February 5, 1976, measurable snowfall occurred in Sunnyvale and most of the San Francisco Bay Area. Sunnyvale was briefly hit by tornadoes in 1951 and 1998, but otherwise they are extremely rare.

Demographics

Standard marker at city entrances

The 2020 United States census reported that Sunnyvale had a population of 155,805. The population density was 6,596 inhabitants per square mile (2,547/km²). The racial makeup of Sunnyvale was 46,551 (29.9%) White, 2,228 (1.4%) African American, 1,081 (0.7%) Native American, 77,842 (49.9%) Asian, 491 (0.3%) Pacific Islander, 14,181 (9.1%) from other races, and 13,431 (8.6%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 25,372 persons (16.3%). Non-Hispanic Whites were 27.8% of the population in 2020, compared to 74.7% in 1980.

There were 59,567 households, out of which 16,133 (27%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 31,557 (53.0%) were married opposite-sex couples living together, 4,069 (6.8%) had a female householder with no husband present, 2,908 (4.9%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 3,382 (5.7%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 657 (1.1%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 14,970 households (25.1%) were made up of individuals, and 5.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.54. There were 38,750 families (65.0% of all households); the average family size was 3.09.

The population was spread out, with 32,453 people (20.8%) under the age of 18, 9,641 people (6.2%) aged 18 to 24, 57,977 people (37.2%) aged 25 to 44, 34,330 people (22.0%) aged 45 to 64, and 20,683 people (13.2%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35.2 years. For every 100 females, there were 109.3 males.

There were 63,065 housing units, of which 45.8% were owner-occupied, and 54.2% were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.1%; the rental vacancy rate was 5.3%. 72,485 people (46.5% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 80,220 people (51.5%) lived in rental housing units.

2020

Economy

LinkedIn headquarters

Companies based in Sunnyvale include Infinera, Fortinet, Intuitive Surgical, Juniper Networks, LinkedIn, Proofpoint, Inc., Matterport, Inc., and Trimble Inc.

In the 1950s to the 1970s, Sunnyvale had chrysanthemum farms. Takanoshin Domoto, by 1885 was growing chrysanthemums and carnations at their small nursery in Oakland. Bay Area Chrysanthemum Growers Association (BACGA) was established in 1956. The 1991 Andean Trade Preference Act “war on drugs” made Colombian, Peruvian, Bolivian and Ecuadorian flowers tariff-free. Half Moon Bay and Redwood City were also chrysanthemum business locations.

Largest employers

According to the city's 2024 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, the top employers in the city are:

Education

For elementary and middle schools, most of the city is in the Sunnyvale School District, while some parts are in the Cupertino Union School District, the Santa Clara Unified School District, and the Mountain View Whisman Elementary School District.

For high schools, most of the city is in the Fremont Union High School District (the parts that are part of the Sunnyvale School District or Cupertino Union School District for primary schools), and those areas of Sunnyvale are divided between Fremont High School and Homestead High School. Some parts of the city are in the Santa Clara Unified School District.

French American School of Silicon Valley (FASSV, French: École franco-américaine de la Silicon Valley) is a private elementary school in Sunnyvale, which opened in 1992. It is recognized as a French international school by the AEFE.

Library services for the city are provided by the Sunnyvale Public Library, located at the Sunnyvale Civic Center.

Private schools in Sunnyvale

• FASSV (French American School of Silicon Valley)
• Stratford School
• The King's Academy (Religious)
• Challenger School
• Rainbow Montessori
• Helios School
• Jazmin Chandler
• Resurrection School (Religious)
• Silicon Valley Academy (Religious)
• South Peninsula Hebrew day school (Religious)
• Sunnyvale Christian School (Religious)

Neighborhoods

The southern half of Sunnyvale is predominantly residential, while most of the portion of Sunnyvale north of Highway 237 is zoned for industrial use.

Within this southern half are several neighborhoods that account for a large number of Eichler homes throughout residential Sunnyvale. More specifically, there are 16 housing tracts containing over 1100 Eichler homes.

The far eastern section of El Camino Real in Sunnyvale has a significant concentration of businesses owned by Indian immigrants.

Parks

There are 476 acres of parks in the Sunnyvale area. These include Las Palmas Park, Ortega Park, Seven Seas Park, Fair Oaks Park, Washington Park near downtown, two public golf courses, and Baylands Park, site of the annual Linux Picnic.

Charles Street Gardens, Sunnyvale's oldest and largest community garden, is located adjacent to Sunnyvale's Public Library. In 2017 the Santa Clara Unified School District took over operation of Full Circle Farm Sunnyvale, which leased the land from the district, and plan to focus the farm on education.

Transportation

Route 82 at the intersection with Mathilda Avenue

Several major roads and freeways go through Sunnyvale:

• Interstate 280 (Junipero Serra Freeway)
• U.S. Route 101
• State Route 82 (El Camino Real)
• State Route 85 (Stevens Creek Freeway)
• State Route 237 (Southbay Freeway)

Public transportation

Sunnyvale is served by Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (light rail and buses) and by Caltrain commuter rail. Two Caltrain stations are located in Sunnyvale: the Sunnyvale station in the Heritage District downtown, and the Lawrence station in eastern Sunnyvale, north of the Ponderosa neighborhood.

Bicycle

Sunnyvale has been listed by the League of American Bicyclists as a bronze-level Bicycle Friendly Community.

The Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee advises the city council on the continued development of the bicycle plan for the city.

Airports

For commercial passenger air travel, Sunnyvale is served by three nearby international airports:

• Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport (SJC), 9.5 miles from downtown Sunnyvale by car. It is also accessible by Caltrain, VTA light rail, and VTA bus. Caltrain and light rail stations require a transfer to a free shuttle bus to get to the airport terminal.
• San Francisco International Airport (SFO), 27.7 miles by car. SFO is transit accessible from Sunnyvale via Caltrain and Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART).
• Metropolitan Oakland International Airport (OAK), 37.5 miles by car. Access to Oakland airport by public transit is possible via multiple transfers.

Folklore

A long-standing legend of Sunnyvale is of a ghost that haunts the town's Toys 'R' Us store (now REI). A purported psychic, Sylvia Browne, claimed to have made contact with the ghost on the 1980 TV show That's Incredible! and named him Johnny Johnson. This story was also explored in a 1991 episode of Haunted Lives: True Ghost Stories. Browne stated that he had been a Swedish preacher who worked as a farm hand in the orchard where the toy store now stands and that he bled to death from an accidental, self-inflicted axe injury to his leg.

Notable people

Twin towns – sister cities

Until 1970, Sunnyvale had a Sister City relationship with Chillán, Chile. In 2013, the city entered into a three-year Friendly Exchange Relations Agreement with Iizuka, Japan; in July 2016 the city council voted to change this to a Sister City relationship.

See also

In Spanish: Sunnyvale (California) para niños