Silicon Valley tech hub grows larger

As cars drove along Stevens Creek Boulevard in 2012, drivers could only see a field of yellow grass as they sped down the road and neared the cross-street of Finch Avenue.

Fast forward a few years, and in place of the old plot of dirt is the Main Street plaza. Its modern aesthetic and popular stores like Pieology, Lazy Dog, Target, 85c Bakery and Alexander’s Steakhouse attract teenagers and adults alike. Reminiscent of Santana Row, the new Main Street plaza is nearly finished after 4 years of construction.

This causes a huge crowd of people everywhere, making simple things like getting pearl milk tea a more time-consuming task.

“New restaurants mean new variety, which is good. There’s new places to eat, too,” senior Joshua Li said. “A lot of people go to Ten Ren PMT, and it’s also really crowded there because of construction. I waited for 30 minutes, there was a line out the door, and then they sold out [before I got any].”

As the tech giant Apple finishes its Campus 2 building in Cupertino, more construction will lead to a new Marriott Hotel building and an expansion for the Cupertino Main Street Plaza. Vallco Mall, a mere 5-minute drive from the Campus 2 building, is getting a completely new makeover into The Hills at Vallco. With 30 acres of a community park above and around the mall’s buildings, it is designed to be the “largest green roof in the world” and will open within a couple years.

As technology becomes one of the most dominant industries of the early 21st century, Silicon Valley stands as a standard-bearer of innovation and growth. It is widely known as a hub of powerful companies like Apple, Microsoft and Google.

As more and more tech workers come to the region, Silicon Valley has grown from a pack of small suburban towns to a massive conglomerate of mid-sized cities.

Engineering and Calculus BC teacher Audrey Warmuth has been in the Silicon Valley for many years and witnessed these changes first-hand. She believes that it is likely that more changes in housing, roads and transportation will happen in the near future as Silicon Valley continues to grow.

Senior James Lorenz agrees.

“I think [the growth is caused by the fact] that everyone is near here and everyone wants to be here,” Lorenz said. “[Companies] fuel themselves, and their own progress fuels each other.”

In addition to physical transformation, the whole demographic of Silicon Valley has changed throughout the years.

Math teacher PJ Yim said that many people who live in the Silicon Valley are from Asia because it is more appealing to residents from developing countries.

“I think for a lot of engineers, [immigrating to Silicon Valley] is more of an upward mobility,” Yim said.  

Silicon Valley is still expanding its horizons and the population is steadily growing. Whatever happens to Silicon Valley, the future of the technology industry looks bright in the Information Era.

“I think technology will continue to be there. What we define as technology [and where we see it] may shift, but it will always be there,” Yim said.