Sunnyvale – 2, Cupertino – 1

OK, so I’m getting a little concerned about this “Cupertino Schools” thing.  I only blogged a few weeks ago about the fact that the most important criteria these days for buying a home is the school district it’s in.

But now, it’s getting personal.

Yesterday I was walking down a street in my beautiful Sunnyvale neighborhood when I came across a home for sale with the following particulars :

This is indeed a lovely home, I don’t think anyone would dispute that.  But honestly, in Cupertino School Area?   The house is in  Sunnyvale, the Elementary and Middle Schools are in the Sunnyvale School District, the high school is Homestead High School, located in Cupertino but in the Fremont Union High School District.  But what does that have to do with anything?

Well, everything apparently.  Even though this house is located in the Cherry Chase Elementary School’s boundaries and even though Cherry Chase is the top-performing elementary school in the Sunnyvale School District, and even though 2 out of the three public schools that this family’s kids would attend are in Sunnyvale, it’s the Cupertino name that supposedly makes the sale.

And that’s all because of test scores.  Which is what’s important.  For house buyers anyway.  Apparently.

Is it just me, or do I feel I have to defend my city against test scores?

PS I did call the realtor’s cell phone voicemail to ask about this but so far no word and it’s been 24 hours…….

Sign of the Times?

They do say a picture tells a thousand words, and in the relocation world, this one says it all!

You would be forgiven for thinking at first glance that a bunch of Cupertino Schools were being built behind this sign, but actually another community of new homes is sprouting up in Silicon Valley!  So look at this sign again and let’s find out more about these new homes :

Do we know how much they cost ?   No!

Do we know the square footage?   No!

Do we know how many bedrooms they have?    No!

Do we know the size of the yard?     No!

Do we know whether they have granite countertops?   No!

Do we know how many are sold already?   No!

SO – what do we know?  They are in the CUPERTINO SCHOOL DISTRICT! Yeah!!  And why are Cupertino schools so sought after?  Is it :

Low teacher to student ratio?   No!

Small, intimate environment?   No!

Great sports teams?   No!

Exceptional art and music curriculae?   No!

Modern facilities?   No!

Involved parents?   No!

High test scores?   YES!!!

House sellers today know what’s important to house buyers.   SCHOOLS!  and high test scores in those schools!  If you’re a family with school-age kids looking to buy or rent a home, it is assumed the school district is the most important criteria on your list.   And as relocation specialists for Silicon Valley, we know this is nearly always the case.

I have to admit, it was really refreshing (and easier!) for us to relocate a wonderful family last week from Boston who did not have school age children. We found a beautiful home for a family of 4 to rent – Mom, Dad and their 2 year old and a 1 month old baby.  They did not need to know about the schools.  They just wanted a friendly, family-oriented community where they could rent for a year or so and spend some time looking to see where they would like to eventually buy a home.  I’m sure that’s how it used to be years ago, well before I moved here in ‘95 – when finding a home meant a family community, local parks, quiet streets, friendly neighbors, you get the picture!

But even this family will be looking at school districts before long.  And when they do, I hope they come back to California Concierges for advice on the right schools for their kids. Yes, test scores are important but so are all the other aforementioned criteria.

And we never forget that.

If you want to know more about how we can help you successfully relocate to Silicon Valley, email me at tlawrence@WeRelocate.com.

National Neighborhood Association Day

Tuesday 5th August this week was the 25th Annual National Night Out Event, an evening  when all neighborhood associations throughout the country have an excuse to get together and have a bash!

Actually the NNO’s website states that :

NATIONAL NIGHT OUT is designed to:

• Heighten crime and drug prevention awareness;
• Generate support for, and participation in, local anticrime programs;
• Strengthen neighborhood spirit and police-community partnerships; and
• Send a message to criminals letting them know that neighborhoods are organized and fighting back.

I love these things, I love community, getting to know new people – not always easy in Silicon Valley – and especially neighbors who you might otherwise never meet even though they may live just a couple of houses away. I have complained before about neighborhoods being too internalised, about the need for community and events that bring neighbors together so this is a no brainer.  Your only requirement is to live in the association’s area.

If you haven’t got one, start one.  You won’t be alone in wanting to get to know your neighbors.

We started with a block party two years ago, just putting flyers through doors and had a great turn out.  Our second annual block party happened in June again this year and we had games, fabulous and multi-cultural food, great company, and as it was such a hot day, one of our neighbors opened up their pool to everyone!  Great fun and now I rarely walk down the street with my dog without waving or saying Hi to people I now know!

And if you missed out on this year’s NNO event, check the website same time next year and get out there!

An Inflatable Christmas

Is it just me or is this the year of the Christmas inflatable? I know I’ve blogged about the American celebration before – their fondness for over-the-top celebrations and how far ahead of Britain they are in the “look at how many lights and flags and decorations and ornaments we can put up” race – but inflatables?

Lights I can deal with – colored ones, white ones, twinkling ones, icicle ones, flashing on and off ones, ones in the shape of a reindeer, even blue ones (no, I did not realise that these were Hannukah lights until it was explained to me) – but where did the inflatable Santa/snowman/igloo/airplane, yes, airplane come from? Target, you probably answer, hehe!

So, anyone moving here to Silicon Valley should be alerted to the American tradition of lighting up the outside of houses, yards, trees, bushes – in fact anything that grows out of the ground at Christmas time – whether it be with lights or inflatables or both.

It is a celebration of lights like no other and one which amazed me – the effort, time and dollar amount that went into these super-lit homes as soon as Thanksgiving was over – when I first arrived in California twelve years ago. And naturally, we have totally been sucked into this light mania, and have probably the most lit house in our street now. You will too, mark my words, when you move here!

But I can pretty much guarantee that you won’t find an inflatable Santa anywhere near our front yard…..

Ready for the earthquake?

Where to go to find information about the earthquake that just happened but to a blogger?  In fact, thanks to BethB’s blog on Silicon Valley Moms, I even got a link to the California Earthquake site.  Thanks Beth.

So it was a 5.6, epicentre 5 miles north east of Alum Rock, quite a biggie really.  Got us all running around wondering where to go, including the dog!   Actually, for being ready, timing was perfect.  Our 11 year old son had just finished a school project on earthquake preparedness, part of which was to pack a crate full of necessities during an earthquake -  which we actually put in the garage last night!  He was the most scared out of all of us (well he is the youngest) and did ask if we could move to an earthquake-free area.

In the meantime, my husband and I are in our 6th week of SNAP (Sunnyvale Neighbor Preparedness Program) so we should know what to do in an earthquake and even fix injuries, though luckily we didn’t have to prove it to anyone.  Who’d have thunk?!

Are we worried about living here? We did move to Silicon Valley from earthquake-free England. No, in spite of fires and earthquakes, moving to California is still a great idea.  I’m sure there’s a statistic somewhere that says we’re much more likely to die from a heart attack or in a car crash than in an earthquake.

And, by this time tomorrow, we’ll all be worrying about something else!

Trick and Treat??

I just read a post on Silicon Valley Moms Blog called Halloween Street.

It reminded me of our move to Silicon Valley from the UK twelve years ago, when we literally moved into the house we had just bought, a couple of days before Halloween.

We had no time to put up decorations outside, but I did manage to get some candy, and, as a very pregnant Mom, opted to stay home and deliver the goodies to any “Trick or Treaters” who came by, while my husband took our two little girls around the neighborhood in their just-bought costumes, can’t even remember what they wore now.

I remember that I was initially disappointed that Trick or Treaters here don’t actually earn their candy. In the UK, you were supposed to say a rhyme, sing a song, or do a trick, the parents applauded and gave you a candy as a reward. Here it’s just a given, that as long as you ring a doorbell, you get your candy. I don’t even think a costume is mandatory! Reflective of our “grab and go” society?

Over the years, my husband has acquired quite an amazing assortment of decorations and I have to say, we are now one of the stellar examples in the street of a Halloween house. (Christmas is the same story by the way). Everything from ghosts hanging from a wire, black lights (did you know that tennis balls light up under those lights?) , spooky music, gigantic spiders, gravestones and witches in trees, you name it, and we probably have it! And, as Sarah mentions in her blog, you don’t want the kids to pass you by, so you get out there and decorate! It works!

Definitely a far cry from the solitary pumpkin that was put on our front wall as the only decoration in our London suburban street, only to be stolen later that evening!

The only sad thing about Halloween decorations is they have a relatively short life span, given how much work is put into setting them up. You pretty much have to take them down as soon as October 31st is over, not much point in keeping them up there. Not like Christmas, where several families I know just seem to think those lights are oh so pretty, let’s just leave them up for one more week…..

Happy Trick or Treating!

Garage Sales

Are we the only country to have garage sales?  What a great American tradition these are in Silicon Valley!  Just get all the stuff out onto your driveway that you haven’t used, wanted or needed in the past 12 months, and see if anyone wants to pay good money for it!

We just held our annual street garage sale recently and it was not just a way of getting rid of unwanted stuff in the house, but a wonderful means to get out in front of our houses (what a concept – to be seen out front!) and catch up with our neighbors – and visit with the new ones.

If anyone has just relocated here from the UK, this is one tradition you’ll want to pick up on.  You won’t get much for your belongings, but that’s not the point – you wanted to get rid of it anyway, so the extra money is a bonus.  And you’ll get to meet a ton of people, some interesting, some not so..

But be aware that not everything will go – there are some things that just won’t sell – and you will have to throw the remaining items in the back of your car and drive them to Goodwill.  Still a really great feel-good and productive day – you may even have enough to go out for dinner after, ‘cos you’ll be way too tired to cook!

What is Mow and Blow?

You may have heard the term – or not – and if you live here, you will have definitely heard them.  The guys who walk around with what sounds like a vacuum cleaner on their backs, except they’re vacuuming leaves, not dust, and they’re outside, not inside. Hey, there’s a thought, I’ll have the blow part inside as well please!

Anyway, the mow and blow guys mow your lawn and blow away the garden debris.  If you are one of the few who have resisted hiring a mower and blower, – and yes, we struggled against it for a long time after relocating to Silicon Valley from the UK – good luck to you.  But let me tell you, it’s worth it if you are one of the thousands of people here with a busy life.

Of course, if you like doing that sort of thing, that’s your perogative and may you and your mower be very happy together.  But for me, $30 a time to mow my little patch of green and clear away my oak tree leaves just brings a smile to my face.

International or internal communities?

So here’s the question, what do you think about living in a country and searching out your fellow patriots? Are we just a community of smaller national communities struggling to live in this great state with our French/English/Chinese/Australian friends by our side?

English by birth, I always felt fortunate to be married to an American, and maybe even a little condescending, towards my English friends (mothers of course) who met in groups at the park/restaurant/Starbucks (or should I say British – there were Irish, Scottish and Welsh there too) and ended up discussing British TV shows they missed, where you can buy Heinz baked beans, great British bangers, exchanging Hello magazine sent out here by their families, discussing TV stars who would soon just be a name for them and looking at magazine faces they don’t even recognize anymore, in a vain attempt to stay connected?

What is the point? Why are they here? Just for the sunshine? And where does the language barrier play a role in this? Some people who have moved into my street don’t speak English, their sole friends are those they’ve met here from their own country so they at least can converse with someone who understands them and can support them as they try to navigate the Californian signposts of daily life. But what kind of barrier does that set up between “us” and “them”. How can we ever feel a sense of welcome to a family we never see, hear or know because they can’t speak to us? How do we really feel when we hear that the house is not sold to a Caucasian family – ah well, we won’t get to know yet another neighbor…

And don’t get me started on the American garage – the perfect way never to see anyone in your street.

Do we just wait until the next generation – our kids – can understand one another and be one big American family? Should we be even attempting to integrate these communities into a bigger one, or should we just let them be, finding their way with their own country’s community?

When in Rome?

And watch this space – we are about to have our first block party on Saturday so we get to meet our neighbors. I’ll report back.