Introduction to Sunnyvale, California
Sunnyvale was incorporated in 1912 and is in the metropolitan area including San Jose, Sunnyvale and Santa Clara has a population of about 1.7 million people. Sunnyvale is located 40 miles southeast of San Francisco, in the heart of the Silicon Valley. It is 4 miles from San Francisco Bay and 25 miles from the Pacific Ocean.
When the Spanish first arrived in the late 1700s, Ohlone Indians populated the Santa Clara Valley, in which present day Sunnyvale is located. The valley is also now referred to as "Silicon Valley." In the 1870s, a wheat economy gave way to one based on fruit, aided by the innovation of refrigerated rail cars. In 1905, marine steam engines were produced here, the region's first non-agriculture product. The transition to high tech began during World War II. However, the term Silicon Valley was not used to describe the area until 1971.
In July the average daily high is 79 degrees while the average daily low temperature is 57 degrees. In January the average daily high temperature is 58 degrees. The January average daily low is 40 degrees.
Sunnyvale, being one of the larger cities in the Silicon Valley, is where the following Fortune 500 companies have their headquarters:
- Advanced Micro Devices.
- Yahoo.
- SanDisk.
- Spansion.
- Maxim.
- Network Appliance.
Arts and Leisure
Leisure opportunities include not only cultural and historical ones, but also, after travelling a short distance, spectator sports as well:
- The Asian Art Museum.
- The Sunnyvale Community Players.
- The Sunnyvale Singers.
- The Sands Mechanical Museum.
- The Lace Museum.
- The Sunnyvale Historical Museum.
- The Iron Man Museum.
- Many cultural institutions in the greater San Francisco metropolitan area.
- Sports teams in greater San Francisco.
- Minor league baseball, arena football, and other sports in nearby San Jose.