Cupertino

Cupertino
	; City Center
	; flag
Location in California
	Cupertino
	Cupertino
Basic data
Foundation :	1955
State :	United States
State :	California
County :	Santa Clara County
Coordinates :	37 ° 19 ′ N , 122 ° 3 ′ W Coordinates: 37 ° 19 ′ N , 122 ° 3 ′ W
Time zone :	Pacific ( UTC − 8 / −7 )
Residents :	64,220 (as of 2019)
Population density :	2,269.3 inhabitants per km 2
Area :	28.3 km 2 (approx. 11 mi 2 )
Height :	72 m
Postcodes :	95014, 95015
Area code :	+1 408
FIPS :	06-17610
GNIS ID :	0277496
Website :	www.cupertino.org
Mayor :	Steven Scharf (2019-2020)
	; Apple headquarters, 1 Infinite Loop

Cupertino [ ˌkuːpərˈtiːnoʊ ] is a city in Santa Clara County in California with around 60,000 inhabitants. It is west of San José , the county headquarters, and south of Sunnyvale and San Francisco Bay . The city was named after the Italian monk and Saint Joseph of Copertino , whose name is derived from his place of birth, Copertino in Italy.

Cupertino is known for the headquarters of the US technology company Apple , Apple Park .

geography

Cupertino is located in the so-called Silicon Valley . In the east it borders on San José and Santa Clara . To the north you will find the towns of Sunnyvale and Mountain View . In the west there are some parks, such as Stevens Creek Country Park or Rancho San Antonio.

climate

In Cupertino there are around 265 sunny days and 61 rainy days throughout the year. Snow falls very rarely. The warmest month is August with around 20 ° C and the coldest in December with 10 ° C. The annual precipitation is 159.5 mm and is highest in February with an average of 39.4 mm. There are only arid months. Cupertino is in the subtropical area .

economy

About 52% of the jobs in Cupertino are in the area of production (26.2%) and technical and scientific tasks (26.3%). There is also a small share of 7.3% in the field of education.

Aerial view of Apple Park in Cupertino

The electronics company Apple is by far the largest employer in Cupertino, which will be further strengthened by the Apple Park , which opened in April 2017 . Other computer technology companies such as the American subsidiary of Trend Micro or Zend Technologies (formerly also Symantec ) have their headquarters in Cupertino; still has Irish hard drive maker Seagate Technology here its administrative headquarters. Many start-ups in the technology sector can also be found in Cupertino.

The unemployment rate is 2.5% (the US average is 3.9%).

Hyperloop

Because of the many electronics companies in Cupertino, the city has a growing problem of commuting. More and more commuters come to Cupertino by car , train or bus . The construction of a Hyperloop is intended to solve this problem by allowing passengers to travel with this high-speed train at up to 1223 km / h through a tube that is almost empty of air. From San José, Cupertino should then be reachable within five minutes. A precise plan for the construction has not yet been determined. Preliminary talks are still ongoing.

history

Cupertino was first mentioned in 1776 when the Spanish explorer Juan Bautista de Anza was commissioned to build a fortress in the Bay of San Francisco. While exploring the Santa Clara Valley , he came across a stream, which he named Arroyo San Jose de Cupertino (now Stevens Creek ). The Spaniards founded a small settlement which was later taken over by Mexico and, after the Mexico-America War in 1848, by the USA. In 1880 the Cupertino Wine Co. was founded by John T. Doyle after the name of a bay near Pedro Font. In 1904 the name "Cupertino" a. a. taken for the post office.

In Cupertino, growing grapes has been very popular since the 1880s. 1895 phylloxera destroyed phylloxera almost the entire crop (75%) in just five years. Many of the settlers then grew other types of fruit such as peaches, apricots, cherries or walnuts and almonds. Due to this development, the Santa Clara Valley became known for the sea of flowers in spring and promoted the construction of a railway for the tourists who later also came by car. The first house with the name "Monta Vista" was built in the area around Cupertino, which was henceforth known as the "Valley of Hearts Delight" (German: "Valley of the delighted heart").

Due to the population explosion of the post-war period in 1940, Cupertino were founded out of a few villages. Cupertino officially became the 13th city in Santa Clara on October 10, 1955.

Another important milestone in the history of Cupertino was the creation of the VALLCO industrial and business park, which was created in 1960 by the 17 largest landowners. The park was named after the main founding members Varian Associates and the Leonard , Lester , Craft and Orlando families . The business park later developed into a shopping center. However, the cultivation of wine still played a large role in the Cupertino area. Then, however, the De Anza College was opened by the Spanish cartographer of the same name in 1967. The school took over the property from one of the greatest winemakers Charles and Ella Baldwin, whose villa formed the historic center of Cupertino. With over 20,000 students, the college brought a lot of activity to the city.

In 1977 the computer company Apple Computer Inc. also settled in Cupertino after the Silicon Valley had expanded to Cupertino and the Valley of Hearts Delight . There was the Apple Park , nearby in the Homestead High School , founders Steve Jobs visited earlier. Other technology companies such as Portal Software, NetManage Inc. or Symantec also began to work in Cupertino.

Today much of the old, rural houses in Cupertino have been replaced by shopping centers. The nightlife mostly takes place on the border with San José, which had spread further in Silicon Valley in the post-war period. Cupertino is a modern city, with still many technology companies and some start-ups. Having a place of business in Cupertino has advantages for entrepreneurs. Among other things, it is very attractive for the employees because they can live well in the area around Cupertino due to the good infrastructure, green spaces and good schools.

In May 2016, Cupertino's then mayor, Barry Chang, lamented the lack of tax revenue to finance the increased costs of maintaining and expanding urban infrastructure. The increased volume of traffic in connection with the frequently used tax avoidance models lead to an increasing crisis.