To be fair you could take Sunnyvale and draw a circle around it the same size as a "fun" place and see how much you got there. But the whole 'south bay is boring' narrative has always been weak for the same reason that equating 'walking in poo in the tenderloin' with it being 'edgy' is weak.
There is a pretty active club scene on Murphy street, there are great restaurants on Sunnyvale a few miles up in Mtn View, a few miles south in Cupertino, and a few miles south in Santa Clara. You've got hiking and parks with wetlands and concert venues (Shoreline, Great America, HP Pavilion), soon you'll have NFL football and world cup Soccer nearby, and you've got an amusement park with concerts and roller coasters, and you've got quicker access to the mountains, and the Steven's creek trail for some excellent biking, running, and walking.
Downtown Palo Alto is a quick train trip, where you can walk from the University Ave station to pretty much anywhere.
What you don't have are some high density urban buildings. More of those are coming with the Murphy Park build but they will still not be high rise apartment/condos. Its not clear to me what the buys you, but it is a difference.
And yes, I'm a bit defensive when people say "its so boring and plastic" (or words to that effect) but getting them to say what is 'not boring' or 'not plastic' seems unexpressable.
I'd love to know what makes a for a 'non-boring' place if you have a list.
For myself, there are a few criteria. First is the visitor test. If my family members comes to visit me, can I give them a week's worth of stuff to do that is nearby, or are we driving over an hour each way to find something to do? Would my relatives in Australia be stoked if they came to visit me, or would they be bummed they skipped over Hawaii and Disneyland? Second, can I easily meet new people outside of work? Third, is there a good bookstore? Fourth, can I do outdoor sports I like, such as bicycling and skateboarding easily, or is it a headache and/or dangerous? Lastly, if I didn't have to work here, would I still live here?
A few places I've lived, such as NYC, Tokyo and Paris, have had all these things, but also a whole bunch of other stuff going on I wouldn't have ever thought of. A few other ones have had all this stuff, but didn't really surprise me in any way, like SF, Boston, Minneapolis, Seattle and Portland. Most places I've been meet some of these criteria, but not all. I found that Cupertino did not have anything on my wish list, and also didn't have any other stuff going on that I wouldn't have thought of. In addition, there was a lot of stuff that seemed additionally negative: driving everywhere, expensive, bad rental properties, mediocre food, etc.
Can you define what kind of stuff is in the numerator in the 'culture:size' ratio? I'm trying to get a handle on what people mean when they use the word.
There is a pretty active club scene on Murphy street, there are great restaurants on Sunnyvale a few miles up in Mtn View, a few miles south in Cupertino, and a few miles south in Santa Clara. You've got hiking and parks with wetlands and concert venues (Shoreline, Great America, HP Pavilion), soon you'll have NFL football and world cup Soccer nearby, and you've got an amusement park with concerts and roller coasters, and you've got quicker access to the mountains, and the Steven's creek trail for some excellent biking, running, and walking.
Downtown Palo Alto is a quick train trip, where you can walk from the University Ave station to pretty much anywhere.
What you don't have are some high density urban buildings. More of those are coming with the Murphy Park build but they will still not be high rise apartment/condos. Its not clear to me what the buys you, but it is a difference.
And yes, I'm a bit defensive when people say "its so boring and plastic" (or words to that effect) but getting them to say what is 'not boring' or 'not plastic' seems unexpressable.
I'd love to know what makes a for a 'non-boring' place if you have a list.