The People of Vernie Court

Before, there were only five houses nestled in Vernie Court. The houses’ shadows pool at the center of the small, circular court, where children ride their bikes in seemingly endless loops. It's 1990, and to many, the year 2000 seems like something from a science fiction movie. In the next decade, four of the five houses are repainted, given new windows, new families. The children, now in cars, loop once around the court and leave, sometimes never to return again. Prices rise, the houses around them double in sizes, new air-conditioning units are installed. Now the neighborhood hums.

Then, in 2013, the cul-de-sac doubles. The empty lots surrounding the original five houses are covered in concrete, readying new foundations. As if by meiosis, a second cul-de-sac emerges, bigger and broader and pricier.

This new court has no name. It doesn't need to be advertised: hundreds of prospective residents flood its new homes, new homes that tower over everything in the neighborhood. They sell within months, some within weeks. Once again, children ride their bikes and skateboards and rollerblades in larger and larger loops.

Here are the stories of two courts and many people. Of one home and many generations. Here are stories of leaving, staying and looking back.

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A Brief History of Cupertino

The Businesses

As the influence of Apple and other technology companies in Cupertino and the Bay Area continue to expand, many of the city's older institutions are perceived as obsolete. But while some fade away, others becomes places of gathering. Here are the stories of three businesses that do not always fit our notion of a high-tech city, three businesses that appear to some as relics of an older version of the city. Here is how they learned to adapt, survive and serve their communities.

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