The conventional American neighborhood seems to be disappearing — at least in Cupertino. Residents don’t crowd over lemonade stands, block parties aren’t held every week and neighbors don’t exactly bake each other apple pies. The wave of immigrants in Cupertino has replaced a lot of the traditional American culture. Yet, amidst all the change, garage sales, an old American tradition, have not disappeared from our community.

Cupertino has been holding its annual city-wide Garage Sale since 1996. Originally, the event was created to prevent useful items from going to the landfill, but now, the Garage Sale weekend instills a sense of community between residents.

In this interactive package, El Estoque tours the streets for Cupertino’s 20th annual city-wide Garage Sale and explores how garage sales have had an impact on our community, from reducing waste to bringing residents closer together to identifying the people behind the garage sale and the stories behind their objects.