History of snail

The neighborhood was built in the early 1950’s as a modest tract of mostly single-family homes.

In 1995, a group of neighbors living between Borregas and Mathilda Avenues formed the Sunnyvale Neighbors of Arbor, Including La Linda (SNAIL) as a neighborhood association covering approximately 300 households. SNAIL was initially formed to address the issues of neighborhood preservation/absentee landlord issues, Moffett Airfield usage and air traffic control.

SNAIL is in the heart of District 5, with Columbia Middle School, Colombia Neighborhood Community Center, and Columbia Park.Our neighborhood has changed dramatically in the past 30 years. In the early 1980’s, many homes within SNAIL were bought for rental properties. This eventually deteriorated the appearance of the neighborhood because of the lack of pride of ownership of some tenants and absentee landlords. Many of the renters did not have an interest in neighborhood activities or civic responsibility. In turn, many of the longtime residents did not share a common interest and withdrew their social connections.

In the 1990’s, our neighborhood went through another transition and many homes, which were bought as rentals, are now owner occupied. To maintain property values, there is now a new focus in neighborhood preservation. In the absence of a neighborhood association, old residents and new residents may not have had an opportunity to make a connection on common neighborhood interests and cultural support.

In the last ten years, our neighborhood has yet again drastically changed, due to the influx of high-tech companies moving into the proximity of SNAIL. Homes have become affordable only to the richest emigrants hired to fill high salary jobs. Because of the geographical proximity of these companies, SNAIL’s population has seen an influx of young immigrant families with small children creating a generation gap within longtime aging residents in our community.