Tell me about Hayward... (Fremont, Concord: apartments, for rent, neighborhoods)

[luvmypug55]

I've been looking online at apartments for rent in the East Bay area, it appears that the further you go (Concord, Martinez) the lower the prices. I love the Walnut Creek and Lafayette area, and want to look into Pleasanton. One area I've noticed that is actually cheaper than those towns is Hayward, which seems odd since it's right on the bay. Is it not that great of a place? I've looked at Google Earth but cannot really get a feel for a place that way, and I do plan to visit it but was wondering what other people felt about it. I'm not really wanting to live in the middle of a sprawling city, hence the smaller suburbs, but there seems to be some great places in Hayward on the east side by the mountains.

Oh, and I'm looking at places where Bart is easily accessible

[shooting4life]

I live in San Lorenzo and I like it. It has the small suburb feel but close to the bridge.

Hayward doesn't have much of a night life/events/fine dining if that is your thing. Everything you do need is close by though, if not in Hayward just down 880 in Fremont or east in Dublin. Hayward does have some not so great areas, but nothing really bad. Many people say it is bad because it is not all white and that scares people, but I have not had any issue. The Hayward hills are nice, though not near Bart. Castro valley is also nice, and I really like San Lorenzo, but it is also not near Bart.

If you plan on working in SF than you want to be near Bart. If you just want to use Bart for weekend trips and things like that, then you might not need to be as close to Bart.

[mstnghu2]

You might want to try the forum search feature. The pros and cons of Hayward have been discussed many times in this forum.


https://www.city-data.com/forum/san-f...hlight=Hayward

https://www.city-data.com/forum/san-f...hlight=Hayward

https://www.city-data.com/forum/san-f...hlight=Hayward

These are just some of the threads.

[luvmypug55]

Ok, I usually do search the forums first and forgot this time! Thanks!

[Tallysmom]

Well -- I read your other post, and in my opinion, Hayward isn't what you're looking for. It's not really walkable, the downtown area is pretty meh....although it's trying. It's still not what I would call up and coming....

[04kL4nD]

Nothing really nice about Hayward.

Look into San Leandro instead.

[Tallysmom]

But San Leandro is sort of the same thing -- a walkable downtown that has NOTHING to walk to. I work in San Leandro, and I live very near San Leandro, and I grocery shop in Alameda or Castro Valley. I clothes shop Walnut Creek or Pleasanton.

I mean -- SL tore down the old Lucky's, made it a parking lot, was supposed to get a Fresh and Easy, which went out of business, and now they are going to open a THIRD CVS. In as many blocks. How many freakin' drug stores do you need?

[CousinMaynard]

just b/c a pariticular area doenst have the attractions one particular person desires, doesnt mean it has nothing.


some of us quite like the englander, emil villa's, nations and the shopping and the convenience of washington square among others. there was still a safeway in dt SL last time i checked. . the luckys is gone b/c more ppl favor the ethnic markets that suit their tastes, not random other ppls tastes.

[CousinMaynard]

OP, its easy for others to say you should live in castro valley or pleasanton, but they arent going to help you pay the extra rent. if you end up being able to swing living over the hill then do, but if you cant then you should thoroughly check out perspective hayward/sl neighborhoods, it changes quite a bit from block to block. and yes, the hayward hills are where the nicest neighborhoods are, so as would be expected it comes with a premium to pay.

are there children in this move?

[athleticsfan72737489]

Originally Posted by Tallysmom

But San Leandro is sort of the same thing -- a walkable downtown that has NOTHING to walk to. I work in San Leandro, and I live very near San Leandro, and I grocery shop in Alameda or Castro Valley. I clothes shop Walnut Creek or Pleasanton.

I mean -- SL tore down the old Lucky's, made it a parking lot, was supposed to get a Fresh and Easy, which went out of business, and now they are going to open a THIRD CVS. In as many blocks. How many freakin' drug stores do you need?

I'm more optimistic about San Leandro than Hayward. San Leandro is a bit nicer, too. Broadmoor, Estudillo Estates, Assumption Parish and Bay-O-Vista are nice neighborhoods. Washington Manor isn't bad either IMO. There is more of a community feel in San Leandro than Hayward - there's also a lot less car traffic.

I get the feeling that San Leandro has been trying harder than Hayward in recent two years or so. There is now a fiber-optic loop in the city. And there are plans to make the Davis Street/Downtown corridor into a job center. OSI Soft is expanding into one of the empty lots around the BART Station.

I know CVS isn't a great anchor tenant for the Village Marketplace project but at least it gets the ball moving on the project. Also, Habit Burger, Chipotle and Peets will be opening outposts there. According to the San Leandro Times, the city has plans to turn the CVS on Callan into a Senior Housing facilty and is also negotiating with Safeway regarding expanding the Washington Avenue store into the grounds of the current neighboring CVS.