Why The Hayward Hate? (Fremont: city hall, rentals, crime)

[Phil306]

Whenever anyone posts anything about Hayward, there is a ton of negatives for the city. No, I don't live (anymore) or work there (anymore), but I went to high school there and worked there at one time. I found it no worse or better then most of the East Bay and, in fact, across the bay.

So, why the hate?

[Ultrarunner]

I wouldn't say I hate Hayward... however, after several bad experiences with the city regarding rental property, I decided to no longer manage rentals in Hayward.

Hayward came up with a peculiar ordinance where the city will send an inspector to each and every rental, demand entry under penalty of law whether the tenant or owner object and then bill for the "Visit" if a deficiency is found...

The ordinance originated in 1989 and the city has lost several times in Court... the city continues to fight each loss and has stated it will take the case to the Supreme Court if necessary.

http://www.rhosource.com/tellrho.htm

The last straw was when the owner was required to repair a fence 100% on the adjacent property... the inspector went to the fence and shook it and said the posts are weak... mind you, not a board out of place or any indication of a lean... the inspector said since the 5' redwood fence could fail in a windstorm and impact the rental... the owner of a rental had to remedy the problem...

Thankfully, the 80 year old neighbor, who had built the fence allowed the repairs to be made at my owner's expense...

I've managed property for 30 years and Hayward is the only city that uses such heavy handed tactics...

http://www.ci.hayward.ca.us/municipal/HMCWEB/ResidentialRentalInspections.pdf (broken link)

On a fiscal matter, the city spent an enormous amount to build a new city hall on Mission Blvd to consolidate city services only later to abandon it and move to temporary quarters near Industrial Blvd and later spent enormous funds to build a new complex downtown...

[jade408]

I spent 5 years working in Hayward and several of my co-workers grew up there. There isn't really anything distinctive or extraordinary there, so it is really easy to just bypass it altogether.

It doesn't meet most of my hot buttons for a great place to live: walkable, lots of amenities, good restaurants. Transit is ranges from average to mediocre. So it basically loses points at every turn for me. The schools aren't great, lots of crime in many parts of Hayward, traffic in and around Hayward is ridiculous. Obviously there are worst places to live, but I think there are way better places available.

[mstnghu2]

Hayward is just one of those places that almost feels dead. To understand that, just drive the stretch of Mission Blvd. through town and you can see it clearly. You can see all sorts of shells of former businesses that once thrived. I honestly feel like parts of the city are almost a ghost town.

My father-in-law and also my wife's grandfather grew up in Hayward and say that it was completely different many years ago. It used to be a more up and coming city with lots of untapped potential. My wife's grandfather actually moved to Fremont to buy a cheaper house. He says that in the 40's-50's Fremont was actually the less desirable place to live. He originally planned to move back to Hayward after living in Fremont for awhile and if you ask him now, he says you couldn't pay him enough to move back to Hayward.

Hayward really just isn't very nice. It's big enough that there are nice places to live in the city, but overall it's a run-down city with a weakening tax base due to the loss of much of its industry through the years.

Hayward has a lot of big city types of crime and quality of life issues but none of the big city perks that come with that.

[santiago de pampanga]

hayward for the most part just feels... dirty

and i agree with the mission blvd statement... once you drive north past industrial, it just goes completely to the dumps

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