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Old 05-31-2015, 02:09 AM
 
6 posts, read 18,041 times
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Hey all,
I'm looking to buy a home in Hayward near 92 and the Hayward Animal Shelter. I work over in San Mateo/Foster City. Has Hayward improved the past couple of years? It seems like Hayward is the last refuge for decent home prices that's within 30 mins of the peninsula. Thanks in advance for the insights. I'm mainly worried about safety and resale value. No kids at this time so I'm not worried about schools, but thoughts on that would be appreciated as well.
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Old 05-31-2015, 09:08 AM
 
Location: Palo Alto, CA
901 posts, read 1,168,376 times
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Hayward definitely has very nice hill areas and is a bargain, but also has some iffy neighborhoods and not so great schools. check GreatSchools - Public and Private School Ratings, Reviews and Parent Community for ratings. If I didn't have kids I would definitely consider it, it's well located. I'd look at San Leandro as well; I'm a fan of that city's potential. If you're looking for an in-town living experience, I don't think you should look at Hayward; that's much tougher to find at low prices.

Worried about resale value? Everyone who isn't rich in the Bay Area should be if they have to buy and resell within a 5 to 10 year period. One could get screwed. In a bubble lower income areas increase proportionately the most, and then decrease the most. I do think that longer term, 10+ years, you'd be fine.
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Old 05-31-2015, 09:13 AM
 
66 posts, read 85,994 times
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Hayward has been ghetto and on the receiving end of trash from Oakland for my whole life. When I was younger the trash was lower class roughneck white flighter who couldn't afford Castro Valley, now it's blacks and Latinos fleeing East Oakland. I wouldn't live there nor San Leandro not Union City nor Newark, maybe Fremont because it's safer but not exactly nice.
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Old 05-31-2015, 10:19 AM
 
Location: Palo Alto, CA
901 posts, read 1,168,376 times
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BTW, breakdowns by race, income status, and crime are available on the internet and on city-data.com, so you can decide for yourself. On the internet I see a lot of "the sky is falling in city X because people Y are now moving in and ruining it" stories.
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Old 05-31-2015, 10:51 AM
 
520 posts, read 611,691 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by vincent from norcal View Post
Hayward has been ghetto and on the receiving end of trash from Oakland for my whole life. When I was younger the trash was lower class roughneck white flighter who couldn't afford Castro Valley, now it's blacks and Latinos fleeing East Oakland. I wouldn't live there nor San Leandro not Union City nor Newark, maybe Fremont because it's safer but not exactly nice.
Ignore advice like this, it's useless. If you think Hayward is ghetto, you either don't know what a ghetto is or haven't spent time in Hayward. I'm not saying Hawyard is posh, or even nice for the most part, but I would get advice from people who have actually lived there. Historically, Hayward has been a working class city. It is also a city of 150,000 people, so there are a number of different neighborhoods that range from nice to not-so-nice. You can and should check the crime and school statistics online.

Personally, Hayward wouldn't be my first choice, but I wouldn't be afraid to live there either. I haven't lived in Hayward but have lived in Bay Area cities with similar demographics and enjoyed them. The biggest drawback of a place like Hayward is that there aren't cute, walkable downtowns and some in-town amenities. That said, if you have more time from not commuting and more money because real estate is cheaper, you may enjoy your life more than if you have no time and money. Schools are another issue, but I generally think most kids will do fine in most schools. Exceptions are really bad schools where kids don't feel safe and/or there are no support systems to go to college, and kids with particular/special needs.
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Old 05-31-2015, 05:51 PM
 
1,021 posts, read 1,665,525 times
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Hayward is a mixed bag there is the good, the bad and the ugly. Generally in the hills is nice and safe but in the low laying areas is not so good. There is a lot of crime and quality of life issues. They tried to dress up downtown with a new traffic loop and cleaning up the area but they didn't remove all the homeless and the riff raff that hang out there a day long and the proximity to BART brings in the lowlifes from all over.
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Old 05-31-2015, 05:56 PM
 
372 posts, read 514,133 times
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Crime rates in Hayward are not that bad by Bay Area standards, i.e. much lower than Oakland, SF, Berkeley, and so on. Hayward isn't the most glamorous place, but it does have nice areas and its location is very convenient to both SF and Silicon Valley.
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Old 05-31-2015, 05:59 PM
 
4,323 posts, read 6,285,595 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by calicoastal View Post
Crime rates in Hayward are not that bad by Bay Area standards, i.e. much lower than Oakland, SF, Berkeley, and so on. Hayward isn't the most glamorous place, but its location is very convenient to both SF and Silicon Valley.
If I was going to be looking at a place to live on the inner East Bay and didn't want the urban environment of Oakland/Berkeley, I'd choose Alameda or possibly Fremont. Hayward is not so nice. True, it isn't as bad as some other parts of the East Bay, but its not great either. If you go one city over to Castro Valley, its a lot nicer. If its a matter of saving money, you're better off driving just over the hill to Dublin, which is much safer and nicer.
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Old 05-31-2015, 07:24 PM
 
520 posts, read 611,691 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by roadwarrior101 View Post
If I was going to be looking at a place to live on the inner East Bay and didn't want the urban environment of Oakland/Berkeley, I'd choose Alameda or possibly Fremont. Hayward is not so nice. True, it isn't as bad as some other parts of the East Bay, but its not great either. If you go one city over to Castro Valley, its a lot nicer. If its a matter of saving money, you're better off driving just over the hill to Dublin, which is much safer and nicer.
Dublin's significantly more expensive than Hayward -- the lastest home sales stats I saw had Hayward at $335/sq. ft and Dublin at $400. San Leandro and San Lorenzo were slightly higher than Hayward too. These statistics obscure some of the disparities in Hayward home prices, but Dublin isn't a same-priced alternative. You also have to figure out how much you value the lost hours of your life commuting.
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Old 05-31-2015, 09:22 PM
 
4,323 posts, read 6,285,595 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by smashystyle View Post
Dublin's significantly more expensive than Hayward -- the lastest home sales stats I saw had Hayward at $335/sq. ft and Dublin at $400. San Leandro and San Lorenzo were slightly higher than Hayward too. These statistics obscure some of the disparities in Hayward home prices, but Dublin isn't a same-priced alternative. You also have to figure out how much you value the lost hours of your life commuting.
The cost difference isn't that much. 20% more PSF and 20 minutes more commuting time seems like a no brainer to me for a much nicer community.
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