San Mateo V.S. Redwood City (Hayward, Fair Oaks: lower-class, 2014, apartments)

[goonzy]

Out of the only two Charter cities in San Mateo County which one do you think is the overall better, bigger acting city with the brightest future and why?

[dburbs1975]

They have about equal potential, San Mateo is much nicer right now, but RWC is closer to SV so they are worth about the same.

[jaypee]

San Mateo is better than Deadwood City.
Better weather, better downtown, better schools.

[WizardOfRadical]

San Mateo for sure.

[DoggieMatic]

Both have filthy-rich areas, and both have ghetto areas too. SM's ghetto areas are more like pockets in certain communities, whereas RWC has larger ghettos and seems to have a larger populace of irresponsible people who tie-up public safety services with their stupidity (passed-out drunk on the sidewalk, but police, fire & EMS have to respond as-if it's a violent criminal act or major medical event).

I lived in a nice apartment in a nice section of SM for over 5 years, then due to insane rent increases, I moved to a nice rental house in RWC that was in a 'lower-class' mixed-race neighborhood, & only survived there a year before I had to escape the insanity.

[goonzy]

Its a close one but I have to go with San Mateo. Its more urban, has better food(Restaurants) has its on Community Collage, CSM. While contrary to popular Belief, Canada Collage is actually in Woodside.
But RWC has a port, its the capitol of San Mateo county, has great weather and might get the highspeedrail station. Its a close one. 2 great cities but I think San Mateo slightly wins

[ccm123]

San Mateo

[vigueur2014]

Between the two cities, Redwood City is on the rise. All you need to do is go downtown and see the growth....new hospital, new condos/apartments, it has a lot of growth potential. The area east of 101, the harbor area, looks to be gearing up for a lot of new development. In ten years it's going to have a different look. I live in Redwood Shores, and the community is low crime, quiet, and because there aren't a lot of businesses, when you get off 101, you are home free. When you rarely see a sheriff's patrol car, you know it's pretty quiet. Probably see a cop 4 times a month, and that's usually CHP pulling over someone driving on 101.

San Mateo is a great place to live, but I don't expect to see a lot of change there. I grew up in San Mateo, and it hasn't changed much in the last 20 years.

[calicoastal]

Redwood City's run down areas are more expansive have spill over from adjacent North Fair Oaks and EPA. Also, the schools are much worse. That makes it harder for these areas to gentrify. San Mateo's run down areas are small and surrounded by nicer areas. Also, the schools are better. Thus gentrification is happening faster.

Both cities have a crazy amount of construction going on, though in San Mateo they are aiming to keep the downtown's historic charm, so buildings are going up at the Hillsdale and Hayward Park train stations mostly. In Redwood City, the downtown is becoming overrun with office buildings, which IMO is a negative.

[justmeinca]

Originally Posted by vigueur2014

Between the two cities, Redwood City is on the rise. All you need to do is go downtown and see the growth....new hospital, new condos/apartments, it has a lot of growth potential. The area east of 101, the harbor area, looks to be gearing up for a lot of new development. In ten years it's going to have a different look. I live in Redwood Shores, and the community is low crime, quiet, and because there aren't a lot of businesses, when you get off 101, you are home free. When you rarely see a sheriff's patrol car, you know it's pretty quiet. Probably see a cop 4 times a month, and that's usually CHP pulling over someone driving on 101.

San Mateo is a great place to live, but I don't expect to see a lot of change there. I grew up in San Mateo, and it hasn't changed much in the last 20 years.

San Mateo Planning Massive $250MM to $300MM Mixed-Use Development - The Registry