Could use advice on Hayward Hills/2nd Street (Burbank, Castro Valley: for sale, crime)

[cawoman]

My husband and I found a house several months ago on Second Street in Hayward that we absolutely love; he even says it's his "dream house." It is still for sale, last I checked. The problem is the area. I think 2nd looks a little run-down (an odd mix of nice, well-kept homes and terrible-looking ones), but it doesn't feel unsafe to me. (Then again, I've only been there in the daytime.) My husband thinks it appears extremely run-down, though, to the point of "borderline ghetto." I guess we just differ on that.

On the other hand, I have definitely noticed a recent uptick in very serious crimes being reported in Hayward, and not just gang-on-gang crimes. I know everyone says the Hills are immune to that stuff, but will it just be a matter of time before it starts creeping upward?

I must confess, I grew up in the East Bay and always said I could not stand Hayward--other than the hills I find most of it unrelentingly ugly and depressing, and it has always had far more crime than where I grew up. Never in a million years did I think I'd even consider living there, but as I said, my husband in particular REALLY likes this house for sale, so I'm trying to reconsider.

Also, any opinions as to the public school on 2nd Street? I've heard it's one of only two decent public elementary schools in the city. Thanks for any info/advice.

[love.11]

I Stay Close To Second street and i love Where i live becausse its very quiet.only problem is that you always here sirens(firehouse located on Cst & Main) and depending on where on 2nd street yhu are located yhu cn also hear the bart.there isnt really any crime crime in this area its more located in the other parts of hayward.living near 2nd street can also suck bc if say ur car breaks down or sumthing and yhu have to catch public transportation...well the buses stop running early.and the walk from bart to 2nd street twards the hills is not the best walk(done it many of times and i am a teenager).the streets in this area are pretty empty around 1am ish and late at night the streets arent realli that well lit.as for the the public elementary schools.im not too sure about them seeing i didnt goto elem school out here.however iknow that they have MULTIPLE elementary schools in hayward such as All Saints Catholic School "k-8" and also Burbank which they just recently rebuilt.I do know that getting to the area where yhu have to drop your child off at All Saints is very crowded and will take yhu sum time to get to the parking lot.but my honest opinion is if yhu can avoid moving to the area do so bc once your child hits high school they will be REQUIRED to attend Hayward High School(seeing that yhu live in the area)which is not a very good school at all lots of fights,bad students,drugs,etc.onli other high school options yhu will have are Impact Academy which is a performing arts school and they choose their students by lottery.other schools are Tennyson High school and Mount Eden.tennyson is always having lock downs and fights its a very broke school and very small.there is also a Catholic High School located on mission going towards south hayward.however with trying to goto tennyson or Mt.Eden yhu will have to have a gud excuse to get your child tranfered and hope they have enough room at the school yhu would like your child to go to.husd also has 1 continuation high school.Its a Great school they are very strict no fighting or ur kicked out,no drugs,and u have to have very good attendence.Hope this helped

[Hemlock140]

I'd also be concerned about 2nd street being part of a major route to Cal State, with a lot of traffic zooming by. If you are concerned about schools, Castro Valley is a lot better, our kids went to Vannoy and Canyon before we moved up here. Even then, Hayward people were using fake addresses to get their kids into CV schools.