East Palo Alto - really how bad is it? (San Francisco: real estate market, condos)

[RelocatingVerySoon]

Hi guys,

So, my husband and I are looking into resonably-priced condos/townhomes near Palo Alto area, as I have a new job there.
I found some decent 2bed/2bath condos in East Palo Alto at high 300K - low 400K - located right by Bayshore Fwy (left to the fwy).
I heard so many bad things about E. Palo Alto and everyone seems to advise to stay away from it.

Since I'm new to Bay area, I have no clue... so, my question is really how bad E. Palo Alto is it? Also, how is the real estate market in E.Palo Alto? Would we have hard time selling it in years down the road?

Any inputs would be appreciated!

[gogetta]

Originally Posted by RelocatingVerySoon

Hi guys,

So, my husband and I are looking into resonably-priced condos/townhomes near Palo Alto area, as I have a new job there.
I found some decent 2bed/2bath condos in East Palo Alto at high 300K - low 400K - located right by Bayshore Fwy (left to the fwy).
I heard so many bad things about E. Palo Alto and everyone seems to advise to stay away from it.

Since I'm new to Bay area, I have no clue... so, my question is really how bad E. Palo Alto is it? Also, how is the real estate market in E.Palo Alto? Would we have hard time selling it in years down the road?

Any inputs would be appreciated!

East Palo Alto, although not as bad as it was in the past is certainly not the best place to live. It was formerly the murder capital of the united states in 1992 (there were 42 murders avg. 172 per 100,000 people) and although crime is way down from those days as are most u.s. cities, it is still a high-crime area and the ghetto. There has been a good amount of gentrification but it is still nearly 100% minority. Palo Alto and EPA are two completely different worlds. The movie Dangerous Minds starring Michele Pfeiffer was based on East Palo Alto and it's blight and students bused into a neighboring school district.

In recent memory...


YouTube - East Palo Alto's TALIBAN GANG Raided. At least 30 members arrested by FBI & Police.


YouTube - TALIBAN ARMED STAND-OFF FBI POLICE EPA JULY 25 & 26 ,2009 ((HD))

[RelocatingVerySoon]

Wow.....thanks for those youtube clips... I guess they are worth thousand words! Pretty scary, I gotta admit.
I guess I will try to cast a wider net and look into further south/north even though it'd mean a longer commute!
Thanks again!

[AcroJimmy2]

East Palo Alto is--in a word--unsafe. There may be some decent pockets, but the area is generally very sketchy and is as different from Palo Alto as you could imagine.

[rah]

I just posted this about East Palo Alto in a different thread:

East Palo Alto is a lot better these days than it used to be, though it does have it's problems still, and did get some press due to that crackdown on the "taliban" gang.

East Palo Alto murder rate per 100k residents:

2008 - 14.9/100k (5 murders, pop. 33,513)
2007 - 21.1/100k (7 murders, pop. 32,532)
2006 - 18.4/100k (6 murders, pop. 33,210)

vs.

1992 - 172.7/100k (the year EPA was dubbed the nation's "murder capitol." 42 murders, pop. 24,322)
1991 - 83.5/100k (20 murders, pop. 23,939)
1990 - 93.8/100k (22 murders, pop. 23,451)

As of 2007 East Palo Alto wasn't even in the top 5 highest violent crime rates for the Bay Area:

1. Oakland - 1,917.8
2. Richmond - 1,190.6
3. San Francisco - 1,037.1
4. San Pablo - 1,008.3
5. Vallejo - 932.7
6. Antioch - 843.4
7. El Cerrito - 786.2
8. East Palo Alto - 785.9
9. San Leandro - 703.2
10. Union City - 643.6

Compare that with EPA's high of 2,787.6 violent crimes per 100k residents in 1992. The violent crime rate was well over 3 times higher back then.

So while EPA's crime rate remains above average, and it remains a poor town, it's light years better than it used to be....it's not nearly as bad anymore as many think.

[sonarrat]

One thing to understand about EPA is that it used to be almost all black. Now, it's almost 60% Hispanic. I'm not trying to suggest that one race is better than any other - but whenever the demographics change that drastically, it's going to turn it into a completely different kind of town. It's now more comparable to North Fair Oaks or other "Little Mexico" type areas in the south peninsula.

[RelocatingVerySoon]

Thanks everyone for helping me picture what E. Palo Alto is like!!! Much appreciate it!