Considering buying a place in hayward (San Jose, Santa Clara: condos, high crime, house)

[codefreek]

Found a condo in really great shape, pretty new and extremely well maintained, and also priced right.
It's located on old oak lane, right off of the Amtrak station. The location is convenient commute wise, to where I work.

1: Is, is it as unsafe as people say it is? My friends (who live in downtown SJ) wouldn't shut up about how unsafe it is.

I get home at around 9 pm from work, and will be taking the bart. I drove by a couple times at 10 pm and found nothing alarming, but that nagging feeling in my head about what my friends were talking about keeps coming back.

2: I know improvements take time and happens gradually, but will Hayward ever (for lack of a better word) "improve"?

I have no kids, and don't plan to for the next several years.

Thank you for your inputs! :-)

[jade408]

Are you walking from BART? Not much foot traffic last I was over there.

[capoeira]

Originally Posted by codefreek

1: Is, is it as unsafe as people say it is? My friends (who live in downtown SJ) wouldn't shut up about how unsafe it is.

To check safety go to the crime reports website. Your friends sound clueless since that location is probably a lot safer than downtown San Jose. If you are really interested walk around the neighborhood on a Saturday afternoon and if any neighbors are out washing their cars ask for their opinion of the neighborhood.

[Perma Bear]

Originally Posted by codefreek

Found a condo in really great shape, pretty new and extremely well maintained, and also priced right.
It's located on old oak lane, right off of the Amtrak station. The location is convenient commute wise, to where I work.

1: Is, is it as unsafe as people say it is? My friends (who live in downtown SJ) wouldn't shut up about how unsafe it is.

I get home at around 9 pm from work, and will be taking the bart. I drove by a couple times at 10 pm and found nothing alarming, but that nagging feeling in my head about what my friends were talking about keeps coming back.

2: I know improvements take time and happens gradually, but will Hayward ever (for lack of a better word) "improve"?

I have no kids, and don't plan to for the next several years.

Thank you for your inputs! :-)

Definitely less safe than San Jose, even the bad parts

[justinbro2002]

That part of Hayward is pretty sketchy. Hayward has the good the bad and the ugly. If you are up in the hills you are okay. But in the low lands you are going to have a mixed bag. Where you are looking near downtown there are a lot of homeless and a lot of undesirables. Hayward has really been making and effort to clean up the city but it is an uphill battle. There are a lot of people moving in to Hayward who are priced out of the Peninsula because Hayward is just over the bridge and cheap by bay area standards because of the problems it has.

[athleticsfan72737489]

I would look elsewhere. The immediate street that this condo on is probably okay, but it's close to some undesirable streets and neighborhoods.

The neighborhood across A Street (where the Costco Business Center is) isn't part of the city of Hayward - it is the unincorporated community of Cherryland (sometimes called "unincorporated Hayward" because of its Hayward mailing address). Cherryland is a high crime community and has several issues. Cherryland doesn't use Hayward city services (for example it is patrolled by the Alameda County Sheriff's department).

Across the freeway are the Longwood and Hesperian Acres neighborhoods which also are not a good neighborhoods. Hesperian Acres like Cherryland is unincorporated. South Garden Avenue and Royal Avenues were notorious for gang activity when I was a kid in the 1990s/2000s.

I'd look closer to downtown or in the Chabot College area. I have a former co-worker who lives in a ranch house in the Birchfield Park neighborhood which is close to where you're looking at (the area is bounded by Winton/Santa Clara/880/Jackson). This area is close to the police station and is quiet. Not many people know about this neighborhood.

[capoeira]

Originally Posted by athleticsfan72737489

I have a former co-worker who lives in a ranch house in the Birchfield Park neighborhood which is close to where you're looking at (the area is bounded by Winton/Santa Clara/880/Jackson). This area is close to the police station and is quiet. Not many people know about this neighborhood.

But the area described by the OP has nice new condos and the Birchfield park area has old 1950's homes.

Amador Street Hayward

Willimet Way, Hayward

Take your pick. If my budget was in the low 500's I would pick the newer condo, invest in an alarm system and maybe get a dog.