Anybody from Fremont? Recommend moving there or stay away? (San Jose: low income, section 8)

[ryanjd22]

I'm moving out to the bay area soon and will be working in Oakland. Looking for a family-friendly kind of an area... with a reasonable commute. I've heard some decent things about Fremont... but also some mixed things.

Is it a nice area w/ reasonable housing costs? How are schools? Crime?

[friscomama]

Originally Posted by ryanjd22

I'm moving out to the bay area soon and will be working in Oakland. Looking for a family-friendly kind of an area... with a reasonable commute. I've heard some decent things about Fremont... but also some mixed things.

Is it a nice area w/ reasonable housing costs? How are schools? Crime?

Hello there,
In response to your inquiry and this is just my opinion, no, Fremont's not a good place to live... I live here right now and the police department's not as responsive when you need them.

In 2004, Fremont passed a policy or law that if your business or burglar alarm's going off, they won't respond. I'm just waiting for the real estate market to go back up and I'm going to be selling my home ASAP.

This town's not as nice as it used to be. Eleven + years ago when I moved here, yes, it was nice. It was family friendly and big enough to have a small mall. I don't know what happened between then and now. The streets aren't being kept up. There are potholes and uneven concrete patches all over. The only good part of Fremont is in the "Mission District". But the average cost of home in that distrcit is astronomical... the school district is good and it's pretty quiet in that pocket of Fremont. There are a lot of "trashy" people in Fremont. The drivers here hardly stops at stop signs and red lights and that's why Fremont has installed numerous red light photography to catch red light runners. It's bordered by numerous railroads, so, most places in Fremont, you'll be hearing the horn of a train.

Since you'll be working in Oakland, I suggest another town like Concord, San Ramon, Pleasanton. The non-trashy people has moved into those towns.

Good luck in your search.

[holborn]

Unless you'll be working a swing or graveyard shift, you're going to get really tired of that commute really fast, Ryan! Why not consider living right in Oakland? There are some very nice neighborhoods there. Or, check out towns north of Oakland (Emeryville, El Cerrito, Albany), so that you'd be commuting against the flow of traffic during normal rush hours. Or, any one of these towns just south of Oakland: San Leandro, Castro Valley, Hayward, would be a shorter commute (you'd be in the rush hour traffic, though) and they're just as good/bad as Fremont. I have lived in many places in the Bay Area over the past 40+ years, and what Friscomama noted about changes in Fremont holds true throughout the region: people are transient these days, and seemingly overnight the demographics of a place can change dramatically, so what is a "nice" neighborhood today might not be so five years from now. And some of the "worst" neighborhoods can surprise you with some of the best neighbors you'll ever have.
If you can afford to look before you leap, come on out to the Bay Area, rent a car, and tour around for a week or two; you'll soon see what's to love about some places and what's not so hot about others.
In any event, best of luck to you! (At least the weather will treat you right!)

[Gualala25]

I have lived in the East Bay all my life, pretty much. I would recommend Castro Valley over Fremont. It's closer by half the distance. Also the commute would be on Interstate 580 as oppossed to I-880.
I would also recommend the hills area of Oakland. There are some very nice parts of Oakland. Shhhhh, don't tell anyone, we want to preserve our bad image the rest of the country has of us.
Other very nice communities are Orinda. Moraga, Lafayette, Walnut Creek. All closer and nicer than Fremont.

[blonddudesf]

Unless you're rich and Asian or low income and Hispanic, I wouldn't recommend living in Fremont. Much of the middle class and upper middle class neighborhoods started to slip in the late 80's when Fremont experienced white flight. Many of its long time residents moved out to Pleasanton, San Ramon, Dublin, etc. and even further out as the city became more "urban". There are still wonderful pockets of great neighborhoods but be careful where you choose, espeically if you have children in school. There is a strong possability they will come out as some kind of wanna-be gangsta. I know of several people who had people buy homes on their street that were turned into Section 8 Housing which brought a lot of problems to their perspective neighborhoods. The Mission San Jose district is 90% Asian and VERY wealthy. The schools there are the top in the nation. Niles is also a really cool community with a lot of hip people. They have a great downtown and lots of cool old houses on tree lined streets. Good luck!!

[werner153040]

If you are concerned about Fremont I would suggest that you visit the local stores easpecially FOD4LESS and COSTCO.
If you think you are in Asia or Afgahnistan and have trouble communicating you may want to reconsider to live in Casto Valley or Palo Alto. One of course cannot totally blame immigrants because they are not being asked to integrate like Holland has fund out the hard way, is absolutly a necessity. Holland now demands form all immigrants to learn the language and cutoms at their own cost before being admitted.
I know this may upset the liberal minded readers but the reality is that social ingeneuring just doesn't work. Integration, learning the official language and customes are essential for a healty society, anywhere in the world. Fremont has the largest Afghan population in the North American continent. I have witness its balkanisation for years and than left with all the rest of the free and brave.
By the way Fremont is swamped with sexoffenders especially around the Centerville Highschool area.Check it on the internet.

Good luck and look with open eys and use good judgment.

[brewer2930]

I don't know what everyone is talking about. We have only been here for about a month but it is beautiful. We came from Reno and it is definitely better than Reno! Stores are neat and well kept up. Not much of a bar scene here though. Roads are fine. No gang problems. No crime problems in most of the city..... hmmmm...I don't understand.

[rickca]

Originally Posted by werner153040

easpecially, absolutly, cutoms, ingeneuring

Your post is quite ironic considering the misspellings above, one can't help but wonder if you are an immigrant yourself who doesn't speak the language entirely.

[sonarrat]

Originally Posted by rickca

Your post is quite ironic considering the misspellings above, one can't help but wonder if you are an immigrant yourself who doesn't speak the language entirely.

I think he should fire his spellchecker. It's clearly broken.

[werner153040]

Originally Posted by rickca

Your post is quite ironic considering the misspellings above, one can't help but wonder if you are an immigrant yourself who doesn't speak the language entirely.

Your response fits right in with the cities low profile. Too bad you cannot see the greater problem of balkanization in Fremont and disrespect for our countries great heritage and values.