Unincorporated Town, Alameda County
© McCormack's Guides
Zip Codes: 94546, 94552
Bedroom
town with country atmosphere in
hills east of San Leandro and Hayward. www.mccormacks.com
Mix of old
and new suburbia. School scores high and probably influenced by a large state
university located nearby. Housing ranges from plain (but well kept) to middle
affluent (but rarely opulent) with sweeping views of Bay.
Commute
better than most. No breakout on crime figures but Castro Valley rarely makes
the news for crime.
Click for regional or detailed map
Unincorporated,
which means Castro Valley is governed from Oakland by the county board of
supervisors. In reality, much local control has devolved to community groups. A
master plan for development is being prepared.
A
community of small farms, Castro Valley started to boom in the late 1940s and
1950s, when suburbia swept into Alameda County.
Perhaps
because of its hill location, Castro Valley built many tract homes, mostly
three bedroom, that were a notch above the tract homes of that era. This was
especially true on some of the steeper neighborhoods where the views are
impressive. www.mccormacks.com
On the
minus side, the county government did not demand curbs and gutters on many
streets. Although well maintained, Castro Valley in some sections comes across
as disheveled. On one street,
sidewalks on both sides, on the next, sidewalk on one side, on the next, no
sidewalks.
The newer
the housing, the more complete the suburban touches, including sidewalks
and buried utility lines.
After its
initial splurge, the community marked time for a few years, then in the 1980s
and 1990s moved into the steeper hills with three-, four- and five-bedroom
single homes in master-planned communities with homeowner associations. Mixed
in were duplexes and townhouses.
Divided by
deep arroyos, these neighborhoods are almost semi-secluded because access is
limited to only a few streets. Here and there, clusters of custom upscale homes
can be found but the great majority of this housing was built for young
professionals who are busy. The homes are big, the front lawn small and easy to
maintain.
If you like to walk strenuously, you
will love these neighborhoods. A lot of uphill. Also, to emphasize what many
find impressive, the views are great. www.mccormacks.com
Castro
Valley sits above Hayward and San Leandro, suburban cities that also boomed in
the 1950s and 1960s with tract homes priced for blue-collar workers, many of
them military veterans, buying their first homes.
About 1964,
East Bay State University, formerly known as Cal State Hayward, was opened,
current enrollment about 12,500 full and part-time students. Hayward also has a
large community college (Chabot).
These
institutions and the general prosperity that blossomed in the decades after
World War II created market for upscale housing that Hayward and San Leandro
only partially satisfied.
Much of
the rest fell to Castro Valley. It would be an exaggeration to call it a
university neighborhood but it has attracted many affiliated with the
university, and this is reflected in the school scores, generally the top 20
percent in the state and a few in the top five percent in the state.
Castro
Valley Unified School District. Since 1990, residents have passed five
renovation-construction bonds, indicating strong support for schools. In 2003,
science labs added at all elementary schools. High school has added classrooms,
expanded gym, library and cafeteria and constructed science and math buildings.
Recent addition: a performing arts center that the high school shares with the
town. The latest bond, 2005, will provide money to expand libraries, add
classrooms, upgrade sixth grade science labs and improve sports fields so they
can be used by town's people. Work is still being done at some schools. www.mccormacks.com
Incidentally,
if buying in the town, make sure of the school boundaries. There is a slight
difference between the boundaries of the school district and those of the
community. Call school district, (510) 537-3000.
Castro
Valley is split by Interstate 580, which leads to Interstate 80 and Highway 13.
These roads feed traffic to Oakland, Berkeley and the Bay Bridge.
I-580,
going east, drops into Dublin and Pleasanton and the I-680 corridor (many
jobs).
Interstate
80 runs to Silicon Valley and to the Oakland Airport. Freeway wise, compared to
other towns — very good, even though the roads often congest at peak
hours.
Additional
plus: BART (commute rail) with station near Interstate 580 — trains to
Oakland, San Francisco, Berkeley, Dublin-Pleasanton. Also buses. www.mccormacks.com
Shopping
in downtown, mainly along Castro Valley Boulevard. Many of the stores were
built in the 1950s but remodelings and replacements are gradually giving the
strip a more modern look. Trader Joe’s. Short drive to Bayfair Mall (Macys,
Target, Kohls). About 50 restaurants in town.
Movie
theater, library, bowling alley, pool hall. Summer farmers market.
Major
medical center, Eden, and on northeast side, a county hospital.
For
recreation:
• Hayward Area Recreation District,
which has built several parks and community centers in Castro Valley and runs
recreation and activity programs. www.mccormacks.com
• East Bay
Regional Park District, which has three large parks in the area: Cull Canyon,
Chabot and Castro. Boating, golf, many hiking trails, nature programs. See web
site of East Bay Regional Park District. www.ebparks.org
•
University, which through its extension program offers classes to public.
• Schools.
For playing fields.
•
Scheduled to begin construction in 2007: a library three times the size of one
it’s replacing.
Many new
homes are going up east of Castro Valley, in Dublin, and at times it looks like
the housing will extend uninterrupted all the way over the hills to Interstate
680. Castro Valley, especially
near the BART station, has filled in lots with housing. On some streets, old
suburbia rubs up against new. www.mccormacks.com
Map
needed. Some of the new neighborhoods are hidden among hills and arroyos and easy
to miss.
Horse
ranchettes back in the hills and near the regional parks, which welcome
equestrians.
Also in
the hills, a small nudist colony, the Sequoians Clothes Free Club, visitors
welcome. “When you shed your clothes,” revealed one Sequoian, “you shed your
stress.”
Miscellaneous:
• In 2006,
sheriff’s deputies, looking for a man suspected of violating his parole, came under
fire. Bullet grazed deputy’s wrist and ricocheted off his belt buckle. Fire
returned. Suspect dead.
• Several
efforts have been made to incorporate Castro Valley as a legal city and bring
planning under local control. All failed. Residents seem resigned to working
with the county government to spruce up town and resolve planning issues. www.mccormacks.com
• Joseph
Eichler in the 1950s and 1960s built homes in California that were noted for their
unusual designs and gracefulness. Flat or sloping roofs, atriums, floor to
ceiling windows, open floor plans, radiant heat in floor — some of the features
that can be found in Eichlers. In the Bay Area, many of Eichlers were built on
the Peninsula and in Marin. Castro Valley, along Cold Water Drive, has one of
the largest collections in the East Bay.
• Common question: Is Castro Valley on the
flight path to Oakland International Airport? Answer: No. Flights take off and
approach just off shore. But to be on the safe side, ask Realtor or neighbors.
Chamber of
commerce (510) 537-5300.
Town web
site: www.mycastrovalley.com
