City, Alameda County
© McCormack's Guides
Zip Codes: 94540, 94541, 94542, 94543, 94544, 94545, 94557
East shore bedroom city, suburban with many local businesses, third-most populous in Alameda County, 153,104 residents. Good commute. Educational offerings include a community college and a California State University, both of which wave the flag for academics. www.mccormacks.com
Following World War II, thousands of GIs, having sampled California sunshine on their way to the Pacific, migrated to the West Coast. Hayward and countless other suburbs were built for them. Practical and unpretentious, these towns were oriented around home, school, recreation and proximity to jobs. Home designs favored the three-bedroom, two-bath model.
Many of Hayward's housing units were built between 1950 and 1970, when the city’s population went from 14,272 to 72,700. The great majority of the homes and apartments were constructed on the flat or gently sloping land to the west of Mission and Foothill, two of the main boulevards.
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Hayward ascends gradually from the Bay to the hills and east of Mission Boulevard soars into elevations that command sweeping views of San Francisco Bay. After 1970, Hayward, in its hill neighborhoods and near the university, moved upmarket with 4-6 bedroom homes. For the best of what Hayward offers, take a spin up Skyline Drive.
Hayward also has older, smaller housing around its downtown and in recent years has built large apartment and condo clusters near its downtown BART station. On its southeast side is another BART station that has also seen housing activity but not as much as the downtown.
The downtown housing has brought in a mini mall of restaurants and shops that along with saloons and a nightclub and other restaurants has revived the neighborhood below Foothill Boulevard. Also in this section, new city hall. www.mccormacks.com
On the west side of town, along Winton Avenue, Alameda County has long had a government center that provides many jobs. The county is replacing buildings or renovating them and boosting this area. More housing is going up here and near the Hayward airport.
All this means a good housing mix with prices across the spectrum but tilting toward middle income buying their first homes.
The state in 2010 counted 48,767 housing units, of which 24,441 were single homes, 3,724 single attached 18,298 apartments or condos and 2,304 mobile homes. Between 2000 and 2009, the city constructed about 2,640 units, a nice chunk of the new (many of them near the BART stations).
Amtrak, which runs commute trains to San Jose and to Sacramento, has a station just west of the downtown. Also possible to pick up trains traveling throughout California and U.S.
About 17 miles to Bay Bridge on Interstate 880, recently widened. About 10 miles to Peninsula and jobs around San Francisco International Airport via the Hayward-San Mateo Bridge, which in 2002 added a second span (it ties into the first at the San Mateo side.) www.mccormacks.com
Quick shot to Livermore-Pleasanton over Interstate 580, which also heads to the Bay Bridge. About 15 miles to San Jose and Silicon Valley. AC Transit buses.
In the 1990s, the school district won money from the state to remove asbestos and remodel many of its schools and equip them for high tech.
Entering the 2000s, the school district found itself short of money. Many buildings were dilapidated but residents refused to pass improvement bonds. In 2007, teachers went on strike for hire wages and benefits.
In 2008, Hayward passed a bond, the first approved in 45 years. Initial outlays will go to renovating the schools serving the most students.
Hayward runs several year-round schools, an effort to save money. www.mccormacks.com
Enrollments are declining — fewer kids and some are kids attending charter and private schools. Since 2007, the district has closed or consolidated about a half dozen schools. If enrolling in the district, ask about possible closings or changes in attendance boundaries.
Academic rankings bounce all over the place. See Schools.
Several private schools, including a Catholic High School (Moreau). Several charter schools, which accept students within regard to where they live. Regular schools often limit themselves to their immediate neighborhoods.
Shopping malls follow freeways. The Southland Mall came to life with the construction of Interstate 880 and weakened Hayward’s old retail strip, Foothill Boulevard, about two miles to the east. www.mccormacks.com
The city and merchants, with mixed results, have been tinkering for decades to rejuvenate Foothill and have come up with antique stores, restaurants and shops. Recent addition, which should draw more people to downtown: movie complex with 12 screens, restaurants and shops.
Hayward has a large airport, warehouses and light industry near Interstate 880. These businesses create local jobs, the ideal commute.
Seven homicides in 2008. The counts for previous years are 8, 4, 9, 9, 8, 9, 10, 9, 11, 5, 7, 12, 12, 12, 8, 5, 10, 4, 6, 8, 3, 5. The hill sections have far fewer incidents of crime than the flatlands and some flatland sections are safer than others. See Crime.
Many activities, most of them provided by the Hayward Area Recreation District, which is separate from the city government and has its own source of funding. These taxing arrangement, which shows up in a small number of California cities, often pumps more money into recreation and parks.
Boys and Girls Club. Plays and events at the colleges, baseball, basketball, soccer, tennis, arts and crafts. Summer sports camps at Chabot College. Bowling alley. Big indoor swimming pool. Skatepark. Neighborhood and regional parks. Shoreline preserve. Lake Chabot. Japanese Gardens. Roller-skating rink. Libraries. Movies. Annual zucchini festival. Nine-hole golf course. Town playhouse presents comedies and dramas. www.mccormacks.com
Many classes at Chabot Community College and the state university are open to public. You don’t need to be pursuing a degree to enroll in these classes or activities.
The East Bay Regional Park District, an independent agency with its own board and tax base, owns and manages giant parks in the Hayward-Castro Valley hills and along the shore. These parks are crisscrossed with trails and several have facilities — golf course, boating — that are popular.
Many of Hayward’s hills are undeveloped — the land is owned by the park district.
Hayward and its park agencies have cobbled together narrow strips and formed at least four long linear parks, great for hiking and jogging.
Chamber of commerce (510) 537-2424.
• Hayward recently built a 100-acre high-tech business park, 578 homes and a 25-acre sports park with lights for night games, baseball, soccer, softball. The project is located near the Bay. www.mccormacks.com
• City council in 2007 amended policies to make it easier for landlords to convert apartments into condos.
• City has approved plans to build 2,200 homes and apartments, including country-club subdivision in hills. But market is slowing construction.
• City is named after William Hayward, who failed at gold mining but after purchasing land from the Castro family succeeded with a store and a hotel that proved so popular that it drew other businesses and prompted people to call hamlet you know what.
• Some neighborhoods on the south side are educated by the New Haven Unified School District (mostly Union City). The key school here is Hillview Crest Elementary.
• Despite declining enrollment and the inability of the school district to win a bond, two schools were opened recently in growing neighborhoods, the costs paid mostly by developers. www.mccormacks.com
• Major freeway jobs underway or recently completed: Interstate 238, a short stretch connecting I-580 to I-800, is to be widened — hallelujah! An infuriating bottleneck. New interchange for I-880 and Highway 92, which leads to the San Mateo Bridge. Mission Boulevard to be overhauled.
• Among new restaurants: Marie Callender’s, Elephant Bar, Panera Bread, Applebee’s.
• Hayward library in 2006 added computers and opened a technology center.
• Built in 1969, Centennial Hall, 11 stories, on Foothill Boulevard, was used as a civic center until 1991 when it was vacated because experts said it might collapse in a big earthquake. Since then many efforts have been made to demolish the building, on the cheap. As of 2010, still empty and still standing. www.mccormacks.com
• Running under the East Bay is a famous and active earthquake fault named Hayward, which sits atop it. If curious, read the beginning of the phone book to find out what to do when the inevitable occurs.
• Day laborers gather along Tennyson Road on the southside looking for work. City voted to build a hiring center to get them of the street.
• Mervyns was chain of department stores popular especially in California. For decades, it made its headquarters in Hayward, a source of many jobs. Alas, it bit the dust a few years ago, to the great regret of the town.
• Hayward is a good town for frequent flyers. BART (with bus connection) serves the Oakland Airport and goes direct to San Francisco International. Short freeway hop to Oakland airport, longer but not that long drive to SFO. The Hayward Bridge approaches SFO from its south side and avoids the congestion that frequently afflicts traffic over the Bay Bridge and through downtown San Francisco.
• Some Hayward or Hayward area neighborhoods are in the San Lorenzo school district. Check with school districts.
Feb. 26, 2010
Hayward Unified School District: www.husd.k12.ca.us
City web site: www.ci.hayward.ca.us
Feb. 26, 2010
