San Leandro

City, Alameda County

© McCormack's Guides

 

Zip Codes: 94577, 94578, 94579

Located just south of Oakland, on the BART (commute rail) line, served by two freeways, one of the better suburban commutes in Alameda County. Population 81,851. www.mccormacks.com

Viewed as a good town for people buying first home or wanting to live in suburb close to job centers. Good mix of housing and prices. Many of the residents work in Silicon Valley or San Francisco or at Oakland Airport, which borders San Leandro.

First-class marina and waterfront with restaurants. School rankings low to middle plus. In 1997, residents passed a $54 million bond to renovate all schools. See Schools.

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In the 1990s, San Leandro increased its housing stock by about 1,100 units and its population by 8,000 and between 2000 and 2006 added about 525 units.

San Leandro rises from the Bay to the hills and has many older neighborhoods, built just after World War II, two- and three-bedroom units. In the flatlands, near Interstate 880, the homes border industrial areas. Although San Leandro retains many blue-collar jobs, the town for some time has been moving into white-collar territory.

In the Sixties and Seventies, several industries pulled out of San Leandro, leaving large empty plants. The city rallied, sought new businesses and took care to keep up appearances and morale. www.mccormacks.com

When the downtown was crippled by bypassing freeways and shopping plazas, the city pumped money and planning into the section. The result: The downtown, which is close to a BART station (commute rail) looks nice, attracts shoppers and gives the city a strong center. In recent years, this section and the east side have been landing restaurants.

When people describe San Leandro, two words frequently pop out: stable neighborhoods. The homes are old and plain but the paint is fresh, the lawns neat, the shrubs clipped. Drive the east side to see San Leandro at its best. Drive the west side to see some of the largest suburban lots of any city in the Bay Area.

For a final perspective, drive the flatland thoroughfare of International Boulevard-14th Street-Hesperian through several towns. Even the old streets of San Leandro come across as presentable in the way of older suburbia. City staffers are assigned to discourage blight, get people to clean up yards, get rid of junk cars.

State in 2008 counted 31,904 housing units: single homes, 19,467, single attached 2,028, multiples 9,505, mobile homes 904.

Near Interstate 880, large stores have opened, including a Costco and a Sportmart. Another mall has attracted clothing outlets, including a Nordstroms. www.mccormacks.com

Nice waterfront: parks, a marina, two golf courses, restaurants. On sunny weekends, the waterfront attracts strollers, families, golfers, ball players, boaters. Well-stocked library. About 18 parks. Plenty of sports and activities for kids: baseball, soccer, swimming, day camp. Boys and Girls Club. Annual Cherry Festival celebrates local history. California State University, East Bay, and Chabot Community College are within 10-15 minutes.

Four homicides each in 2005 and 2004. In previous years: 3, 2, 1, 5, 3, 4, 5, 6, 4, 4, 5, 6, 4, 1, 2, 2 5, 1. In 2005, officer shot to death during traffic stop. Suspect arrested. See Crime.

Good commute. Besides BART and the freeways, AC Transit buses carry people to San Francisco and East Bay cities. Near Oakland Airport but few noise problems (but check for self). Close to San Mateo and Bay bridges. Bisected by Interstate 880 on the west side and Interstate 580 on the east. I-880 recently widened in San Leandro and Hayward. In 2002, the San Mateo Bridge added, in effect, a second bridge. This helps people commuting to jobs around San Francisco International Airport.

Getting around on local streets can be a headache. Train and BART tracks and freeways force many streets into dead ends.

Chamber of commerce (510) 351-1481.

• San Leandro fields over 40,000 jobs. Among the major employers: Kraft General Foods, Incandescent, Bay Fair Mall. Kaiser has purchased the Albertson’s shipping-warehouse center, 63 acres, and is scheduled to begin work in 2008 or 2009 on a hospital that will replace its Hayward hospital. www.mccormacks.com

• Bayfair Mall has a Target, Kohls, a Macys and a movie complex, 16 screens.

• Many of San Leandro’s stores and service businesses are located along 14^th Street, which runs from one end of the city to the other and with Davis Street forms the main intersection in the downtown.

14^th Street is typical 1950s suburbia: stores and offices facing the street, parking on the street or in small lots immediately to the rear. The exception: Bayfair Mall, at the city limits and the downtown stores which are clustered but don’t have a mall feel.

San Leandro works with its merchants on appearances and nourishing trade. The four-lane boulevard in many places looks its age but its stores, with few exceptions, are occupied and some have been renovated. San Leandro has its chain stores by the dozens but, befitting an older suburb, has many stores and restaurants owned by the locals — social flavoring that gives the town some intimacy.

• Some lots and former industrial or business sites are being filled in with new homes. Not much. This is built-out city that often has to demolish to rebuild. www.mccormacks.com

• Auto mall at Marina Square. Generates $1 million a year in tax revenue.

• On its northwest side, San Leandro just about butts up against Oakland Airport. City hopes to build a business park in this area and serve airport firms.

• In 2004, Eden Hospital of Castro Valley purchased and took over the management of San Leandro Hospital.

• City web site: www.ci.san-leandro.ca.us