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Union City

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Union City

City, Alameda County

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Zip Code: 94587

Bedroom town in southern Alameda County in Greater San Francisco. 

Close to San Jose and jobs in Silicon Valley and around Oakland Airport. 

 Population 75,054. Many new homes, especially along Mission Boulevard in the hills and along Union City Boulevard in the flatlands near the bay. More coming around the BART (commute rail) station. www.mccormacks.com

In the 1990s, the city built about 3,100 homes and apartments and between 2000 and 2009 about 1,600 units.

School enrollments slipping but for several decades kids abounded and this and dynamic civic leaders created a strong constituency for bonds and improvements. Four school bonds, for total $276 million passed (but last was in 1993). Served by New Haven Unified School District.

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Academic rankings, on statewide comparisons, land above and below the 50th percentile but elementary schools and Logan High have a reputation for hard work and close attention to academics. Logan sends many kids to top universities and boasts one of the top athletic programs in the state.

Logan, which has probably the largest enrollment of any high school in Northern Cal (about 4,050 students), has student-union building. Place for kids to go after school. The school's swimming pool is open to the community in summer months.

Guy Emanuele, who retired in 1997, had been superintendent of the school district seemingly forever. He was one of the best schmoozers and administrators in education (top-down style, forceful; he made a lot of the decisions), close to parents and business and civic leaders. In his era, it was rare for school districts to win bonds because a two-thirds approval (almost 67 percent) was needed; now it’s 55 percent. Nonetheless, on his watch, the district won three bonds and at a time when schools were cutting art and science, he saved these programs. The district has named a school after him. www.mccormacks.com

School district, with enrollment declining, has closed several elementary schools in recent years.

Union City followed a development path common to many cities along the East shore — with one big difference.

When the U.S. was plunged into World War II, many small farm villages with manufacturing plants saw their industries boom. More jobs brought in more workers and spurred housing construction. 

 After the war, GI’s flocked to California and, backed by government loans, created an even bigger boom for housing. 

The big difference: Hayward and San Leandro, cities close to Union City, blossomed during and right after the war. A lot of their housing dates from the late 1940s, the 1950s and 1960s — old suburbia. www.mccormacks.com

Union City and Fremont expanded a little in these decades but really came to life after 1970s, when Silicon Valley, to the south, boomed. Modern suburbia.

Union City has its older neighborhoods with two- and three-bedroom homes, many well maintained but showing their age, and it has its young or fairly young neighborhoods with two-story homes, four to six bedrooms, tile roofs, creamy stucco, the vague Meditterrean style popular in California over the past three decades.

In several parts of town, the old and the young are huggermugger and the city has pursued policies that try to nourish the old, and their stores and village settings, by giving them more customers in the form of new housing.

The results: in some instances mildly charming because the old has a small-town feeling, which the new lacks. For the best of the efforts, drive the water near Union City and Alvarado boulevards. See also the new multiples along Mission Boulevard.

Housing units number 20,705 — single homes 12,952, single attached 2,420, multiples 4,399, mobile homes 934 (state tally, 2010). www.mccormacks.com

Three homicides in 2008, five in 2007, one in 2006, three in 2005, one each in 2004 and 2003, two in 2002, three in 2001. The counts for previous years are, 2, 2, 0, 0, 0, 3, 3, 1, 2, 1, 0. Curfew for kids. If under 18, with reasonable exceptions, they have to be in by 10 p.m. See Crime.

About 20 parks. Many sports, soccer, baseball, football, boxing club, softball. Teen center. Skate park. Seniors center. Two community centers. Swim center (at high school). Two farmers markets. City hall, through its rec department, offers many activities.

Opened in 2007, a municipal sports center that charges fees — aerobics, weight room, gym for basketball, volleyball and badminton, day-care center.

Logan High lights its outdoor basketball courts until midnight. Popular with the teens.

BART (commute rail) station. Union City is close to one freeway, Interstate 680, and bisected by another, the congested I-880, which has been widened in recent years but on many mornings and evenings crawls along. If commuting to San Francisco or Oakland, BART might be the best bet. www.mccormacks.com

One of these years, BART will be extended to San Jose but don’t hold your breath waiting.

Just north and south of Union City are two bridges, the San Mateo (jobs around San Francisco International Airport) and the Dumbarton (Palo Alto and Silicon Valley). Both I-680 and I-880 run to other Silicon Valley towns.

Thanks to its location, Union City — compared to many other cities — has to be described as a good commute (but the freeways, at peak hours, often snarl).

Union City has its own bus service with express buses to Palo Alto. Also an Amtrak station and service from the Altamont Commuter Express, rail commute that starts in Manteca and ends in San Jose.  

Like many BART towns, Union City is going in for “smart growth” around its BART stations. Clusters of apartments (or condos) are rising on the east side of the station. More parking to be added. www.mccormacks.com

About 100 small manufacturing plants in Union City. Kaiser Permanente medical center. Many warehouses. City is trying to attract high-tech firms and is using redevelopment to boost Dyer business section, near I-880 and Alvarado-Niles Road.

Dyer Triangle, also known as Union Landing, has a giant supermarket, Office Max, Wal-Mart, movie complex. Also, Borders Books, Lowe's Home Improvement Store, Michael's crafts and In 'N Out Burger.

Ethnic mix diverse and becoming more diverse. Schools and city are making efforts to help everyone get along. Union City by building middle- and upper-middle housing close to its low-income neighborhoods brings kids of varied backgrounds together at an early age.

• Voters in 1996 passed resolution to restrict development in the hills but there is a fair amount of housing in the hills. www.mccormacks.com

• Gladioli used to grow abundantly and commercially in Union City. The town song celebrates the place where “ there’s rows and rows of gladiolus reaching up to the sky….”

• Public art. Scattered around town and in front of businesses.

• A town with a little bang. City council voted to outlaw sale of fireworks. Residents voted to bring them back and back they are, for the Fourth of July. Local civic groups, to raise funds, sell the fireworks — supposedly safe.

• For the dogs, Drigon Park. Friends of pooches are prodding city to light up the park at nights and say they will pay some of the cost. Neighbors concerned about dogs barking at the moon and other things.

• Closed garbage dump on the bay to be converted into park-open space and with six acres set aside for upscale housing. Garbage on the housing acres would be dug up and sent elsewhere. www.mccormacks.com

• High school offers classes in French, German, Tagalog, Punjabi and sign language.

• Crestview Elementary is located in Hayward, just over the line from Union City.

• Chabot College offers evening classes at Logan High. Short drive to California State University, East Bay, (Hayward) and to Ohlone Community College. Both offer classes open to the general public.

• East Bay Park District wants to build a bike-hiking trail on the bay. 

• Barbie Museum, owned and run by a local woman. 33361 Croatian Way.www.mccormacks.com

Chamber of commerce: (510) 471-3115.

New Haven School District:www.nhusd.k12.ca.us

City web site: www.ci.union-city.ca.us

Feb. 25, 2010

 
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