Harder / Tennyson

Located right near the heart of Hayward, the Harder-Tennyson neighborhood is a big squarish neighborhood that is fairly typical of Hayward. It is a mostly residential area filled with the smaller, older variety of Ranch homes. This is a pretty packed area filled with older model cars and slightly under-maintained front yards. This is one of those neighborhoods that is not quite leafy enough to obscure the power and telephone lines, so you see them draping over the top of the neighborhood like a long net.

The median selling price here is just over $255 K, with the ceiling being $400K. Fairly inexpensive for the Bay Area. This neighborhood also has a number of very affordable condos that sell for around $100K.

What explains the low prices?

First, there is a bit of a crime worry in this neighborhood. There was, for example, one murder in the second half of 2012 and some 3 to 4 dozen assaults--so this is definitely not one of those exceptionally safe areas of Hayward.

Second, the schools are not very good, varying from average to pretty lousy. As is typical in Hayward, the elementary schools get the worst scores--this holds true for all four of the elementary schools that serve this neighborhood: Tyrrell, Schafer, Eldridge and Glassbrook--all have API’s of 3 or lower. Two middle schools serve the neighborhood: King, which is just okay; and Chavez, which is very bad. The brightest spot in the area is the high school, Tennyson, which is solidly average. (Hardly a ringing endorsement, but an accomplishment for this neighborhood.)

Despite these negatives, however, there are still some positives to this neighborhood, such as the fact that it is a great starting spot for people commuting virtually anywhere in the Bay Area. One of the few spots from which you can make it to San Francisco, San Jose, Palo Alto and San Ramon all within one hour.

Overall, a very mixed bag of a neighborhood.