Mission / Foothill

Mission/Foothill is the neighborhood that is just to the west and north of Cal State Hayward, one of the East Bay’s major universities. This is a hilly neighborhood with older homes perched up along narrow streets. It is up in the Contra Costas and feels a lot more like Castro Valley or somewhere in Contra Costa County than it does Hayward.

Homes here date from the 1950’s for the most part. The median single family home sells for around $300K, with the ceiling for prices being around $500K. (You can also find apartments and a few homes to rent up here in the $2K range--apartments below that range, homes above, of course.)

Schools in the area are just so-so for the most part. They are passable but not the sort of schools you fake an address to get your kid into, if you catch my drift. The middle school is Bret Harte, which is slightly below average, and the high school which is in the Mission/Foothill neighborhood is Hayward High. It is pretty average. (Overall, of course, middle of the road is good for Hayward and this area of the East Bay which is known for its poor schools, but still nothing to write home about.)

Mission/Foothill is also a great spot to live if you are unsure where in the Bay Area you will be working or if you have a dual income household where each of you has to commute in opposite directions. From here you can get as far as SF in an hour, close to Walnut Creek, into San Jose and across the bay into San Mateo County. Few locations in the East Bay offer you a better launch pad than Hayward in general.

The only problem for commuters here is that you will probably need to drive down out of the hills to get to public transportation, which can be a hassle in terms of parking.

The big drawback in Hayward in general is the high crime and even this area is not immune to it. At the edge of this neighborhood there has have been 2 murders 4 dozen burglaries and more than 100 assaults in the past 6 months.

Overall, if it weren’t for the high crime on the western end of this neighborhood, this would probably be a location on a par with Martinez or similarly suburban bedroom communities. Maybe even more desirable because of its convenient location.