Burbank

Not to be confused with the large city in SoCal where NBC and other TV studios are located, the Burbank neighborhood in Hayward is one of the most northern neighborhoods in Hayward. Like most neighborhoods in Hayward this is a neighborhood whose residential areas are mostly made up of older Ranch style homes of the smallish post WWII variety.

Much of this neighborhood is not really residential however. On the western end of the neighborhood there are some strange looking office buildings and the local elementary school.

There are also a lot of those newer kinds of boxy, pastel toned apartment complexes that are meant to attract higher paying individuals and that get blamed for much of the gentrification that this inevitably leads to. They are quite nice for what they are, and they are, of course, fortified looking to make you feel relatively safe inside. Whether you think this is a good thing or bad I will let you judge for yourself.

With the Hayward Amtrak on one end and the Hayward BART on the other this is one of the best spots in all of Hayward for commuters as well, allowing to be local or head out towards Sacramento--whatever your work may call for. But that isn’t all. You also have Highway 92 here, which though just a three lane avenue is how you get to the San Mateo Bridge to take it across the Bay. In effect, this neighborhood is like a big crossroads. Which also means that you will get tons of outside traffic whizzing through this area everyday, with all that that entails.

Because of these conveniences and the other aspects of this neighborhood that I have noted, you will have to pay a bit more in rent. So rents here in those newer gentrified boxes will run you in the $2000’s.

What about buying?

A single family home will go for around $275K, while, in one of the peculiarities of Burbank Hayward, the condos are only selling for about $50K less--around $225K on average. I suppose this has do with the appeal of these gentrified living spaces and the fact that the homes here are relatively old looking--or perhaps simply that all property around here is relatively inexpensive so a $50 spread actually represents more than it seems at first.

Given all the activity in this neighborhood, it is still a relatively safe area, reporting only about two dozen assaults in the last six months--very moderate for an area of this size and with this kind of traffic.

As to schools in this neighborhood, Burbank Elementary actually gets okay ratings--about average. Though that doesn’t continue all the way through--Winton Middle School being pretty awful. Hayward High, however, also manages to be average, which is a good sign for it.

Overall though I can’t really recommend Burbank, Hayward for families, I could see it perhaps for singles or for professionals looking to commute to other parts of the Bay Area however.