Around here.

I grew up in Castro Valley and lived in Hayward and San Francisco for years after that. These three towns sit side by side along the hills, share a school of thought about what a neighborhood should feel like, and still manage to be completely different from each other. Here is what I tell people about each one, and what I would look into before buying.

The three I know best

Three towns, three different answers.

Most first-time buyers are really asking one question: where can I afford to love living? Here is how each of these towns answers it.

Boats at the Lake Chabot marina, with a golden hillside behind

img/towns/castro-valley.jpgLake Chabot, the Boulevard, or the view from the hills. Horizontal, 1600px wide. Photo: Lights and freedom (opens in a new tab), Jul 2022, public domain

Castro Valley

Unincorporated Alameda County · where I grew up

Castro Valley is a small town that happens to sit twenty minutes from Oakland. It is unincorporated, which means no city hall, the county sheriff instead of a police department, and a community that runs a lot of things itself, including the Fall Festival every September and the Light Parade in November. I still run into people I have known for decades at both.

What the housing looks like

Mostly single-family homes, and mostly ranch-style houses from the 1950s through the 1970s on decent lots. The flats near the Boulevard and Redwood Road are the most walkable. Up the hill toward Lake Chabot you get bigger lots, views and winding streets. Palomares Hills and Five Canyons are newer planned neighborhoods from the 80s and 90s with homeowners associations, and there are condos and townhomes along the Boulevard that are the usual first step in for buyers who want the schools without the single-family price.

Worth looking into

Which school attendance area the house falls in, since boundaries do not follow the obvious lines. Whether a hillside lot has a slope report or drainage history. Whether an HOA is involved and what it covers. And ask me about the Hayward fault, which runs along the base of these hills through all three towns; the county's seismic hazard maps are public and I will pull them with you.

BART Castro ValleyDowntown SF about 40 minutes by BARTParks HARD, Lake Chabot, Cull Canyon

img/towns/hayward.jpgThe Japanese Gardens, downtown, or a hills view. Horizontal, 1600px wide. Photo: Mercurywoodrose (opens in a new tab), Oct 2011, CC BY-SA 3.0 (opens in a new tab), resized

Hayward

Bigger than people think · I lived here for years

Hayward gets underestimated. It is a real city with a university, a downtown that is finding its feet, and hills with views across the whole Bay. The Japanese Gardens are among the oldest in California, and most people who live ten minutes away have never been. For a lot of my buyers, Hayward is where the numbers finally work without giving up the things they moved to the East Bay for.

What the housing looks like

It varies more than anywhere else I work. The Hayward Hills have larger lots, mid-century and later homes, and views. Fairway Park and the neighborhoods along the Castro Valley border feel a lot like Castro Valley at a different price. Downtown and the corridor near the BART stations have newer townhomes and condos. South Hayward and Mt. Eden are the most affordable single-family areas, with smaller post-war homes. There are two BART stations, which matters for anyone commuting to the city.

Worth looking into

The flood zone maps on the flat side toward the Bay, which affect insurance. Freeway noise near 880 and 92. Whether a house in the hills has a slope or retaining wall history. And the same Hayward fault conversation as Castro Valley; the fault is named for this town for a reason.

BART Hayward, South HaywardDowntown SF about 35 to 40 minutes by BARTKnow it for Cal State East Bay, the Japanese Gardens, Garin Park

img/towns/san-leandro.jpgThe shoreline, an Estudillo Estates street, or downtown. Horizontal, 1600px wide. Photo: Coro (opens in a new tab), Oct 2008, public domain

San Leandro

Between Oakland and Castro Valley

San Leandro is the neighbor that quietly has it figured out. A walkable downtown, a shoreline along the bay, a cherry festival that goes back a century, and two BART stations. The old marina closed for good in January 2023, and the city is redeveloping that site, so the waterfront is a work in progress. It is where a lot of my Oakland buyers end up when they want a yard, and where a lot of my city buyers end up when they want the shortest BART ride.

What the housing looks like

The neighborhoods change block to block here, and the prices change with them. Estudillo Estates and Broadmoor, near downtown, have the grand older homes: 1920s and 30s Spanish and Tudor houses on wide, tree-lined streets. Bay-O-Vista up the hill has mid-century homes with views. Washington Manor and Marina Faire, out toward the water, are flat 1950s ranch neighborhoods that are the most common first-home purchase in town. Here is the example I give everyone: two streets a few blocks apart, one in Estudillo with a 1930s house on a big lot and one near the freeway with a 1950s ranch, and they are priced like different cities. Knowing which is which before you fall for a listing photo is most of the job.

Worth looking into

Flood zones west of 880, especially out toward the shoreline. Street parking and freeway noise on the blocks closest to 880. Whether an older home’s foundation has been looked at by someone qualified, which I recommend for any older house here. And which sewer district serves the address, because the rules differ: the City of San Leandro (opens in a new tab) does not currently require a sewer lateral certificate at sale, but properties in the Oro Loma Sanitary District (opens in a new tab) need one for sales that open escrow on or after August 1, 2026. And check the walk to BART: the San Leandro station and Bay Fair are each convenient to very different parts of town.

BART San Leandro, Bay FairDowntown SF about 30 minutes by BARTKnow it for the shoreline, downtown, the Cherry Festival

And the rest of the Bay

I help people across the Bay Area, and I have closed homes in Oakland, Fremont, San Jose, the Peninsula and San Francisco. Oakland in particular is not one market but thirty, from Rockridge and Temescal to the Laurel and Maxwell Park, and if you are leaving the city and want to keep a city life, that is the conversation to have. If you are looking somewhere I have not named here, call me anyway. If it is outside what I know well, I will tell you, and I probably know who to send you to.

Tell me where you are looking →

The weather

It is usually nicer over here.

Same Bay, different weather. The hills block most of the fog that sits on San Francisco, which is why a lot of my buyers from the city are surprised the first time they tour a house in August and need sunglasses.

Coming up

Go see it for yourself.

The best way to get a feel for a place is to show up when the locals do. These come straight from the park district and city calendars, so they stay current without me touching them.

Sources: Hayward Area Recreation and Park District (which covers Castro Valley, Hayward and San Lorenzo), the City of San Leandro, and Visit Oakland. Details can change, so check the link before you go.

Want the tour?

I will drive. You look out the window.

No listings, no pressure. If you are thinking about this side of the Bay and want to see the neighborhoods with someone who grew up in them, that is a good afternoon for me.

Call (510) 303-2329 Text Other ways to reach me