Attachment V HE Appendix A Public Participation Report — Hayward City Council, February 7, 2023 (part 1 of 2)

Appendix A – Public Participation Report

January 2023
Oakland, California 94612
449 15th Street
Rincon Consultants, Inc.
prepared with the assistance of
Hayward, California 94541
777 B Street
Planning Division, Department of Development Services
City of Hayward
prepared by
(2023-2031)
Hayward Housing Element

ATTACHMENT V
Appendix A: Public Participation Report

A
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1 Appendix A:

Public Participation Report

Summary of Public Participation

The Housing Element must reflect the values and preferences of the community. Accordingly, community participation is an important component of the development of this Element.

Government Code
Section 65583(c)(8) states that the local government must make “a diligent effort
to achieve public participation of all economic segments of the community in the development of the housing element.” This process not only includes community members, but also participation from local agencies and housing groups, commun
ity organizations, and housing sponsors.

This appendix includes the following supporting documents:

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First
Marketing Flyer

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Website Housing Element Story Map

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Website Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Story Map

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Thumbnail from Housing Educational videos

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G
allery Event posters in English and Spanish

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Chabot
Interviews Hayward

Housing

Report

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Housing Survey Results

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Community Resources for Independent Living (CRIL) Housing Survey Results

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Community Resources for Independent Living (CRIL) Housing Meeting Discussion

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Balancing Act Summary

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Hayward Housing Element
City of Hayward
2023-2031 Housing Element Update

A-2

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First Marketing Flyer

Website Housing Element Story Map
6/6/22, 1:36 PM Housing Element - Hayward Housing and Climate Update https://haywardhousingandclimateupdate.com/housing-element/ 1/7 HousingHousing
ElementElement
What’s in a Housing
Element?
The City of Hayward is updating the Housing Element of the General Plan. The Housing Element includes:

Housing Needs Assessment – Existing and projected housing need for all income segments.

Housing Constraints Analysis – Including market,
governmental, infrastructure, and environmental constraints.

Housing Resources – Residential sites inventory for future housing needs.

Review of Past Accomplishments – Describe
accomplishments from prior Housing Element programs.

Housing Plan – Housing programs, goals, and policies for the planned period.

U Uaa
6/6/22, 1:36 PM Housing Element - Hayward Housing and Climate Update https://haywardhousingandclimateupdate.com/housing-element/ 2/7 Since 1969, the State of California has required that all Cities and Counties adequately plan to meet the housing needs of everyone in the community. State law requires each jurisdiction to accommodate its fair share of affordable housing, as an approach to distribute housing needs throughout the state.

What type of housing does
Hayward have?
Hayward offers a variety of housing types including single family homes, duplex triplex, apartments, and condominiums. The most common type of housing in Hayward is single family. Most of the housing stock was built in 1960 – 1979. A little over half of residences in Hayward are occupied by owners. Monthly rent is typically $1000-$2500 per month.

HUD defines cost-burdened households as those whose monthly housing costs exceed 30% of monthly income, while severely cost-burdened households are those whose monthly housing costs exceed 50% of monthly income. Around 50% of the rental community spends more than 30% of their gross monthly income on housing.

How does the City of
Hayward support housing
needs?
The City of Hayward has played a key role in meeting housing needs for the local community. The City has multiple housing programs in place to make sure existing homes provide decent, affordable housing, suitable living environment, and can expand economic opportunity. To make adequate provision for the housing needs of all economic segments of the community, the existing Housing Element establishes goals, policies, and programs to:

Conserve and improve the condition of the existing affordable housing stock;
6/6/22, 1:36 PM Housing Element - Hayward Housing and Climate Update https://haywardhousingandclimateupdate.com/housing-element/ 3/7 What is the demand for
housing?
Additional steps government agencies take to make sure that there is adequate housing construction to meet demand include the Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) process. The State of California identifies the number of housing units necessary to meet future demand.

The State distributes this allocation to regional governments, including the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) of which Hayward is a member agency. ABAG then allocates housing units to all member agencies. This process is mandated as part of Housing Element Law.

ABAG’s RHNA website provides background on methodology and RHNA allocations for the nine-county Bay Area
What is the housing need in
Hayward?
Assist in the development of housing affordable to low and moderate income households;
Identify adequate sites to encourage the development of a variety of types of housing for all income levels;
Address and, where appropriate and legally possible, remove governmental constraints to the maintenance, improvement, and development of housing;
Promote equal housing opportunities for all persons; and Provide for the special housing needs of seniors, persons with disabilities, large families with children, single female-headed households, and persons who are homeless.
6/6/22, 1:36 PM Housing Element - Hayward Housing and Climate Update https://haywardhousingandclimateupdate.com/housing-element/ 4/7 The State assigned 441,176 units to the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) region. In turn, ABAG assigned 4,624 units to Hayward in the draft allocation. Jurisdictions are allowed to appeal their draft allocations and have hearings prior to final allocations, which are expected this Fall. Hayward has not appealed the draft allocation. The City must plan to accommodate those units during the next eight years.

As part of this planning process, the City must document to the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) that these units can be accommodated across the city, and that policies and regulations support future residential development.

What is the regional housing
needs assessment for?
(RHNA)
Communities use the RHNA in land use planning, prioritizing local resource allocation, and in deciding how to address identified existing and future housing needs resulting from population, employment and household growth. The RHNA does not result in housing construction, but rather requires communities to anticipate growth, so that collectively the region and subregion can grow in ways that enhance quality of life, improve access to jobs, promotes transportation mobility, and addresses social equity and fair share housing needs.

How is Hayward doing with
their 2015-2023 RHNA?
6/6/22, 1:36 PM Housing Element - Hayward Housing and Climate Update https://haywardhousingandclimateupdate.com/housing-element/ 5/7 The Table below demonstrates progress made toward meeting Hayward’s RHNA goals for the 5 cycle Housing Element period between 2015-2023 as of the last report year (2020), which is shown in the column titled “Reported 2020.” The State allows local jurisdictions to “report” the units when building permits are issued to construct the units.

The “Approved” and “Pending Approval” columns provide an estimate of potential compliance by counting both entitled projects and projects going through the entitlement process.
2023 RHNA Goal Progress in the City of Hayward
th
What does Housing Element
Law require?
Since 1969, California has required that all local governments (cities and counties) adequately plan to meet the housing needs of everyone in the community. California’s local governments meet this requirement by adopting housing plans as part of their “general plan” (also required by the state). General plans serve as the local government’s “blueprint” for how the city and/or county will grow and develop and include seven elements: land use, transportation, conservation, noise, open space, safety, and housing.

HCD requires Housing Elements to include the following sections:

Review of Accomplishments
Housing Needs Assessment
Evaluation of Housing Constraints
6/6/22, 1:36 PM Housing Element - Hayward Housing and Climate Update https://haywardhousingandclimateupdate.com/housing-element/ 6/7 Identification of Housing Sites
2021-2029 Program Strategy
During the Housing Element update, Hayward must also prove it can provide 4,624 units in compliance with a wide range of State rules.

How has State Legislation
changed recently?
The 2019 California Legislative Session ended with over 30 new bills in response to the state’s worsening housing crisis. Several of these bills are designed to increase housing production by easing development regulations, compelling jurisdictions to make fee and land information readily available to potential developers and impose new ongoing reporting and inventory requirements for local jurisdictions. Housing legislation aims to achieve a number of overarching goals:

Accommodate projected housing demand, as mandated
by the State,
Increase housing production to meet this demand,
Improve housing affordability,
Preserve existing affordable housing,
Improve the safety, quality, and condition of existing
housing,
Facilitate the development of housing for all income
levels and household types, including special needs
populations,
Improve the livability and economic prosperity of all City residents, and
Promote fair housing choices for all[1].
[1] Fair housing is the right to choose housing free from unlawful discrimination. Federal, state and local fair housing laws protect people 6/6/22, 1:36 PM Housing Element - Hayward Housing and Climate Update https://haywardhousingandclimateupdate.com/housing-element/ 7/7 from discrimination in housing transactions such as rentals, sales, lending, and insurance.

Please participate!
We invite you to participate in upcoming community events to provide input on your specific experiences and your thoughts about how best to meet your and the larger communities’ housing needs in Hayward.

Please visit our
Get Involved page.

Website Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Story Map 6/6/22, 1:37 PM Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing - Hayward Housing and Climate Update https://haywardhousingandclimateupdate.com/affirmatively-furthering-fair-housing/ 1/7 AffirmativelyAffirmatively
Furthering FairFurthering Fair
HousingHousing
What’s the purpose of
Affirmatively Furthering Fair
Housing (AFFH)?
AFFH seeks to combat housing discrimination, eliminate racial bias, undo historic patterns of segregation, and lift barriers that restrict access in order to foster inclusive communities and achieve racial equity, fair housing choice, and opportunity for all Californians. Government policies, exclusionary tactics, and discriminatory treatment have long been key components of the housing system which encouraged unequal housing opportunities based on race.

To address these circumstances, Congress established the Fair Housing Act in 1968 to prohibit discrimination in the sale, rental, and financing of housing based on race, religion, and national origin. Over time the law expanded its protections to include discrimination based on sex,

U Uaa
6/6/22, 1:37 PM Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing - Hayward Housing and Climate Update https://haywardhousingandclimateupdate.com/affirmatively-furthering-fair-housing/ 2/7 disability, and familial status. The law also introduced the need to go beyond just prohibiting discrimination to instead creating real housing choice by affirmatively furthering fair housing.

Which legislation established
Affirmatively Furthering Fair
Housing requirements?
In 2018, the California State Legislature passed
AB 686 to expand upon
the fair housing requirements and protections outlined in the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA). The law requires all state and local public agencies to facilitate deliberate action to explicitly address, combat, and relieve disparities resulting from past patterns of segregation to foster more inclusive communities. The law also creates new requirements that apply to all housing elements due for revision on or after January 1, 2021.

The passage of AB 686 protects the requirement to affirmatively further fair housing within California state law, regardless of future federal actions. It also preserves the strong policy in the U.S. Department of Housing and Community Development’s (HUD) Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Rule as published in the Federal Register in 2015.

As of January 1, 2019, AB 686 proactively applies the obligation to affirmatively further fair housing to all public agencies in California. Public agencies must now examine existing and future policies, plans, programs, rules, practices, and related activities and make proactive changes to promote more inclusive communities.

Where can I learn more about
Hayward’s fair housing
conditions?
6/6/22, 1:37 PM Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing - Hayward Housing and Climate Update https://haywardhousingandclimateupdate.com/affirmatively-furthering-fair-housing/ 3/7 What strategies are
recommended to promote
fair housing?
Mobility Strategies consist of removing barriers to housing in areas of opportunity and strategically enhancing access. New Housing Choices in Areas of Opportunity means promoting housing supply, choices and California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) created an interactive statewide AFFH Data Viewer to assist in the assessment of fair housing. HCD solicited feedback from advocates, councils of government, partner public agencies, and academic research groups to ensure the first iteration of the tool consolidates relevant data and provides options for addressing each component within the Assessment of Fair Housing (within the Housing Element). It consists of mapped data layers in six categories:

Fair Housing Enforcement and Outreach Capacity
Segregation and Integration
Disparities in Access to Opportunity
Disproportionate Housing Needs/Displacement Risk
Racially Concentrated Areas of Poverty and Affluence
Supplemental Data
The interactive maps can be explored in any internet browser and exported as a PDF, jpeg, and other image files. In addition, the underlying data layers can be downloaded for offline data analysis. HCD plans to continuously update these map layers and add additional data, as well as incorporate user feedback. Comments can be submitted to [email protected].
6/6/22, 1:37 PM Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing - Hayward Housing and Climate Update https://haywardhousingandclimateupdate.com/affirmatively-furthering-fair-housing/ 4/7 affordability in areas of high opportunity and outside of areas of concentrated poverty. Examples include:

Voucher mobility;
Housing mobility counseling;
City-wide affordable rental registries;
Landlord outreach to expand the location of participating voucher properties;
Assistance with security deposits and moving expenses;
Extend search times for particular groups such as larger families with children or persons with disabilities;
Regional cooperation and administration of vouchers (such as through portability and shared waiting lists);
Affirmative marketing can be targeted at promoting equal access to government-assisted housing or to promote housing outside the immediate neighborhood to increase awareness and the diversity of individuals in the neighborhood;
Collaborate with high performing school districts to promote a diversity of students and staff to serve lower income students; Developing multifamily housing opportunities;
Encouraging the development of four or more units in a building; and
Accessibility programs focus on improving access to housing, public buildings and facilities, sidewalks, pedestrian crossings, and businesses
Zoning, permit streamlining, fees, incentives and other approaches to increase housing choices and affordability (e.g., duplex, triplex, multifamily, accessory dwelling units, transitional and supportive housing) in high opportunity areas;
Target housing creation or mixed income strategies (e.g., funding, incentives, policies and programs, density bonuses, land banks, housing trust funds);
Inclusionary requirements;
Scattered site affordable development;
Targeted investment and programs, including sweat equity, down payment assistance, new rental construction;
Accessibility modification programs;
6/6/22, 1:37 PM Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing - Hayward Housing and Climate Update https://haywardhousingandclimateupdate.com/affirmatively-furthering-fair-housing/ 5/7 Leveraging in-home or community based supportive services; and
Develop a campaign to combat local opposition
Which strategies encourage
community conservation and
revitalization?
Place-based Strategies to Encourage Community Conservation and Revitalization involves approaches that are focused on conserving and improving assets in areas of lower opportunity and concentrated poverty such as targeted investment in neighborhood revitalization, preserving or rehabbing existing affordable housing, improving infrastructure, schools, employment, parks, transportation and other community amenities.

Examples include:

Target investment in areas of most need focused on improving community assets such as schools, recreational facilities and programs, social service programs, parks, streets, active transportation and infrastructure;
Develop a proactive code enforcement program that targets areas of concentrated rehabilitation needs, results in repairs and mitigates potential cost, displacement and relocation impacts on resident;
Dedicate or seek funding to prioritize basic infrastructure improvements (e.g., water, sewer) in disadvantaged
communities;
Address negative environmental, neighborhood, housing and health impacts associated with siting and operation of land uses such as industrial, agricultural, waste storage, energy production, etc. in disadvantaged communities;
Target acquisition and rehabilitation to vacant and blighted properties in neighborhoods of concentrated poverty;
6/6/22, 1:37 PM Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing - Hayward Housing and Climate Update https://haywardhousingandclimateupdate.com/affirmatively-furthering-fair-housing/ 6/7 Inter-governmental coordination on areas of high need;
Prioritized capital improvement programs;
Develop new financing;
Recruit residents from areas of concentrated poverty to serve on boards, committees, task forces and other local government decision-making bodies;
Catalyze leadership and future community wide decision-makers including affirmative recruitment in hiring practices;
Leverage private investment for community revitalization, including philanthropic; and
Expand access to community meetings, including addressing language barriers, meeting times
Which programs present
displacement?
Protecting Existing Residents from Displacement comprises strategies that protects residents in areas of lower or moderate opportunity and concentrated poverty and preserves housing choices and affordability.

Examples include:

First right of return to existing residents policies that include moving expenses;
Multi-lingual tenant legal counseling;
Affirmative marketing strategies or plans targeting nearby neighborhoods, a Disadvantaged Community or a Low-Income Community;
Replacement housing requirements in targeted growth areas such as transit stations, transit corridors, job and housing rich areas, downtowns and revitalization areas or policies on sites identified to accommodate the housing needs of lower income households;
Rent stabilization programs beyond what is required by California Civil Code 1946.2;
Just cause eviction or other efforts improving tenant stability beyond what is required by California Civil Code 1946.2; 6/6/22, 1:37 PM Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing - Hayward Housing and Climate Update https://haywardhousingandclimateupdate.com/affirmatively-furthering-fair-housing/ 7/7 Policies to preserve Single Room Occupancy (SRO) housing or mobile home parks;
Condominium conversion restrictions;
Land banking programs actively receiving funding;
Community benefit zoning and/or other land value recapture strategy;
Rent review board and/or mediation, foreclosure assistance, or multilingual tenant legal counseling services;
Density bonus ordinances that expand on state replacement requirements;
Implementation of an overlay zone to protect and assist small businesses;
Establishment of a small business advocate office and single point of contact for every small business owner;
Creation and maintenance of a small business alliance;
Increased visibility of the jurisdiction’s small business assistance programs;
Formal program to ensure that some fraction of a jurisdiction’s purchases of goods and services come from local businesses; Prioritization of Minority and Women Business Enterprises (MWBE) for public contracting.

Thumbnail from Housing Educational Videos

Gallery Event Posters in English and Spanish

HISTORY OF HAYWARD
Before the 1700s:

Indigenous
Communities
The Ohlone are the predominant
Indigenous group of the Bay Area,
including the Chochenyo and the Karkin
in East Bay and the Muwekma tribe
throughout the region.

Ohlone were hunters and gatherers.

The Yrgin and Tuiban who lived in the
areas that became Hayward used the salt
ponds to cure hides and preserve food.1
1700s through 1800s:

Missions and Rancheros
In the late 1700s, Spanish explorers
threatened Ohlone existence and
culture due to exposure to European
diseases, harsh living conditions, and
forced cultural and religious assimilation
through its Missions.

In the early 1800s, California was claimed
as part of the Mexican Republic. The
Mexican government provided large
land grants to individuals including
the area that became Hayward and
surrounding lands.

Mid-1800s:

California &
Hayward
California joined the Union
in 1850.

William Hayward purchased
a portion of Rancho San Lorenzo
and built a general store at the
corner of A Street and Mission Blvd.

In 1868, the Southern segment
of the Hayward Fault ruptured,
triggering a M7.0 earthquake.

Nearly every building in the
Hayward area was destroyed
or significantly damaged in the
earthquake.

Hayward was incorporated in 1876.
1930s through 1940s:

Mid-Century Migration
Job opportunities in California and the
Bay Area encouraged waves of migration.

Generally, African Americans worked
in factories and shipyards and Mexican
migrants worked in agriculture as part
of the Bracero program.

Between 1940 and 1960, the population
of Hayward grew from 6,736 to 72,700
people, similar to the population boom
throughout the Bay Area and California.2
Practices such as redlining3 and racial
covenants, directed people of color to certain
neighborhoods and limited bank loans to
purchase property. Housing discrimination led
to people of color moving into unincorporated
neighborhoods surrounding Hayward, such
as Russell City (the present-day area between
Chabot College and Hayward Airport) and
Kelly Hill (Fairview).

Between 1942 and 1945, more than 600
Japanese Americans, or 150 families, from
the area were forced to leave their homes
and businesses and were detained in 10
internment camps throughout the
Western U.S.4,5
1950s through 1970s:

Civil Rights and Social
Justice Movements
California and Bay Area population
continued to grow but jobs decreased
after the war effort. Housing options
continued to not meet community
needs.

Civil Rights and social justice established
national and state policies, including
the Civil Rights Act, Fair Housing Act,
Voting Rights Act, and the California
Environmental Quality Act.

During this era, government actions,
such as urban renewal, displaced
communities of color and segregated
neighborhoods throughout California.

For example, a nearby community called
Russell City, which was home to African
American, Latinx/Latine, and low-income
residents, was added to Hayward’s
boundary. This process displaced these
residents when the area was redeveloped
into an industrial center.
1980s to today:

Modern Era
The economy and workforce
characteristics changed as traditional
manufacturing was replaced with
technology, service, and
supporting economies.

Limited housing options in California
continue to result in increased housing
costs. Government actions and lack
of affordable housing options have
led to segregation, gaps in wealth and
homeownership, and unequal health
impacts for communities of color.

The City of Hayward is currently the
sixth-largest city in the Bay Area with
approximately 159,000 residents and
an increasingly diverse population.

Hayward is experiencing gentrification,
displacement, and loss of communities
of color similar to surrounding Bay Area
communities.

Photo credits to the Hayward Area Historical Society. | 1Wilkinson, Megan. 2002. What Ever Happened to Russell City? & Sandoval, John. 1945. “Brief History of Hayward.” The Hayward Journal. | 2Bay Area Census. 2021. http://www.bayareacensus.ca.gov/cities/Hayward50.htm | 3Redlining is the systematic denial of various services by agencies of the federal government, local governments, and the private sector, either directly or through selective price increases. https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redlining#cite_note-2 | 4This data encompasses people who lived in Hayward, Castro Valley, San Lorenzo, San Leandro, Mt. Eden, Ashland, and Cherryland. | 5Japanese American Internment. 2021. https://www.britannica.com/event/Japanese-American-internment | 6The Ohlone of California, Jack S. Williams (2003). Ohlone House, de Saisset Museum, Santa Clara University. | 7The Ohlone of California, Jack S. Williams (2003). Mission de San Francisco de Asis.

HOUSING IN HAYWARD
Housing Crisis
The Bay Area’s housing aﬀordability crisis is
decades in the making. There is not enough
housing which causes prices to increase. This
hits low-income households the hardest.

People are spending more and more of
their income on housing and less on other
basic needs.

What is a Housing Element?
The Housing Element is a chapter of the General
Plan that is required by the State. It is a guide that
helps a City think about what types of housing exists
and what types of housing programs are needed
to help its community members. Hayward last
updated its Housing Element in 2014 and is now
due for an update on other basic needs.

What does a Housing Element include?
Demographics &
Housing Stock
Characteristics
Resources, Objectives,
& Programs to Address
Housing Needs
Government &
Non-Governmental
Constraints
Housing Preservation,
Future Housing
Needs, & RHNA
Requirements
How does the Housing Element help
with the housing crisis?
The Regional Housing Needs Assessment requires that cities and unincorporated areas of counties to plan for new housing to accommodate projected growth. HCD identiﬁes the number of housing units needed across all income levels for the San Francisco Bay Area for the eight-year RHNA cycle. As part of the Housing Element, the State determines:
• How much housing needs to be built in each City.
• The income levels new housing needs to serve.

These become goals for the City. The City then has to try to encourage development to meet the goals set by the State. To meet the housing goals, the Bay Area Council of Governments (COG) assigned 4,624 units to Hayward. The City must now ﬁnd places where developers can build 4,624 homes. The locations must be available throughout the City. The City must also make sure the local laws and requirements don’t prevent homes from being built.

Community
Proﬁle
Housing
Constraints
Community
Plan
Housing
Resources
$$$

91.5% of Hayward renters
and 77.7% of Hayward
homeowners spend
more than 30% of their
income on rent.

Hayward oﬀers a variety
of housing types including
single family homes, duplex
triplex, apartments, and
condominiums.

The most common type
of housing in Hayward
is single family homes.

A little over half of homes
in Hayward are occupied
by owners.

Most of the housing stock
was built in 1960 – 1979.
‘60-’79
For more information
scan the QR code to
visit our website!Please send all housing questions and comments to: [email protected] Climate Change
Impacts
*The City of Hayward’s goals are to
reduce emissions by 55% by 2030 and
achieve carbon neutrality by 2045.

Carbon neutrality means net zero
community GHG emissions by reducing
existing GHG emissions and balancing
remaining emissions using new
technology and strategies.

CLIMATE CHANGE IN HAYWARD
Hayward’s 2019 Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Climate Action Plan Process
On-Road
Transportation
64%
Electricity
2%
Natural
Gas
22%
Oﬀ-Road
Transportation
6%
Waste
6%
Please send all climate questions and comments to: [email protected] Increased Risk
of Wildﬁre
Intese Rain
and Flooding
Higher Energy
Costs
$$$
Worsened
Air Quality
Problems
Extended Periods
of Drought
Higher
Temperatures
Damage to
Property
Poorer Human
Health
Scan the QR code
to tell your
Climate Story.

Baseline
Inventory
Forecast
Emissions
Adopt
Target
Strategy
Selection
Spring 2022:

Community Activity
Funding &
Implementation
Monitor & Track
Progress
#2#1 #3 #4 #5 #6
ROADMAP TO CARBON NEUTRALITY*

ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE IN HAYWARD
Promote Safe &
Sanitary Homes
Promote Access
to Healthy Foods
Promote Physical
Activity
Reduce Pollution
Exposure
Promote Access
to Public Facilities
Promote Civic
Engagement
For more information
scan the QR code to
visit our website!Please send all environmental justice questions and comments to [email protected]

ENVIRONMENTAL

JUSTICE
Environmental justice is deﬁned by the State as,
“the fair treatment and meaningful involvement
of people of all races, cultures and incomes as
part of the development and implementation of
environmental laws and policies.” Environmental
justice provides an important opportunity to
alleviate problems that previous government
activities have not addressed. As part of this update,
the City will include a new Environmental Justice
chapter in the General Plan.

IDENTIFYING

UNEQUAL IMPACTS
While pollution impacts all communities,
low-income persons and communities of color
experience those impacts at a higher rate.

Historically in the United States, low-income and
minority communities tend to be located closer
to toxic or polluted environments including toxic
waste-producing businesses, landﬁlls, and energy
facilities. These facilities cause health issues for
nearby communities. Environmental justice shines
a light on these issues and ﬁghts abuses and biased
practices against these disadvantaged communities.

Disadvantaged communities suﬀer the most from
economic, health, and environmental issues. These
problems can include poverty, unemployment,
air and water pollution, exposure to hazardous
chemicals, and health impacts such as high rates
of asthma and heart disease, among others.

NEW ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE ELEMENT
The new Environmental Justice Element will seek to create goals and policies to:

SAFETY, HAZARDS, AND ADAPTATION IN HAYWARD
The Safety Element will cover hazards related to Seal Level Rise, Floods, Tsunamis, Earthquakes and Wildﬁres.

Need TextUrban ﬂooding, is ﬂooding
that occurs after periods of
extended, high intensity rainfall
in developed, populated areas.

Urban ﬂooding
Tsunami Wildﬁres
Sea Level Rise
A tsunami is a long high
sea wave caused by
an earthquake or
other disturbance.

A wildﬁre is an unplanned,
unwanted, uncontrolled ﬁre
in an area of combustible
vegetation starting in rural
areas and urban areas.

An earthquake is a sudden and
violent shaking of the ground
caused by the earth’s crust moving.

An earthquake may cause events,
including tsunamis, landslides,
and liquefaction.

Earthquakes
Please send all Safety Element questions and comments to: [email protected] For more information
scan the QR code to
visit our website!
How to Get Involved
and Learn More
The City of Hayward is
updating key elements
of the City’s General Plan
and we want to hear from
you! This website provides
all the information you will
need to stay up to date and
provide feedback on the
project, including upcoming
community events, City
public meetings, reports
and resources, and other
opportunities.

Sea Levels, which are impacted
by global warming, are
projected to rise by at least
55 inches during the next 100
years. As sea levels rise, the
Hayward shoreline, as well as
industrial, commercial, and
residential areas along creeks
and drainage ways, will become
more and more vulnerable to
water inundation during both
normal high tides and ﬂooding
during major storm events.

To learn more about potential
impacts of sea level rise in
Hayward, please read the
Hayward Regional Shoreline
Adaptation Master Plan.
https://www.hayward-ca.gov/
shoreline-master-plan
Rising Sea Level

HISTORIA DE HAYWARD
Antes del año 1700:

Comunidades
indígenas
Los Ohlone son el grupo indígena
predominante del Área de la Bahía,
incluyendo los Chochenyo y los Karkin en
el Este de la Bahía y la tribu Muwekma en
toda la región.

Los Ohlone eran cazadores y recolectores.

Los Yrgin y los Tuiban que vivían en las
zonas que se convirtieron en Hayward,
utilizaban los estanques de sal para curar
las pieles y conservar los alimentos.1
De 1700 a 1800:

Misiones y Rancheros
A finales de los años 1700, los exploradores
españoles amenazaron la existencia y
la cultura de los Ohlone exponiéndolos
a enfermedades europeas, las duras
condiciones de vida y la asimilación cultural
y religiosa forzada a través de las Misiones.

A principios de los años 1800, California
fue reclamada como parte de la República
Mexicana. El gobierno mexicano otorgó
grandes concesiones de tierra a individuos,
incluyendo el área que se convirtió en
Hayward y las tierras de alrededor.

Mediados de los
años 1800:

California y Hayward
California se unió a la Unión en 1850.

William Hayward compró una
porción del Rancho San Lorenzo
y construyó un almacén general
en la esquina de A Street y Mission
Boulevard.

En 1868, el segmento sur de la
Falla Sísmica de Hayward tuvo una
ruptura, provocando un terremoto
de 7.0 de magnitud. Casi todos los
edificios de la zona de Hayward
fueron destruidos o sufrieron daños
importantes a causa del terremoto.

Hayward se incorporó en el año
de 1876.

Periodo de los años
1930 a 1940:

Migración de mediados
de siglo
Las oportunidades de trabajo en California
y el Área de la Bahía fomentaron las olas de
migración. Generalmente, los afroamericanos
trabajaban en fábricas y astilleros y los migrantes
mexicanos trabajaban en la agricultura como
parte del programa Bracero.

Entre 1940 y 1960, la población de Hayward
creció de 6 736 a 72 700 personas, de forma
similar al auge demográfico de toda el Área
de la Bahía y California.2
Prácticas como el “redlining”3 y los convenios
raciales dirigieron a la gente de color a ciertos
vecindarios y limitaron los préstamos bancarios
para comprar propiedades. La discriminación en
temas de vivienda hizo que la gente de color se
trasladara a los vecindarios no incorporados que
rodeaban Hayward, como Russell City (la zona
actual entre el Chabot College y el aeropuerto
de Hayward) y Kelly Hill (Fairview).

Entre 1942 y 1945, más de 600 japoneses-
americanos, o 150 familias de la zona de
Hayward y los alrededores se vieron obligados
a abandonar sus hogares y negocios y fueron
recluidos en 10 campos de internamiento
repartidos por el oeste de Estados Unidos.4,5
Décadas de 1950 a 1970:

Movimientos de
derechos civiles
y justicia social
La población de California y del Área de la
Bahía continuó creciendo, pero los trabajos
disminuyeron después de la industria
relacionada con los esfuerzos de guerra.

Las opciones de vivienda seguían sin
satisfacer las necesidades de la comunidad.

Los derechos civiles y la justicia social
establecieron políticas nacionales y estatales,
como la Ley de Derechos Civiles, la Ley de
Vivienda Justa, la Ley de Derecho al Voto
y la Ley de Calidad Ambiental de California.

Durante esta época, acciones del gobierno
como la renovación urbana desplazaron a
las comunidades de color y segregaron los
vecindarios de toda California. Por ejemplo,
una comunidad cercana llamada Russell City,
que albergaba a residentes afroamericanos,
latinos y de bajos ingresos, fue agregada a los
límites de Hayward. Este proceso desplazó
a estos residentes cuando la zona fue
remodelada para convertirse en un centro
industrial.

Desde la década de
1980 hasta hoy:

Época moderna
La economía y las características de la
mano de obra cambiaron a medida que
los métodos de fabricación tradicional
fueron reemplazados por la tecnología,
los servicios y las economías de apoyo.

Las limitadas opciones de vivienda en
California siguen causando un aumento
de los costos de vivienda. Las acciones del
gobierno y la falta de opciones de vivienda
económica han llevado a la segregación,
a desigualdades económicas y en la
propiedad de la vivienda, y a impactos
desiguales de salud para las comunidades
de color.

La ciudad de Hayward es actualmente
la sexta ciudad más grande del Área de
la Bahía, con aproximadamente 159 000
residentes y una población cada vez
más diversa.

Hayward está experimentando la
gentrificación, el desplazamiento y la
pérdida de comunidades de color de forma
similar a las comunidades que rodean el
Área de la Bahía.
1Fotos: cortesía de la Sociedad Histórica del Área de Hayward (Hayward Area Historical Society). | 2Censo del Área de la Bahía. 2021. http://www.bayareacensus.ca.gov/cities/Hayward50.htm | 3Redlining: “la negación sistemática de varios servicios por agencias del gobierno federal, gobiernos locales, y el sector privado, o directamente o a través del aumento selectivo de precios”. https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redlining#cite_note-2 | 4Estos datos incluyen a las personas que vivían en Hayward, Castro Valley, San Lorenzo, San Leandro, Mt. Eden, Ashland y Cherryland. Por supuesto, había más japoneses viviendo en la zona, pero algunas personas se marcharon y se trasladaron más al interior antes de la llamada final de traslado. | 5Internamiento de los Japoneses Americanos. 2021. https://www.britannica.com/event/Japanese-American-internment | 6El Ohlone de California, Jack S. Williams (2003). Casa Ohlone, Museo de Saisset, Universidad de Santa Clara. | 7El Ohlone de California, Jack S. Williams (2003). Misión de San Francisco de Asis.

LA VIVIENDA EN HAYWARD
La Crisis de Vivienda
La crisis por la falta de viviendas económicas
en el Área de la Bahía ha existido por varias décadas.

No hay suﬁcientes viviendas, lo que hace que los
precios aumenten. Esto afecta sobre todo a los
hogares de bajos ingresos.

Las personas están teniendo que usar más de sus
ingresos para pagar por su vivienda, dejándoles
menos dinero para cubrir otras necesidades básicas.
¿Qué es el Elemento
de Vivienda?
El Elemento de Vivienda es un capítulo del Plan General requerido por el Estado. Es una guía que ayuda a la alcaldía de una ciudad a pensar qué tipo de vivienda existe y qué tipo de programas de vivienda se necesitan para ayudar a los miembros de su comunidad. Hayward actualizó por última
vez su Elemento de Vivienda en el año 2014 y
ahora se debe actualizar de nuevo.
¿Qué incluye un Elemento de Vivienda?
Demografía y
características
del parque de
viviendas
Recursos, objetivos y
programas para abordar
las necesidades de vivienda
Limitaciones
gubernamentales y
no gubernamentales
Preservación de la
vivienda, necesidades
futuras de vivienda y
requisitos de RHNA
¿Cómo ayuda el Elemento de Vivienda
a la crisis de vivienda?
Preservación de la vivienda, necesidades futuras de vivienda y requisitos del RHNA (“Regional Housing Needs Assessment” o Evaluación de las Necesidades de Vivienda Regional). RHNA requiere que las ciudades y las áreas no incorporadas de los condados tengan un plan para construir nueva vivienda y así responder al crecimiento proyectado para el futuro. El Departamento de Vivienda y Desarrollo Comunitario de California (California Department of Housing and Community Development, abreviado HCD) identiﬁca el número de unidades de Vivienda que se necesitan para todos los niveles de ingreso para el Área de la Bahía de San Francisco para el ciclo de ocho años de RHNA. Con respecto al Elemento de Vivienda, el estado determina:
- Cuántas viviendas deben construirse en cada ciudad
- Los niveles de ingresos a los cuales las nuevas viviendas deben hacerse asequibles Estos se convierten en objetivos para la ciudad. La ciudad debe intentar fomentar el desarrollo y la construcción de viviendas para alcanzar los objetivos ﬁjados por el Estado. Para cumplir los objetivos de vivienda, el Consejo de Gobiernos del Área de la Bahía (Bay Area Council of Governments abreviado COG) asignó 4,624 unidades a Hayward. La ciudad debe ahora encontrar lugares donde los promotores puedan construir 4,624 viviendas. Las ubicaciones deben estar disponibles en toda la ciudad. La ciudad también debe asegurarse de que las leyes y requisitos locales no impidan la construcción de viviendas.

Perﬁl de
la comunidad
Limitaciones
en temas de
vivienda
Plan
comunitario
Recursos
de vivienda
$$$
El 91,5% de los inquilinos de
Hayward y el 77,7% de los
propietarios de viviendas de
Hayward gastan más del 30%
de sus ingresos en el alquiler.

Hayward ofrece una variedad
de tipos de vivienda,
incluyendo casas unifamiliares,
dúplex, triplex, departamentos/
apartamentos y condominios.

El tipo de vivienda más
común en Hayward son
las casas unifamiliares.

Un poco más de la
mitad de los hogares en
Hayward están ocupados
por los propietarios.

La mayoría de las
viviendas fueron
construidas entre
1960 y 1979.
‘60-’79
Para más información,
escanee el código
QR para visitar
nuestro sitio web. Por favor, envíe todas las preguntas y comentarios sobre el tema de la vivienda a: [email protected] Impactos del
Cambio Climático
*La Ciudad de Hayward ha establecido una meta
para reducir las emisiones de gases de efecto
invernadero en un 55% para el año 2030, y para
lograr la neutralidad del carbono para el año
2045. La neutralidad de carbono signiﬁca lograr
cero emisiones de gases de efecto invernadero
en la comunidad, lo cual se lograría reduciendo
las emisiones existentes y balanceando las
emisiones residuales a través del uso de la
tecnología y otras estrategias.

EL CAMBIO CLIMÁTICO EN HAYWARD
Las emisiones de gases de efecto invernadero de Hayward en el año de 2019 Proceso de actualización del Plan de Acción Climática
Vehículos de
transporte
privado y público
64%
Electricidad
2%
Gas
Natural
22%
vehículos de carga,
construcción,
y recreación
6%
Desechos/
Residuos
6%
Por favor envíenos sus preguntas o comentarios acerca del cambio climático y la acción climática a:
[email protected]
Mayor riesgo
de incendios
forestales
Lluvias e
inundaciones
intensas
Costos
energéticos
elevados
$$$
Empeoramiento
de la calidad
del aire
Periodos de
sequía extendidos
Temperaturas
más altas
Daños a la
propiedad
privada y pública
Empeoramiento
de la salud
humana
Para más
información, visite
nuestro sitio web.

Inventario de
emisiones y
línea base
Pronóstico
de emisiones
Adoptar una
meta de
reducción de
emisiones
Sección de
estrategia
Primavera del año
2022: Actividades
comunitarias
Financiación e
implementación
Evaluación y
seguimiento de
los avances
#2#1 #3 #4 #5 #6
EL CAMINO HACIA LA NEUTRALIDAD DE CARBONO*

JUSTICIA AMBIENTAL EN HAYWARD
Promover
viviendas seguras
y sanitarias
Promover el
acceso a alimentos
saludables
Promover
la actividad
física
Reducir la
exposición a la
contaminación
Promover el acceso
a las instalaciones
públicas
Promover el
compromiso
cívico
Por favor, envíe todas las preguntas y comentarios sobre justicia ambiental a: [email protected]

JUSTICIA AMBIENTAL
El Estado deﬁne la Justicia Ambiental como "el trato
justo y la participación signiﬁcativa de personas de
todas las razas, culturas e ingresos en el desarrollo y la aplicación de leyes y políticas del medio ambiente".

La Justicia Ambiental ofrece una importante
oportunidad para aliviar los problemas que actividades
gubernamentales no han abordado en el pasado. Como
parte de esta actualización, la ciudad incluirá un nuevo capítulo sobre Justicia Ambiental en el Plan General.

IDENTIFICACIÓN DE LOS

IMPACTOS DESIGUALES DE
LA CONTAMINACIÓN EN

DIFERENTES COMUNIDADES
Si bien la contaminación afecta a todas las comunidades, las personas de bajos ingresos y las comunidades de
color viven esos impactos en mayor medida.

Históricamente en los Estados Unidos, las comunidades
de bajos ingresos y pertenecientes a minorías tienden
a estar ubicadas más cerca de ambientes tóxicos o
contaminados, incluyendo empresas productoras de
desechos tóxicos, vertederos e instalaciones de energía.

Estas instalaciones causan problemas de salud a las
comunidades cercanas. La Justicia Ambiental expone
estos problemas y lucha contra los abusos y las prácticas sesgadas contra estas comunidades desfavorecidas.

Las comunidades desfavorecidas son las que más sufren
los problemas económicos, sanitarios y ambientales.

Estos problemas pueden incluir la pobreza, el
desempleo, la contaminación del aire y el agua,
la exposición a sustancias químicas peligrosas y los
impactos en la salud, así como las altas tasas de asma
y enfermedades cardíacas, entre otros.

NUEVO ELEMENTO DE JUSTICIA AMBIENTAL
El nuevo Elemento de Justicia Ambiental tratará de crear objetivos y políticas para:

Escanee el código QR
para contarnos su
historia relacionada con
el cambio climático.

SEGURIDAD, RIESGOS Y ADAPTACIÓN EN HAYWARD
Need TextLas inundaciones urbanas
ocurren tras periodos
prolongados de lluvias de
gran intensidad en zonas
desarrolladas y pobladas.

Inundaciones urbanas
Tsunami Incendios Forestales
Sea Level Rise
Un tsunami es una ola marina
larga y alta causada por un
terremoto u otra perturbación.

Un incendio forestal es un fuego
no planiﬁcado, no deseado y no
controlado en una zona de
vegetación combustible que se
inicia en zonas rurales y urbanas.

Un terremoto es una sacudida
repentina y violenta del suelo causada
por el movimiento de la corteza
terrestre. Un terremoto puede
provocar sucesos como tsunamis,
deslizamientos de tierra y licuefacción.

Terremotos
Por favor, envíe todas las preguntas y comentarios sobre los Elementos de Seguridad a: [email protected] Para más información,
escanee el código QR
para visitar nuestro
sitio web.

Cómo Participar
y Aprender más
La ciudad de Hayward está
actualizando los elementos
clave del Plan General de la
ciudad y nos gustaría oír de
usted. Este sitio web
proporciona toda la información
que usted necesitará para poder
mantenerse al día y hacer
comentarios sobre el proyecto.

Esta información incluye los
próximos eventos de la
comunidad, las reuniones
públicas de la ciudad, los
informes y los recursos,
y otras oportunidades.

Se estima que el nivel del mar
aumentará por lo menos 55 pulgadas
durante los próximos 100 años
debido al calentamiento global.

A medida que el nivel del mar
aumente, la línea de costa de
Hayward, así como las zonas
industriales, comerciales y
residenciales a lo largo de los arroyos
y las vías de drenaje, serán cada vez
más vulnerables a las inundaciones
durante las mareas altas normales y
durante tormentas mayores.

Para saber más sobre los posibles
impactos del aumento del nivel
del mar en Hayward, lea el Plan
Maestro de Adaptación de la
Línea de Costa de Hayward.
https://www.hayward-ca.gov/
shoreline-master-plan
Aumento del
nivel del mar
El Elemento de Seguridad cubrirá los riesgos relacionados con el aumento del nivel del mar, las inundaciones, los tsunamis, los terremotos y los incendios forestales.

Chabot Interviews Hayward Housing Report 2022
Hayward Housing Project
Final Report
Prepared by Teach Earth Action
for the City of Hayward Housing Element

1. Very brief description of scope of work in contract:

In Spring 2022, Teach Earth Action (TEA) and city of Hayward staff collaborated to develop a series of questions and field research protocols for investigating Housing in Hayward. Chabot College English students then conducted 400 interviews with Hayward residents. Students obtained a wide range of demographic data from each interviewee as well as asking them 18 separate questions. These interviews were recorded and transcribed into spreadsheets. TEA and Chabot students pored over this material to tease out trends and concepts. Equipped with this knowledge, students wrote research papers that explored these trends. Once these essays were completed, students then took a deeper dive into one concept of their choice, and created graphic design presentations that showcased their findings.

2. Dates of contract: The work took place Spring semester. January 15 to June 1st.

3. Total contract amount: $10,000

4. Number of classes and students that participated in this effort: 5 classes representing approximately 75 students.

5. List of interview questions:

First please ask the interviewee these Demographic questions ● Where does interviewee live--including their cross street ● Interviewee's first name
● interviewee's age
● interviewee's ethnicity
● interviewee's gender
● How long have you lived in Hayward?
● What is your living situation? Apartment… Duplex… Single-family home…Homeless... Other ● How many people including you are in your living situation? ● How many different families are in your living situation? Next please ask these 13 questions.

1. What are three words you would use to describe your current living situation ? Please talk about why you chose each word.

2. On a scale of 1-5 (1 being not important and 5 being very important), rank how important each of these assets in Hayward are to you:
● Downtown / B street (1-5)
● Schools (1-5)
● Churches (1-5)
● Libraries (1-5)
● Parks, (1-5)
● Transit (1-5)
● Jobs (1-5)

3. How much do you worry about being evicted or losing your living situation? Do you think your housing costs too much? Why or why not?

4. What is your experience with individuals facing homelessness in Hayward?

5. Talk in detail about your relationship with your neighbors.

6. . When it comes to housing, have you ever felt discriminated against or treated unfairly based on your ethnicity?

7. Do you notice areas in Hayward where there is more segregation? Or more people living in poverty than in other areas? If so, which areas? What do you notice about these higher poverty areas? 8 . Please describe some good memories you have of where you live?

9. What would you change about your living situation and why? What is preventing you from making these changes? What support would you need to make those changes?

10. What environmental or pollution issues do you face where you live? What is preventing you from solving these issues? What support do you need to change these issues?

11. When it comes to high quality jobs, is Hayward a place you would look? Why or why not?

12. What song encapsulates living in Hayward? Why?

13. What is your biggest hope or dream when it comes to your living situation? What's preventing you from achieving your hope or dream? What support would you need to make it happen?

6. Description of how students outreached to interviewees:Students were expected to conduct 6-7 interviews with residents of Hayward. They found their interviewees in various ways: through friends or family; at work; through social media; at school.

Students were told to choose interviewees from a wide range of ages. Students were also given extensive training and feedback in how to conduct effective interviews.

7. Interview dates: Interviews were conducted during the month of February.

8. Methodology for recording and transcribing and organizing interview data:

Students were trained in using Otter, a transcription software. Otter records an audio file and also provides a written transcription of the interview. The transcripts were uploaded into Google Forms and Google Sheets. Once uploaded, students could filter the content by concept, interviewee, or question. For questions that generated quantitative or numerical replies, we prepared charts and graphs to capture trends.

9. Total number of individuals interviewed: 402 Hayward residents were interviewed.

10. Process for fact checking corrections to voice transcription issues: Students understood that although Otter does a really good job in accurately capturing what interviewees said, students knew they still needed to go through each transcript and fix any Otter errors so that interviewees' words were accurately transcribed.

Table of Contents
Acknowledgements...........................................................................................................................................4 Executive Analysis...............................................................................................................................................5 3 Words....................................................................................................................................................................17 Observations.....................................................................................................................................................18 Residents Speak..............................................................................................................................................19 Community Assets...........................................................................................................................................21 Ranking................................................................................................................................................................22 Residents Speak: Schools.........................................................................................................................23 Residents Speak: Jobs...............................................................................................................................24 Residents Speak: Downtown..................................................................................................................25 Residents Speak: Parks..............................................................................................................................26 Residents Speak: Transit...........................................................................................................................27 Residents Speak: Libraries.......................................................................................................................28 Residents Speak: Churches....................................................................................................................29 Eviction....................................................................................................................................................................30 Observations.....................................................................................................................................................31 Residents Speak.............................................................................................................................................32 Excerpts Student Essays............................................................................................................................35 Further Exploration........................................................................................................................................38 Homelessness....................................................................................................................................................39 Observations...................................................................................................................................................40 Residents Speak..............................................................................................................................................41 Excerpts Student Essays............................................................................................................................43 Further Exploration........................................................................................................................................46 Neighbors..............................................................................................................................................................47 Observations...................................................................................................................................................48 Residents Speak............................................................................................................................................50 Excerpts Student Essays............................................................................................................................52 Further Exploration........................................................................................................................................58

Table of Contents
Discrimination....................................................................................................................................................59 Observations...................................................................................................................................................60 Residents Speak............................................................................................................................................62 Excerpts Student Essays...........................................................................................................................64 Further Exploration........................................................................................................................................68 Segregation.........................................................................................................................................................69 Observations...................................................................................................................................................70 Residents Speak.............................................................................................................................................72 Excerpts Student Essays............................................................................................................................74 Further Exploration........................................................................................................................................76 Pollution..................................................................................................................................................................77 Observations....................................................................................................................................................78 Residents Speak............................................................................................................................................80 Excerpts Student Essays............................................................................................................................82 Further Exploration........................................................................................................................................86 Jobs....................................................................................................................................................................87 Observations...................................................................................................................................................88 Residents Speak............................................................................................................................................90 Excerpts Student Essays............................................................................................................................92 Further Exploration........................................................................................................................................94 Memories...............................................................................................................................................................95 Observations...................................................................................................................................................96 Residents Speak.............................................................................................................................................97 Excerpts Student Essays............................................................................................................................99 Dreams...................................................................................................................................................................101 Observations..................................................................................................................................................102 Residents Speak...........................................................................................................................................103

Songs.....................................................................................................................................................................105 Residents' Playlist.........................................................................................................................................106

Towards Recommendations...................................................................................................................109

Acknowledegements
The Teach Earth Action team wishes to thank the city of Hayward staff for their guidance and support in doing this project. We are especially grateful to Leigha Schmidt and Tim Lohnes for their vision and creativity in helping to shape this work. We also appreciate the support of the Hayward city council, the mayor, and city manager Kelly McAdoo. City of Hayward residents are truly fortunate to have such engaged professionals looking out for them.

This current project grows out of--and is informed by--the ongoing 5 year collaboration that we have been engaged in with the city of Hayward. We are grateful to the city staff who have shepherded those many earlier projects that have set the stage for this current endeavor. We extend our special thanks to Mary Thomas. None of this half decade of community outreach would have been possible without her.

TEA also wishes to thank the 400 Hayward residents who agreed to be interviewed. We are so grateful that they took the time out of their busy lives to help bring this project to life. In reading through all of their answers, we were amazed again and again how forthright, insightful, and concerned they are about their city. They love Hayward and root for its success, and their own that follows.

Finally, we want to thank the many Chabot College students who have been the tip of the spear for this project and indeed for all the projects and initiatives that we have engaged in with the city. It takes courage to put oneself out into the public sphere, and to engage with folks whom you may not even know. But these students time and again have done just that.

And then followed this up by researching, brainstorming, and writing long and involved essays. The combined length of all the Chabot students’ writing completed for this project is over 1600 pages. And every page is dedicated to coming to a deeper understanding about how to make Hayward the best city it can be.

Note: In this report, when talking about Hayward residents, we use the terms resident, interviewee, and community member interchangeably.

These interviews were all recorded and transcribed into spreadsheets. TEA and Chabot students pored over this raw material to tease out trends and concepts. Equipped with this knowledge, students wrote research papers that explored and expanded upon these trends. Once these essays were completed, students then took a deeper dive into one concept of their choice, and created graphic design presentations that showcased their findings.

The depth and breadth of the work that the students engaged in is truly massive. The combined page number of all the student essays equals 844 pages. The graphic design presentations total another 750 pages. The 400 interview transcripts total over 360,000 words–a sum greater than the combined word count of these 6 novels: Tom Sawyer, The Sun Also Rises, Color Purple, Carrie, A Clockwork Orange, Brave New World.

From this cornucopia of content, 5 core strengths emerge that contribute to the resiliency and adaptability of Hayward residents.

First, Hayward is one of the most diverse cities in the United States. Happily, residents of Hayward, who are the living embodiment of this diversity, are well aware of the city’s rich ethnic and immigrant tapestry. Residents take pride in it. They see it as a strength, and perhaps even as an antidote or buffer to any discrimination or racism they may encounter. That said—and as we have seen for ourselves in our 5 years of working closely with the city of Hayward to develop community initiatives—residents may not be entirely sure about how to fully leverage or activate this powerful tool of diversity. (We will be offering strategies for how to do this in the “Recommendations” section of this document.) The 2nd core strength we note is that Hayward residents are highly committed to supporting and uplifting their families. The word “family” comes up over 600 times in the interviews. “Kids” is referenced by interviewees 400 times, and “children” over 125.

This focus on family leads directly into a 3rd core strength, which is that Hayward community members are extremely hard working, and this is largely in service of family goals. As teachers at Chabot College, we have seen this for ourselves for decades. Nearly every student–the vast majority of whom live in Hayward–has a job, or even two or three. They talk all the time about needing to “help out the family” and they often talk about the difficult and strenuous jobs that their parents hold, or, worst case, how hard their parents are struggling to find a job. Many of our older students are parents themselves, and we marvel at how they too juggle long work weeks, childcare, and school work.

WHY residents have to work so hard to make ends meet is the central theme of this report: The high cost of housing impacts and even warps almost every aspect of life in Hayward.

TEA Executive Analysis
5 Executive Analysis
A 4th core strength we see in Hayward residents is a quiet stoicism in the face of the challenges we will be detailing in this report. As Carlo, a Chabot student, writes, “The Latino community suffers constant struggles and misfortunes in their daily lives. Despite this, they do not complain very much about it; they just keep it to themselves and continue with their daily efforts because they still have duties to fulfill. The average Hayward citizen would ask: how can they do it, to live in such precarious conditions, and still keep going? Well, the answer is pretty simple: their traditions and personality gives them hope that someday they will achieve their dreams….” Carlo is writing about Latino residents, but his words describe many who live in Hayward.

The 5th core strength holds all the other strengths inside it, and it is alluded to in Carlo’s quote: Hayward residents are very clear that what they seek is the American Dream. They want a safe and secure house for their “kids” and they would prefer to build this life in Hayward. When asked about their dreams for the future, of the 400 interviewees, at least 250 of them reference owning their own home. Many others who already do have a home dream about improving it, or fixing it up, or moving to a better home.

On the face of it, why shouldn't this dream be attainable? After all, this is the “American Dream”: a single family house, children, friendly neighbors next door, and a wider community that features assets and services that help support and bring this Dream to fruition.

The next sections of this executive analysis lay out some of the reasons why this Dream is NOT guaranteed to come true for many of Hayward’s residents.

No single resident, no single family–in fact, no single community–can hope to achieve the American Dream all on their own. The assets and services that are woven into any community play a role in smoothing out the vagaries of daily life, and in functioning essentially as problem solving tools. To ascertain how effective Hayward assets actually are, and what role they play in residents’ lives, with Question #2 of the survey Chabot students asked interviewees to quantify the importance of 7 different assets or services, and to also explain the reasoning behind their rankings.

The three community assets that scored the highest in importance–schools, jobs, and parks—all share a similar trend. What they have in common is that although the residents clearly see the crucial value of each of these 3 assets, residents are not all together certain that they are functioning as fully and effectively as possible to serve the needs of the community.

In the case of schools, many citizens perceive them as being plainly sub-par. Residents speak from personal experience in attending Hayward schools and from sending their children to them. They believe schools are underfunded and look “old and abandoned” as Hayward resident Bertha claims. Residents are well aware of the importance of education for getting good jobs and getting ahead, and thus they express frustration and even fear about what the consequences of bad schools have for their children’s futures.
6 Executive Analysis
When it comes to jobs, many Hayward residents are grateful that the city serves as a convenient hub from which they can commute to their job in another city. Yet, fully 75% of these interviewees–perhaps inaccurately–also do not believe the city offers the kind of quality, high paying jobs that residents need to cover high housing costs and overall cost of living challenges. It is almost as if it has not occurred to them to consider Hayward. So they look elsewhere for employment.

With parks, residents speak eloquently about their value and utility, and many of them do indeed integrate parks into their lives. Other residents, however, do not, because they say Hayward parks suffer from issues that make it unlikely they will spend time there. Residents cite homeless individuals, trash and litter, and worn out facilities as reasons not to visit the parks. In addition, many women are adamant that they do not feel safe going to parks, either alone or with their children. Of the 25 or so comments made about not feeling safe in parks, every one was made by a woman. (These trends track with those that we uncovered in the consultation work we did around parks in Summer 2021 for the city of Hayward.) The next four ranked assets–Transit, Library, Church, Downtown B Street–also share some trends in common. In the case of these 4, residents largely feel that these assets and services function well. There were noticeably fewer negative comments here than for the school/jobs/parks triad. That said, numerous community members shared that they do not take advantage of these assets as much as they might like, or that they think they should. They cite personal choice, geographic convenience–or lack thereof, and time constraints as reasons they do not take advantage of these 4 assets.

Chabot student Dena explores this disconnect between value and utilization in her presentation “Rediscovering the Hayward Library.” Dena writes, “Even though libraries ranked very important for most of the community sample, many had never even been to the library before. Stephen says, "I think libraries are very important. I value that as a feature of the community. Having said that, I haven't even been to the new library.” During one of our classes at Chabot, our teacher asked who had been to the new Hayward Public Library and not one person raised their hand. This was not surprising to me because, I too, had not been inside the new walls. So why would this 3 story, 58,000 square foot, beautiful new building that the community values, struggle to gain patrons?”
Dena’s question is a good one, and by way of answering it she offers numerous strategies in her presentation for driving attendance and interest in the Library. In our Recommendations section of this report we also share ways residents might be encouraged to utilize city assets more frequently and effectively.

So far in this analysis, we have tried to paint a portrait of stalwart and stoic Hayward community members who possess core strengths that should reasonably position them to achieve their American Dream. With Question #2, we investigated community assets and services that residents in any city anywhere in the United States might reasonably expect to support and improve their daily lives. What many Hayward 7 Executive Analysis
residents share, however, is that these assets and services are somewhat attenuated, and do not necessarily offer the support residents need. Question #2 reveals some slight tears–or perhaps more than slight tears–in the social and community fabric.

We now turn to the questions from the survey that focus directly on housing, housing costs, and neighborhood issues and opportunities.

Question #3 asks interviewees about their concerns over being evicted or losing their living situation. We believe this question, which was suggested by Hayward staff, is a fabulous inquiry. It cuts to the heart about what is the worst case scenario for all of us when it comes to having a roof over our head: losing that roof.

However, before we share what we have learned from residents’ responses to this question, it is instructive to ask ourselves this question: Understanding that no one wants ANYONE to have to worry about becoming homeless, what is the percentage of residents who worry about eviction that we think is tolerable from a community, a city, or even a moral perspective? Of course, we want to say 0%. No one in our community should have to deal with this stress. But is 2% at least somewhat bearable? 5%? 10%? 10% seems like a really high number. It can’t be that high for Hayward, can it? Well, It can.

Unfortunately, In our analysis of question 3, nearly 30% of Hayward community members revealed that they worry about being evicted or otherwise losing their living situation. (101 of 354 respondents.) To put this in statistical perspective:

If we can infer that each of these 101 respondents speaks for their own family, we can say that nearly 30% of Hayward families share this fear. The 2020 US census states that there are around 48,000 households in Hayward. If 30% of these households are worried about eviction, that represents 14,000 Hayward families.

Interestingly, a Google search reveals that Hayward has around 1,400 streets within its borders. This means that, on average, every street in Hayward holds 10 families who worry about being evicted off of that very street.

Of course these are rough approximations, and the numbers may be “off”--but even if the problem is only half as bad as the answers to Question 3 suggest, that would still be 15%-- which represents 7,000 Hayward families. (Not to mention that the numbers could be “off” in the other direction–meaning more than 30% of Hayward residents fear eviction.)
8 Executive Analysis
Overcrowded living situations
Homelessness
Segregation
Impacted neighbor relations
It also bears stating the obvious: although Hayward has 1,400 streets, many of these streets are located in more affluent areas of the city where it is likely that NO ONE is worried about eviction. This must mean then that those many thousands of families who DO worry about eviction are concentrated in other less affluent areas of the city. Thus it is not hard to imagine streets in Hayward where many, if not most, of the residents face housing insecurity.

The second part of Question #3 asks residents if they think their Housing costs too much. We concede that this is a bit of a softball question. No one is likely to reply, “No, I wish I paid more.” But it makes sense that an eviction question is paired with a question about the cost of housing. As might be guessed, residents overwhelmingly feel that housing in Hayward–and the entire Bay Area–is out of control. These were not nuanced answers to the question. Nor should they be. It is an economic truism that most of us are only 2 to 3 missed paychecks away from housing insecurity. As Hayward resident Mina explains, her family lives “paycheck to paycheck, working overtime to pay the bills, like rent.

Making sure that we have enough money for the food and just, you know, just to buy small things for us. Like, we get paid every two weeks and then by the end of the two weeks, I always make sure that there's enough money. So we can pay for the food. But we always, you know, run out just a few days before our next paycheck comes.” Mina speaks for many Hayward residents who answered Question 3 as if it is an obvious–and even bitter–truth: housing costs are intolerable.

Earlier in this report we stated that the central theme of this executive analysis is: The high cost of housing impacts and even warps almost every aspect of life in Hayward. We understand this claim may sound hyperbolic. But in the following section, we seek to support this claim by investigating the following concepts. Concepts that might also be thought of as consequences of the high cost of housing:

High housing costs create overcrowded living situations when 2 or more families move in together to defray the cost of rent and utilities. In our survey, 25% of interviewees report living with 2 or more families in a single domicile. This tracks roughly with the 30% of interviewees who report being worried about losing their housing situation. One consequence of so many people living together is a potentially more stressful living situation. For example, Question #1 on the survey asks interviewees to come up with 3 words to describe their living situation. Words like Crowded, Hectic, and Small pop up a lot. As resident Allysa says abouQuestion #1, “I would say hectic because there's a total of nine of us. From all different age groups. I think the youngest is three and the oldest is 82. I believe. So it's very hectic. 9 Executive Analysis
It's crowded, there's nine of us.” When Covid-19 drove Chabot College teachers and students into the world of Zoom, teachers for the first time could literally see into the homes of our students. And we saw that indeed such words are accurate descriptors. Frequently students will not even turn on their cameras or activate their mics. When we ask why this is, students apologize and say their house is too loud, or that there are too many people walking around in the background of the camera.

Crowding more people into a domicile than it is designed to hold also impacts the surrounding neighborhood. For example, Hayward staff shared with TEA that one of the most common complaints registered with the city is a lack of parking in some neighborhoods. This is hard to believe because many of these impacted neighborhoods are composed of single family homes with presumably ample parking both on the street and in driveways. But 28% of interviewees report that 5 or more people live with them, and if each person in the house needs a car in order to drive to a job–a job located outside of Hayward–to earn money in order to help the family cover the high cost of their housing– the result will be a scarcity of parking spaces.

Question #4 asks interviewees to share their perspectives about Homelessness in Hayward. They offer a wide range of responses about a very complex topic that we will explore later in this report. Everyone– not just the 400 interviewees–has an opinion about what causes homelessness, and no doubt there are myriad reasons. For this executive analysis, however, we believe that applying Occam’s Razor is a wise course of action: High housing costs create homelessness.

In the recent San Francisco Chronicle article “The 4 most Toxic Tropes about Homelessness,” Adam Johnson writes, “The 2019 San Francisco homeless count found that __% of unhoused people had a home in the city before they lost it. That number was __% in Los Angeles.” In our English classes at Chabot we asked students to guess what the correct percentages are. Not one student guessed more than 10% for either city, and most students said 0%. The actual figures–perhaps shockingly–are 70% for San Francisco, and 75% for Los Angeles. Our 30% of Hayward interviewees who fear losing their housing situation, may not be thinking that there is a potential for homelessness in their future. But the same can be said about the 70% of homeless San Franciscans who once had a roof over their head in their city.

This is the answer to Question #7: Hayward is segregated. 93% of the 400 interviewees say they see areas of Hayward that are segregated. Of all the questions that Chabot students asked, this one had the most residents in agreement. 93% is a ridiculously high answer to ANY question, much less one whose topic is fraught with as much history and pain as segregation is.

And even the 7%--31 people–who don't notice any segregation, conceded that either they are new to the city, or they live in a gated community, or they have simply never seen any other parts of town. They were not willing to say segregation didn’t exist, just that they had not seen it–yet.

The 93% had no trouble identifying indicators of segregation: Trash and Litter, Homelessness, Violence and Crime, Liquor Stores, Food Deserts. (We take deeper dives into these concepts elsewhere in this report.) Interviewees also noted those folks living in segregated areas of the city were overwhelmingly people of color. They have less educational attainment and belong to a lower economic strata than folks 10 Executive Analysis
Why did no interviewee say, “MY neighborhood is segregated.” How can over 90% of residents say they see segregation, but less than 10% say they have ever been discriminated against?
Residents see discrimination as a personal act. Why do they not see segregation as personal? Isn’t segregation the RESULT of discrimination?
Organizations and community assets to coordinate and sustain activities Assets and services located in the neighborhood, or at least close by Residents with enough extra money on hand to pay for and support activities Residents who have time to take on leadership roles–for example, parent coaches for youth soccer who live in more affluent areas. This is of course pretty obvious. Having less money is WHY people would move to these parts of town. But even here, housing costs are steep.

For this executive analysis, and indeed for this entire report, TEA is endeavoring to supply answers, uncover trends, show linkages between concepts–in short be value added to the Hayward staff and to the city. But for Question #7, we are stuck with many more questions than answers.

And this question: Why is Hayward segregated?
It is almost as if community members see segregation as something that just IS. It is out of their control, or anyone’s control. Segregation is something that HAPPENS, not something that someone or some “thing” DOES.

You segregate me makes ‘segregate’ active. Someone is DOING the verb.

I am segregated makes the verb passive. No one DID it. It just happened.

Question #5 asks interviewees to “talk in detail about your relationship with your neighbors.” Numerous interesting trends surface with this question, and we will be sharing them later in this report. For this executive analysis, however, we will supplement Question #5 responses with the findings and experiences we have obtained over the last 5 years in our work with the Tennyson Thrives Initiative in order to explore this question: Why is community so hard to create and maintain in so many Hayward neighborhoods? Community is referenced just 24 times in Question #5. These references are evenly divided between 12 residents who consider their neighbor relations to meet the standard of a community, while the other 12 bemoan a lack of community, or talk about how they used to have community. So, in total, 12 residents out of 400 feel strongly enough about the relationship with their neighbors to call it a “community.” This is only 3% of respondents.

Our concern here is that positive neighbor relationships–and indeed interviewees do cite them a fair amount in their responses–are not enough to create true community. Positive neighbor relationships may not even be the most important prerequisite. Other prerequisites are needed:
11 Executive Analysis
Residents work too much. They have no time to volunteer for anything.

If they do find any leisure time, they leave Hayward to engage in it.

Residents don't trust or know neighbors–and often see them as “sketchy.’ New neighbors come and go all the time.

Neighborhoods appear desolate and empty of people. There is no ‘Life.’ A pronounced schism exists between long time home owners and new renters.

There are no local assets except parks, but parks are rarely used.

In our work with Tennyson Thrives, we saw over and over again that South Hayward residents usually did not have access to any of these preconditions for building community. We made the point in Question #2 above that many residents do not feel local assets and services are functioning as well as residents might need. Of course, in more privileged communities, these kinds of assets would be taken for granted. But for many residents of underserved areas of Hayward–to paraphrase Gertrude Stein–there is no community there there.

Over the last 5 years, we have met dozens and dozens of long-time Hayward residents who shared how their neighborhoods used to feel like a community. We recall the uncle of one of our students standing in Palma Ceia Park, pointing at different areas and saying, “There used to be basketball courts right there.” He pointed at empty grass. “Over there was the baseball field, and the snack shack.” More empty grass. “Here is where we had our soccer field. I played here every weekend.” No goals, no lines, no grandstands.

No nothing. He stood in the desolate park: it felt like a ghost town. And actually, he looked like a ghost—a 40 year old ghost.

For Tennyson Thrives, Chabot students conducted interviews with hundreds of South Hayward residents.

They uncovered a host of reasons why community has withered. These same reasons are found in our current interviews with the 400 residents:

Many of the problems listed here are the product of high housing costs and related economic troubles. But these problems are not limited to Hayward. Over the last 20 years, numerous studies have been done and books have been written that investigate the rising problems plaguing suburban neighborhoods in the United States. Suburbs have the fastest growing rate of poverty in the country. But despite this fact, suburbs are often left to suffer in silence and anonymity. And although the reasons why suburbs suffer these problems are well understood, oftentimes any potential solutions are drawn from the experience of addressing urban poverty. But these solutions do not always work for the suburban milieu.

In Michelle Chen’s article for The Nation, “Why are America’s Suburbs becoming Poorer,” she writes, “Suburban families are both structurally and culturally disadvantaged in accessing many services. Unlike denser and more socially vibrant cities, suburbs make it harder to travel to sources of help—it might take a full tank of gas to travel to a food bank, or to look for a job in the next town, for example. And for individual families, maintaining community cohesion has become a challenge as economic hardship leads to growing social alienation, particularly as jobs evaporate and basic services like schools and local charities unravel.” Ms. Chen could be talking here about many areas of Hayward. 12 Executive Analysis
Crime and Safety
Trash and Litter
Broken Neighborhoods
We have largely been organizing this executive analysis by moving from question to question, and summarizing trends and concepts that we notice within each question. For this next section, we need to change that, and organize directly by concept. This is because the following concepts show up in so many different questions.

Chabot students never asked a specific question about Crime and Safety, but interviewees nonetheless brought it up frequently, almost 100 times. References to crime show up in literally every question students asked, including Question #12, “What song encapsulates living in Hayward?” (The song is "Somewhere Over the Rainbow"--as in, that is where crime does't happen.) In Question #5 about Neighbors, interviewees fear that those who are doing the crimes may well live next door. In the Segregation question, interviewees surmise that crime is more prevalent in the more isolated communities of Hayward. In Question #11, “What is your biggest Dream…” residents envision getting away from Crime for good. In the “Good Memories” question, residents recall a happier time when there was less crime. And so on for each question. Clearly, Crime and Safety are on the minds of Hayward residents. Residents are fearful that they may be next–their catalytic converter may be stolen, or their house robbed. This fear also manifests in other ways. Residents may be leery about interacting with neighbors, which puts a damper on building any community. Residents may not want to take advantage of local assets and services, such as Parks or Transit, for fear of becoming a victim of crime. As Kathleen, who has lived in Hayward for 16 years says, “It’s scary to go to the store, Target, 7-11, etc. I never want to leave my house because I am afraid I am going to get robbed." Crime induces residents to isolate themselves from life.

Similar to Crime and Safety, Trash and Litter came up in many different questions. The TEA team must admit that of all the many serious topics that the interviews brought to light, we were not prepared for the vociferousness, anger, and sheer heat the topic of Trash and Litter engendered in both interviewees and students. Students became very worked up in class when we discussed it. And in the interview transcripts you can feel the anger, disgust, dismay–all wrapped up in a feeling of resignation. Trash cannot be stopped. It's a tsunami. As Chabot student Danielle writes, “For residents who live in areas that are more affected it has become very overwhelming and the fact that not enough has been done to address this issue is discouraging. Many residents are willing to help but don’t know where to start and are simply just not informed and aware of resources out there. In addition to being misinformed many Hayward residents sadly cannot afford many of the resources that are available for a fee and unfortunately this illegal dumping problem we are facing is a result of that.” In class, Danielle shared that for her project “Slam Dunk the Junk” she drove around Hayward photographing illegal dumping. Residents came out of their houses and asked what she was doing–did 13 Executive Analysis
she work for the city? Danielle said No, she was doing a research paper about illegal dumping. The residents then asked, “But can you still help us? Can you help us clean up our neighborhood? Can you talk to the city?” Hayward residents need help. As interviewee Marleni says about all the garbage on her street, "I have school and homework. I can't clean up everything." Trash, litter, and illegal dumping are just one aspect of a larger issue that can be gleaned from the interviews. Many residents think that they live in Broken Neighborhoods. The word “broken” shows up over 50 times in the transcript. Not to mention synonyms like: ruined, trashed, smashed. And what is it that is broken? In some neighborhoods, most everything. This puts in mind Bob Dylan’s song, “Everything is Broken.” With apologies to him and to all, we have adapted his lyric lines to reflect what it is in Hayward that interviewees say is broken:

Broken windows Broken Lights
Broken Bones from Neighborhood Fights
Broken Bottles Broken Toys
Broken Eardrums from the freeway noise
400 people in Hayward have spoken
Look around–Everything’s Broken

Broken Plumbing Broken Jaws
They’re Breaking into broken down cars
Broken Sidewalks Broken Road
What we really have here--
a Broken moral code
400 people in Hayward aren’t jokin’
Look around–Everything’s Broken

Broken Mattress Broken Schools
Broken Glass Broken Rules
Broken Fences --What more can we say--
There’s Broken Hearts in the Heart of the Bay
400 people in Hayward have spoken
Look around–Everything’s Broken

As might be imagined, Hayward residents are not at all sanguine that everything is broken. They understand that if too much gets broken around you, it can cause you to break. Residents want things fixed. We know because “fix” shows up over 75 times. “Cure”--22 times. “Solve”--26 . "Solution"--16.

Hayward residents have an intuitive understanding of the “Broken Windows” theory–that small problems left unattended can snowball into an avalanche of issues that then will become unfixable. Interviewee Anna shares how overwhelming it can be when problems compound: “The thing that bothers or preoccupies me is there I see a lot of trash in the streets. Wherever I turn. Wherever I look. There's a couch, or a refrigerator, or a bed, and just garbage everywhere which saddens me and feels like a grave lack of respect. And I don’t know who can control that. The city? In reality, I don’t know." 14 Executive Analysis
A Tale of 2 Cities
As the TEA team sorted through the 400 interviews, and read the many student essays and presentations, something became clear: Hayward residents are acutely aware of the issues that the city faces. They speak about these problems with a level of concern and insight that is truly humbling. That being said, residents are also very cognizant that not every area in Hayward suffers from the problems this executive analysis has tried to lay out. And not every resident in Hayward faces these issues. In fact, there are residents–some of whom are among the 400 interviewees–of whom it can be safely said, they do not face ANY of these issues.

The differences are stark–and daily life varies immensely–depending on where you live in Hayward. So much so, that Hayward really can be described as a Tale of 2 Cities. Residents know exactly where the more privileged folks live. They reference “hills”--as in Hayward Hills–over 90 times in the transcript. They also know how things look and feel in more affluent areas. The Hayward Hills area is described as “clean” 17 times.

Residents also understand that cultural, social, and economic forces play a role in the bifurcation of Hayward. They invoke the word “privilege” 15 times and “gentrification” 20 times in support of their analyses of the situation. They also understand the role that race plays in this equation. Everyone knows that it predominantly is white people who live in the hills or who otherwise have an easier go of things. In fact, white people say as much about themselves in these interviews. When Hayward resident Sarah was asked had she ever been discriminated against, she bluntly replied, “Nope. I am a white person. You can add that in.”
In some ways, describing Hayward as being a Tale of 2 Cities, should not come as a surprise. After all, this was the reason the TEA team was invited by Hayward staff 5 years ago to work with them. Hayward city council and staff recognized that certain areas of the city, such as B St and downtown, had been paid more attention, while other areas such as South Hayward were being relatively ignored and underserved. 5 years later, the 400 interviewees make it clear that these inequities still persist.

We teach students in our English classes that one technique for wrapping up an essay is to ask this question about all that you have just written: “Why should anyone care about all of this?“ So we ask this question now, hoping to appear neither flippant, nor naive. Why should anyone care that Hayward in some ways lives a tale of two cities? Why should anyone care if some people in Hayward– perhaps even a great many people, perhaps even 14,000 families–have a rough go of things? Of course there are many ways to answer this because there are many reasons we should care.

However, we will focus on just one reason. We should care because even though the residents of Hayward are fighters, and they are willing to struggle, if the battle becomes too difficult, even these stoic, stalwart fighters might decide to throw in the towel: they might decide to leave the city of Hayward. 15 Executive Analysis
From the point of view of the city, this is the worst case scenario. Residents decide finally that they cannot win, they cannot achieve their American Dream in Hayward. So they leave. Frankly, we were alarmed to note how often interviewees talked about getting out, or leaving, or going to a cheaper city, or saying they just about had enough.

The city of Hayward is the sum total of all its people. Nothing more, nothing less. The parks, libraries, city hall–none of it means anything without residents. They are empty holes unless they are filled up with people like Hayward resident Gabriel. He is in his early 40’s. You can feel the love he has for his hometown. It would be a tragedy if he didn’t feel the love reciprocated–if he began to feel the city did not have his back. Gabriel’s self-described grit, and his thick skin–these are strengths forged by Hayward.

These are strengths that no city can afford to lose.

We give Gabriel the last word: “The resilience and strength of people who live in low income areas and that live in challenging areas, throughout this whole city–like from South Hayward to Cherry land–it is nothing but people of color, who are facing the challenges of living in the Bay Area. Everyone is on some level, struggling a little bit more than they should be. When you leave Hayward like we'll have students that go to UCLA or to any of these colleges, right, and they come back and the first thing they say is, “These people don't even know what diversity is because they talk like they do, but they've never lived in a place like Hayward where you walk outside at six o'clock and it's smells like every food from every country, you know, on your street.” Hayward, it's a blue collar city. We don't come from privilege so there's just like this Grit if you will, this thick skin. This strength that I think we share across the board.

We all know it because we live here.”

16 What are three words you would use
to describe your current living
situation? Please talk about why you
chose each word.

Interview Question #1

Observations: Three Words
Q1: Three Words
Community members use “Comfortable” to describe their living situation. Even in more challenging circumstances, community members who are worried about eviction or who live with multiple families or many people in the same domicile find Hayward to be comfortable.

The factors that enabled interviewees to select this word include their proximity to family and friends, positive relationships with their neighbors, and the duration they’ve lived in Hayward.

Community members are well aware of how Expensive it is to live in Hayward and the Bay Area. The cost of living prevents many interviewees from achieving their dream of owning a home. In some cases, residents are willing to burden the high cost of living for the comfort and convenience of living in Hayward. For other residents, Hayward is the most logical place to live for them because it is centrally located.

One of the appeals of living in Hayward is how Convenient it is. Many community members enjoy living in Hayward because of the ease of access to other regions of the Bay Area especially for work. The slogan “Heart of the Bay” is a point of pride for community members.

In addition, community members find Hayward to be “Convenient” because of the resources and amenities the city offers. Access to resources and amenities will be explored further in this report specifically in connection with segregation and privilege.

Diversity is a topic that community members repeatedly discuss during their interviews.

Diversity enables the community to feel safe and connected to one another. Interviewees repeatedly stated that they appreciate the expressions of Diversity in Hayward through the food, art, music, programs, etc.

Most common words used to describe what it's like to live in Hayward 18 Q1: Three Words
Residents Speak: Three Words
“Comfortable because we have a lot of help here and there are a lot of good resources for example with medical attention and Medicine here in Hayward I think it is very good so I feel comfortable here.” Elvira/36-45/SFH “I like where I live because of the friendly neighbors that I have met throughout the years. Everyone here has treated one another like family. This allows me to feel comfortable in my own home.” Steve/36-45/SFH "Small and Expensive. We live in a one bedroom apartment and could certainly use more space. Expense is what keeps us from being able to get more space. All of one bedroom apartments are the same cost. Even if you can find something that is lower, it's usually in an area that is either too far to commute or just has a myriad of other problems that doesn't make it cost effective." Caroline/36-45/Apt. “Convenience. I feel like it's close to everything, as far as if you want to go somewhere. It's not too far.” Andrea/26-35/SFH “It's probably one of the most diverse cities in the United States. And that also makes it safe because people are bringing different heritages and people are learning and sharing about each other. And it requires cooperation to live together, otherwise it just wouldn't work.” Jibrail/36-45/Apt. “Diverse, which is why I really loved Hayward so much. I grew up with a lot of different cultures around and that's one thing I appreciate.” Jerrika/36-45/SFH “It's a very safe community because the local police force is good and a lot of them feel like the community. A lot of people have lived here for a generation or a long time. So it's a very tight knit community.” Jibrail/36-45/Apt "Home--since I lived in Hayward my
whole life and I do consider it as the
heart of the Bay due to how central
everything is, which is why I have
chosen to stay in Hayward.”
Jerrika/36-45/SFH
19 Q1: Three Words
Residents Speak: Three Words
"Loud because it's around a lot of neighborhoods. Always firecrackers and fireworks going on and neighbors with loud music or fighting." Janet/26-35/Duplex "Unruly: Loud music into the late hours of the night (while a pandemic is happening), illegal parking, excessive use of illegal fireworks, second-hand smoke coming into my home, lots of trash sitting on sidewalks and freeways, too much weirdness and thought-provoking characters around the FOODMAXX shopping center and the 7-11 across the street." Ignacio/46-55/Duplex "I think it's stable. Again, the neighborhood is really good. Crime is low, I think where we are and so usually at night when I turn off the lights, I feel safe doing it. I think my living situation is pretty stable and the mortgage for us is not too too overwhelming." Peng/26-35/Condo "It's definitely small. I live in a little apartment. I mean, it's Hayward. I'm not gonna find a whole bunch of mansions. But it's cozy. I'd say cozy is another word. Because even though it's small, I make it comfortable for myself." Liane/26-35/Apt. "Boring, lovely, a work in progress." Sofia/26-35/SFH "Family. Family oriented is that one word?" Cedy/36-45/SFH "Crowded. We only have two bedrooms and we have two kids and my husband is working from home. So it's very crowded for all of us." Zhe/26-35/Condo Word cloud of most frequently used words to describe living in Hayward 20 On a scale of 1-5, rank how important
each of these assets in Hayward are
to you.

Interview Question #2

Q2: Ranking
Ranking: Assets & Services
Ranked by total number of 5s
Schools 243
Jobs 208
Parks 173
Libraries 172
Transit 165
Downtown 120
Churches 106
Average combined score by asset
http://tiny.cc/0d7suz
Click the link to explore community assets identified by Hayward residents 22 Q2: Ranking
Residents Speak: Schools
x
"5, because I have a teenager and education is very important to us. He goes to Hayward High, it's good other than the school’s morale. He went to Bret Harte, also a good school and then he was really lucky enough to go to Stonebrae Elementary." Sheila/46-55/Duplex
"Schools are a very important asset to Hayward, I would say 5. I also went to school in the Hayward elementary, middle and high school. And I've always thought that Hayward has a pretty good school district as far as ratings like nationally or you know, just California wise. It's not the best rated but growing up in Hayward and going through the schools, it's not a bad school system." Reina/26-35/Apt. "Education is everything. So I'm a firm believer that schools are definitely a vital asset to a community. And you know, schools are responsible for just carrying on the next generation of leaders. 5 for me for schools." Rainier/26-35/SFH "Honestly, I would have to say a 3. I'm neutral on schools. Moving here we didn't have children. And when we did have children, we knew the schools weren't the best so that's why we sent them to private school." Susan/46-55/SFH "The schools in Hayward I would also give a 3. Because the parents have to work a lot and can't dedicate too much time towards their children to support them in homework, projects, and take them to programs." Anna/46-55/SFH "For school I say around 2 or 3 because my kids don't go to the Hayward school district." Grace/46-55/SFH "The first school I went to was underfunded as hell and the second school they didn’t give a shit about us. They are also underfunded. So basically they are broke, ghetto, no funding, no money. But then they decided to remake an entire elementary school for girls. What are six year olds gonna do with fucking Chromebooks?" Alejandro/-25/Apt. 5 4

3 2

1 HaywardHigh School
23 Q2: Ranking
Residents Speak: Jobs
x
"I would give jobs a 5 in importance– they are incredibly important but from experience and currently working in Hayward I can say that they really aren't the best– so as important as they are they aren't good." Sofia/26-35/SFH "Jobs - 4 but I think we need more jobs in Hayward there needs to be more jobs to help the community and especially more union jobs. Jobs that respect the worker and value the worker." Jose/46-55/SFH "3 because most jobs are not in Hayward." Caleb/26-35/SFH "I guess better jobs or the higher paying jobs would be just outside of Hayward. But yeah, there are some good jobs here as well." Cedy/36-45/SFH "Hayward is a great place to commute from to find work, but I don't know if it has the best employment opportunities itself." Stephanie/46-55/SFH "I wouldn’t recommend anyone looking for a high quality job to choose Hayward, because all the jobs here are usually minimum wage jobs that don’t offer many benefits." Rayanne/26-35/SFH "Jobs. I say 2 to 3. It does have some jobs, but I know most of those job are labor intensive. " Grace/46-55/SFH "I do work part-time downtown, but I honestly like the people more than I like my job, so I think jobs is tied for second to last on my list." Grace/46-55/SFH "I believe there should be more options to be in Hayward. I think the expansion of jobs also goes in hand in hand with education. I think there should be more job options to be offered in Hayward." Eduardo/-25/Apt. 5 4

3 2

1 High Tech Jobs in Hayward
24 Q2: Ranking
Residents Speak: Downtown
x
"Growing up in Hayward, it didn't used to look like the way it does today, where we have a new library and new restaurants. So downtown is now a source of entertainment for my friends and I so I'll rank that a 5." Kristi/26-35/Duplex "Maybe it's a romantic notion, but I really like when there is a central area that a city has. The city is grounded to that and has a strong historical value, and is utilized and celebrated and used as a place for the community to essentially feel centralized to it and be together." Evan/26-35/SFH "B Street is kind of the only realistic hang out. But it's a very small area. Still, I believe it's important because a lot of people go there to hang out with their friends after school. Get tea, grab a drink or get some food, watch the movies because that's the only movie theater nearby." Alex/-25/Apt. "I really dont go often but when I do go down there I like the kind of ambience it has.

It feels like a little hometown, kind of like Kansas. Feeling like Kentucky. Like a main street of America." John/36-45/SFH "2.5 based on it being very small–there is a movie theater, a couple restaurants, cannabis clubs, a few bars, but there’s a lot of sketchy people in that area as well.

No parking, pretty dirty down as well and low lighting." Malcom/26-35/Apt. "It's not important to me. Especially Hayward downtown. We live in South Hayward, kind of far from Hayward downtown. So we go there very rarely. Like once every 2 or 3 months. For shopping we usually go to Costco or Walmart, but Walmart is actually in Union City." Zhipan/36-45/Apt. "Downtown is probably a 1 for me, I don’t use it as an asset. If I am ever going out with people, I am willing to commute to nice places." Rayanne/26-35/SFH 5 4

3 2

1 Farmers Market on B St.
25 Q2: Ranking
Residents Speak: Parks
x
"Parks get a 5. I spend a lot of time at parks especially since I have one so close by.

Having nice outdoor space makes my whole house feel bigger actually. You feel less trapped." Rayanne/26-35/SFH "I love parks. I'm always studying at the park when I want to get out of my small, cramped apartment and annoying roommate. Sorry Ashley. I love having a park near me cuz it calms me down and eases my tensions." Maria/26-35/Apt. "Parks--4, they are helpful to our community but I think they should be safer so people can feel more comfortable going by themselves. I also think they need more things like soccer fields since there is not a single one in Hayward which sucks. So they’re super important but should be better." Ranier/26-35/SFH "As for the parks, it's like they've been renovating a lot of parks. Before, a park wasn't as important but with COVID times I feel like kids need parks– they can't even go out to see their friends in school. I think parks are vital. So definitely ranking them pretty high I reckon." Ranier/26-35/SFH "I have kids, so parks are a necessity for me. We enjoy going to parks, especially during the summer. It's nice to get off the games and electronics to go out to get some air at the park." Lisa/36-45/SFH

"They are important but around here I would give them a low rating. Because a lot of homeless live in the parks. So you really can't comfortably go to the parks anymore." Ted/46-55/Duplex "Parks are good, parks are important but the parks in Hayward would get a 1. They aren't important because they aren't good. There are no good parks, there are no places where kids can play sports and where I live there is no place for people to play soccer or something like that." Jose/46-55/SFH 5 4

3 2

1 Kennedy Park Train
26 Q2: Ranking
Residents Speak: Transit
x
"We definitely take public transit all the time. So I'm going to give that a 5, being able to go to the Amtrak station and in Hayward and going all the way to Sacramento or going all the way to San Jose on the Amtrak train. Also Bart is everywhere." Graciela/46-55/SFH "I think it is very important because nowadays gas, it's expensive and all of that. So transit is rated a 5 since it saves on gas, which is expensive and you know, like in order to protect the environment and all that." Sandra/26-35/SFH "It's essential for a lot of workers but also people who are commuting back and forth are using the AC Transit or the BARt station. There's never a day where those are not used. And people rely on the transit to go to work, to see family, or to go home– so I would definitely rank that as a 5." Ranier/26-35/SFH

"Definitely a 5. I used a lot of transportation, public transportation while going to school in my early years of college. It's a huge necessity for a lot of people to get around town or get around different cities." Vanessa/26-35/Apt. "Transit? A 4 because I think the transit in Hayward is pretty convenient for me. We live in an apartment very close to the south Hayward BART station and it's within walking distance. When we go to places we take Bart often." Zhipan/36-45/Apt. "I would say a 3 for me, you know, we have multiple vehicles in the family. So we're not taking public transit. very regularly. We would take Bart occasionally maybe. It's important but not necessarily to us personally." Paul/36-45/SFH "I haven't ridden public transportation in a long time but when I did ride, it was a little difficult because I stayed in the Hayward hills and in the Hayward hills there were only two buses that went up there." Andrea/26-35/SFH "I sleep at a bus stop but can't actually take the bus. So it is not important." Michael/56+/Homeless
5 4

3 2

1 The 99 bus
27 Q2: Ranking
Residents Speak: Libraries
x
"Oh of course libraries are a 5, even a 10 if I can. I have always loved the library and it is so important to me." Paige/-25/Apt. "Libraries at a 5. Supporting education, having students being able to have access to books of different genres and ethnicities and different information, fiction, nonfiction, so that they can grow their minds and also have a place for a tutor center and students to come together." Mindy/36-45/Apt. "Libraries are probably a 4 or a 5 in terms of accessibility, and I luckily live very close to both Hayward Public and Alameda County and Castro Valley, so it is important." Caroline/36-45/Apt. "Like a 4. Libraries are super important because I pretty much raised my kids in libraries and storytime and going to bookstores all the time. I'm an author, so I live around libraries." Graciela/46-55/SFH "They definitely increased the bar on that so I'd say a 3 or 4 because they built the new Hayward Library, which is super nice and there's a really good coffee place in it, which is cool, because it attracts people to the library." Sarah/26-35/Apt. "Honestly, I would have to be a 3. I haven't gone to the new library only because of COVID but I found the downtown library a little lacking. The main library on Tennyson has a lack of parking so that was difficult." Susan/46-55/SFH "I give Library a 1. We have everything on the internet. I just don't think the library is that important anymore." Victor/46-55/SFH "Libraries I would say is a 1 because I don’t really read books. I don’t need to go there to use anything like printers so I would say a 1." Stephanie/-25/Duplex 5 4

3 2

1 The new Hayward Library
28 Q2: Ranking
Residents Speak: Churches
"I would give churches a 5. I think having the city enables churches to succeed and to carry out their mission is an important aspect of government in the sense that they should not be getting in the way." Stephen/56+/SFH "I see churches in Hayward step up a lot when it comes to homelessness or dealing with our homeless population. Churches are a lot of the places that will feed the homeless, that will have clothes for the homeless and I do think that we have a lot of good Catholic churches." Reina/26-35/Apt. "I'm a person of faith. So, for me, it's a part of my daily week. It's something I attend to most out of all of these options. So I think that that is just more important to me to have and have accessibility to where I live." Cassie/-25/SFH "Church is where most of my relationships are built and community building activities originate. I spend most of my time there." Barb/46-55/SFH "3, as a center for community and resources for people." Alexa/26-35/SFH "I grew up in the church and I know that it's a staple of the community for many, but I also no longer attend so for myself I guess it's 3." Julia/-25/Apt. "I'm about a 2 on that because I'm not very religious myself, but I understand how important it is to some people. And so I think if people find value in that, then that's important. It's just not really for me." Nick/-25/SFH

"I am Catholic so that explains churches." Vanessa/26-35/SFH "I don't go to church. So like a 1." Mia/46-55/SFH 5 4

3 2

1 All Saints Church
29 7 assets and services that are
important to Hayward residents

How much do you worry about being
evicted or losing your living situation?
Do you think your housing costs too
much? Why or why not?
Interview Question #3

Observations: Eviction & Housing Costs
Q3: Eviction / Housing Costs
71 community members are well aware how costly it is to live in the Bay Area, and residents worry that this is because of forces that are well beyond their control, or even understanding.

At least 28 community members are aware of their privilege of owning a house, not being worried about eviction or mortgage, or the security that comes with living with one's family.

Words like "luckily," "fortunately," "thankfuly," "grateful" were frequently used to describe this sentiment.
42 residents who do not actively fear eviction, expressed an undercurrent of unease about eviction and housing uncertainty. In some cases, this is coupled with a sense of gratefulness or relief that, at least for now, “it’s not something I have to worry about" because they have a stable job.
38 community members said they do not worry about eviction because they are either highly educated, have "stable" jobs, or have deep generational roots in Hayward and do not have to pay for the house because it has been in the family for decades. In fact, 30 of these interviewees used the word "stable" to describe their circumstance.

Although only 1 community member discussed Gentrification and seemed well versed in the concept, at least 16 residents discussed their concerns about the consequences of rising prices in the Bay Area and Hayward. These 16 residents discussed living pay check to pay check and that they are concerned that their current job does not pay enough to cover the costs of living in Hayward. This concern is echoed in the responses to question #9 about high- quality jobs.
32 Q3: Eviction / Housing Costs
Residents Speak: Eviction & Housing Costs
“I worry pretty much every month because there's no control what the city controls in rent with the living situation and the inflation in the city.” Sal/36-45/SFH “Something unexpected happens and there goes their living situation -- they'll get kicked out or you end up in a shelter. I know a lot of people that live in shelters and they say that they rather sleep on park benches or bus stops than live in a shelter.

Because of the dangerous situations in them.” Sal/36-45/SFH “Although I have not feared eviction in my current home, with gentrification and rent being raised on a regular basis, there is a struggle to maintain where we live." Julia/'-25/Apt
"My family lost our previous home in Hayward during the recession in 2008 and we got the apartment we live in now a few months later as a temporary living situation. However, the increasing cost in housing makes it stressful to maintain our living situation, let alone find a better one.” Julia/'-25/Apt “I have experienced losing a living situation, but I don't worry about it too much anymore. The bay is very expensive. This is my family's first time in a house instead of an apartment, this is the place I hope to keep the most.” Barb/46-55/SFH

"I'm lucky enough to own a house and so
I'm not concerned about that, but I just
know that it's like so front and center for
a lot of people. So it feels like that's a
tension that a lot of people in my
community and friends have to live with.”
Stephanie/46-55/SFH
33 Q3: Eviction / Housing Costs
Residents Speak: Eviction & Housing Costs
"I worry very much. The housing prices have only gone up. Therefore mortgage prices are only going up. It’s so uncomfortable how much we pay." Catherine/36-45/SFH
"I worry about being evicted because it was really hard for me to find a job that was hiring with a good amount of pay. Housing costs too much for me and I hope that it can go down because I have a family to support." Michelle/46-55/SFH "I worry every day about this. House prices are literally insane. That's why I'm renting an apartment, but apartment rent is still crazy expensive. I barely make enough to cover rent, so I had to get a roommate, or else I can forget about eating food." Maria/26-35/Apt.
"I do think that the housing cost is for sure too much. Um, especially since a lot of people in Hayward have trouble affording, even living in Hayward. You need a good job to really afford it. That's why most people have to get like a room to rent or live with family. Caleb/26-35/SFH "I'm worried because there are some people not making enough live in Hayward, because the cost of an apartment is like from $1700 and above. So I think they need to put a law to prevent rent increases in apartments so people can survive in this community." Sil/36-45/Condo "Although I have not feared eviction in my current home, with gentrification and rent being raised on a regular basis, there is a struggle to maintain where we live. My family lost our previous home in Hayward during the recession in 2008 and we got the apartment we live in now a few months later as a temporary living situation.

However, the increasing cost in housing makes it stressful to maintain our living situation, let alone find a better one." Julia/-25/Apt 34 Q3: Eviction / Housing Costs
Excerpts: Student Essays
Eviction is a growing fear, and it's completely understandable why so many fear eviction like what Carlos mentioned. With skyrocketing prices everywhere, I can imagine how many people and families worry about getting kicked out of their homes, a fear that many experience.

Maribel goes on to say when talking about her housing costs, "It's not too expensive; we actually purchased before house prices skyrocketed, so we got lucky." Maribel, like many other homeowners who bought their homes before the Bay Area housing market drastically increased, definitely dodged a bullet. People like Maribel and Carlos are very fortunate, and due to their stable jobs, living situations, and overall luck, eviction isn't at the forefront of their minds. However, this isn't the case for everyone, and countless people fear being evicted.

Eviction can happen to anyone, even to people that seem to have it all together.

Numerous people are not forcibly evicted but are experiencing " soft evictions " where landlords pressure renters to move. According to The Urban Displacement Project and their film "Pushed out: Displacement today and lasting impacts," soft evictions by landlords are done by "Engaging in harassment, cutting off utilities, removing parking, ignoring requests, or failing to address other substandard conditions that threaten the health and safety of tenants." All these issues may lead to renters moving because of the unlivable conditions, which is quite a stressful situation that no one should experience.

Community members worried about eviction by ethnicity
Eviction concerns
35 Q3: Eviction / Housing Costs
Excerpts: Student Essays
Nearly 40% of low-income households are at risk of displacement. This leads low- income homeowners in the Bay Area with only two choices: pay the increasing housing costs or move out of their homes. This is extremely upsetting for low- income homeowners who call the Bay Area home, because it puts them at risk of not only losing their homes but possibly losing the opportunity to live in the Bay Area because gentrification affects the Bay Area as a whole.

It’s honestly really sad how the average low-income family can barely afford living in an apartment in the Bay Area; this is what results in large families being in homes or apartments that are too small and crowded to be comfortable. A common situation for low-income families in the Bay Area is a family of 4 living in a one bedroom apartment and that in itself is an unfair situation to be in just because housing costs too much.

Community members worried about eviction by living situation Gentrification
High cost of housing – residents moving out of the city I had an aunt move out of Hayward not long ago because housing was so incredibly expensive and she plans to move out of California for good soon. I understand that housing is expensive but people should at least be getting what they are paying for. Lucy, who has lived in Hayward for most of her adult life, said, “I am paying a lot for where I live because the place I live in has deteriorated and it needs a lot of work to be done. Almost everything needs some work on doors, walls and things are cracked and doors don't close.”
36 Q3: Eviction / Housing Costs
Excerpts: Student Essays
Due to all the misfortune that residents
go through due to lack of income and
the concern of being evicted, the
Hayward City Council voted to fund rent
support to help tenants avoid eviction.

According to the article, "Hayward
Extends Eviction Moratorium," by Peter
Hegarty, he states that, "Hayward has
provided 459 grants — up to $2,500
each — to residential tenants to help
people pay their rents, according to the
city. The city has committed $745,000
and anticipates providing an additional
260 grants."
Support from the city
A reasonable number of residents have
the necessary resources to maintain
their homes, as is the case of Juan.

Juan expresses, "Right now I'm grateful
for something that I don't worry about
at all. You know, I have a stable job and
I pay the rent on time." Juan is a family
man with three children, and his wife
works part-time. Perhaps Juan does
not have enough income to afford a
life full of luxuries, but he recognizes
that he has enough with the income he
earns to cover his basic needs and
those of his family. Like Juan, that is the
state many residents find themselves.

Needles in the Haystack art show, 2018
Community members worried about eviction by years living in the city 37 Further Exploration: Eviction & Housing Costs
Q3: Eviction / Housing Costs
How much stress (or even trauma) is
caused by living day in/day out in an
area with such high housing costs?
Are there resources to address this?

Only a few residents were aware of
Hayward’s role in housing. How might
the city reach MORE residents with
news about programs or strategies to
alleviate housing problems?
What strategies and tactics do
residents employ to combat high
housing costs? How can the city
support or learn from these strategies,
and pass them on to other residents?
Palma Ceia Fest, 2019
How do interviewees' deep
generational roots in the city impact
their anxieties about being evicted or
feeling like they need to leave the
Hayward for cheaper housing?
38 What is your experience with
individuals facing homelessness in
Hayward?
Interview Question #4

Observations: Homelessness
Q4: Homelessness
264 community members see homelessness on a daily basis. They see homeless people mostly in downtown, South Hayward, and near bridges, freeways, BART stations, and libraries.
76 residents believe that homelessness has gotten worse. That said, residents often say that they do not really have any contact with the homeless, nor do residents have an accurate accounting of the problem. It seems to be left at “it’s getting worse” or “the homeless are everywhere now.” This expression was also stated in the responses to question #2 specifically about downtown Hayward, parks, and libraries. 20 residents blame the pandemic for the rise in homelessness.

One of the main themes that courses through this project is that Hayward is in some ways a “Tale of 2 cities”--rich and poor, white and not white, Hills and Flats…. This 2 cities paradigm plays out in the homeless issues as well: some residents say they simply do not see homelessness, in large part because of where they live. Other residents who DO see homelessness all around, express a sneaking suspicion that some areas of Hayward simply do not have the problem.
26 residents express fear or trepidation about the homeless, and say they actively avoid areas where homeless individuals congregate. Residents have some resentment about having to do this. It is most often the case that single women or mothers adopt this strategy.

A free floating empathy hovers around this issue. Over 70 residents say that they wish they could do something, but don't know what to do or are afraid about helping them.

These same residents want the city to do more to support the homeless. https://vimeo.com/264712427
Scan the QR code or click the link to watch a short film created by former Chabot student Emmanuel Ledbetter as he spends an evening with members of Street Ministry delivering care packages to homeless people in Hayward. This film was created for the Tennyson Thrives Initiative. 40 Q4: Homelessness
Residents Speak: Homelessness
“These buildings have been lying empty for years. Why not make them into studio apartments and take in the homeless. Let them get on their feet and then they can move forward. Life is about helping people. It's not about as long as I'm okay, I don't care about anybody else. That's a cruel society.” Rachael/56+/SFH “They are the only ones who know their situation; they are the only ones who know how they got there. Many times they are born into situations like that or they have addiction problems, which make their lives very difficult. I respect them and I help them when I can.” Elvira/46-55/SFH “I was at a store with my sister and a man came up to me asking me just for a simple quarter. I didn't even have a quarter to give him. And he actually took out a dollar he had in his pocket and wanted to give it to me. Here he was asking me for a quarter because he needed money and saw that I didn't even have that so he wanted to help me. If I am being honest I wanted to cry because as much as he was struggling he thought I needed more help than him." Elvira/46-55/SF "I have worked with students and adults who have been housing insecure and have been relocating into another places such as Stockton, Tracy or the Central Valley because it is more affordable." Robin/46-55/SFH "I feel very privileged to have housing and to be able to work a job that pays more than low wages. I’ve been trying to find ways to like donate or just like teach myself about casual disparities." Stacy/26-35/Apt. "A lot of my friends and family have come on the verge of facing homelessness. Of course, I've lent a hand and let them stay with us until they get back on their feet. It hurts to see. It's awful." Aadhya/26-35/SFH “They are still very good people even
though they are going through difficult
situations.”
Elvira/46-55/SFH
41 Q4: Homelessness
Residents Speak: Homelessness
"I see homelesses around Hayward to be honest. Sometimes, around the bus stops.

It’s concerning honestly. It hurts to see their tents and how the rising living cost is not helping at all. They are all great people though. I have talked to a few and they are fun people to talk to. I wish I could do more to help." Raveena/26-35/SFH "Well that was almost me so I feel for them a lot. Its tough out here trying to make enough money to live. I've lived in Hayward my whole life so to move somewhere less expensive is not really an option so I feel trapped as I'm sure a lot of those people do as well. Once you add drugs and mental illness you can forget about even trying to find a decent place to live." John/56+/Apt. "I think it's ridiculous you know because people are losing their homes but they still have a job--usually you would think if they have a steady income they could pay their rent." Joel/26-35/SFH "It's just kind of a part of life. As terrible as it sounds, I have become desensitized to it. I feel like society makes it hard for us to see these people as people we need to help and not just walk by. It's something I am working on." Kristian/26-35/'SFH "She told me the reason why she decided to live in her car was because the rents were expensive. She wanted to save her money." Silvester/36-45/Apt. "I went to Chabot College and I had a lot of friends that struggled while they were trying to go to school and working and trying to move out. And so I did have a couple people who slept in their car." Sarah/26-35/Apt. "It is more visual than anything else, and I see that as reducing the usability of these parks because of those issues." Bob/56+/SFH "There's definitely a divide in Hayward
where a lot of homeless people are
and where they aren't."
Caleb/26-35/SFH
42 Q4: Homelessness
Excerpts: Student Essays
Manuel states that you see homeless
people almost everywhere now, on the
streets, with their shopping carts, in
parking lots, and so on. It is evident that
Hayward has an increasing homeless
epidemic which seems to be growing
as the pandemic continues. You go out
in the streets of Hayward, and you will
see homeless people almost
everywhere. Alicia, 39, a Hayward
native, has not had any firsthand
experience with homelessness but has
noticed an increase in recent years.

Alicia states, "I have seen an increase of
homelessness in the last couple of
years, especially now that you know the
pandemic hit." She even goes on to say
she's starting to see homelessness in
her neighborhood as of recently, which
she's never seen up until now.

Increase in homelessness
There is an increasing number of
people experiencing homelessness, not
only in Hayward but the Bay Area as a
whole. Michelle mentioned, “I see the
homelessness just growing more and
more.” As she commutes from
Hayward to work, Michelle consistently
sees people who are homeless. This is
during a year in which the pandemic
was at its peak and a recession
occurred, thus the housing crisis has
become even more of an issue in the
Bay Area, causing an increase in
homelessness. A large part of these
issues come from the housing crisis,
homes that are unaffordable and
scarce. In the article "Bay Area
Homelessness: New Urgency, New
Solutions," it was strongly stated, “The
Bay Area’s high rate of homelessness is
inextricably tied to its housing
shortage.”
“There's a lot of homeless here
and I think it's so sad. This is with
buildings lying empty. There's one
that I saw today. I think it's called
the Plaza Center. And on Foothill
Boulevard they're offering office
retail space that could be made
into apartments to help the
homeless.”
Rachael/56+/SFH
Tiny Houses
43 Q4: Homelessness
Excerpts: Student Essays
This shows how even parks, a place
made for the community and families,
have a large homeless population in
them. The Weekes library in Hayward
is currently open but many may say
that the homeless population there still
remains so the library feels off limits for
citizens. Despite most homeless not
being major causes of issues, many
people still may look down on the
location and feel as if their safety is
being compromised. It also has a lot to
do with cleanliness.

Fear of homelessness
Many homeless people have mental
illness, and alcohol and drugs
addictions compound this and that
keep them living on the streets. This
problem generates concern and
affects the communities, because the
daily life of residents is interrupted by
the constant encounter of homeless
people in different parts of the public
thoroughfare. Janet comments, "Since
the pandemic, there has been an
increase of homeless individuals
especially near our libraries." Janet is a
single mother of two who lives with her
mom in south Hayward. She works long
hours, and when she has days off, she
likes to take her children to the library
near her home, but the increase in
homeless people seeking shelter
around the library causes Janet to
worry and fear that someone might
attack her or her children. This same
situation can be observed in shopping
centers, gas stations, and fast-food
places where homeless people settle
temporarily or consume drugs.
"Terrible, so scary. Especially, when
the homeless like follow me, I tried
to get out of their ways or I tried to
stay away from them but they
kept following or they got close to
me-- it made me so nervous."
Jesky/36-45/SFH
"I know that the homeless people
of Hayward need a lot of help so
that they can get out of the
situation that they are in. But as
much as we want to help, people
are a bit afraid to help and I am
afraid to help."
Lucy/36-45/SFH
44 Q4: Homelessness
Excerpts: Student Essays
I think Maria’s view is that, even though
the number is not as big as other cities,
the homeless are congregating in the
poorest and/or most abandoned zones
of Hayward. Perhaps that is why some
people with above average income
think that the number of homeless in
Hayward is low, because they actually
never visit the worst parts of their city.

Experience with homelessness
Ethan, a Hayward resident who was
actually formerly homeless,
understands the struggles and the
difficulties one may face to get out of
the situation. Ethan said, “I have to take
public transport to get to my work so I
take Bart and so I see homeless
people quite often; and I just wish there
were a few more services available for
the homeless people in Hayward,
especially coming from personal
experience definitely with credit
because some people have no history
of credit and for them to be building up
their credit from nothing is extremely
hard and for them to, you know, get an
apartment, get housing - it's extremely
difficult.”
""I have been on my own since I
was 12 years old and homeless
since 2007 due to a reverse
mortgage."
Michael/56+/Homeless
I have not been in this situation
but you know I can only imagine
it’s tough being in that situation.

And I feel for them but do you
know if there’s any government
assistance that they can get?
I am all for some of our tax
money going towards that to
support that. I wish there’s more
that we can do, that the city can
do."
Catherine/36-45/SFH
"I'm at the risk of being homeless."
Jeff/-25/SFH
45 Further Exploration: Homelessness
Q4: Homelessness
How can the city or other
organizations tap into, and leverage,
the generalized empathy that many
residents have for the homeless
problem?
The typical Hayward resident does not
have a clear understanding of the
scope of the problem. How can the city
share a more true and complete and
accurate accounting of the issue with
residents?
The fear that women have around
interacting with the homeless is real,
but is often ignored. Women are
expected to just “deal with it.” How can
their fears be allayed?
46 Talk in detail about your relationship
with your neighbors.

Interview Question #5

Observations: Neighbor Relations
Q5: Neighbors
A common feature of a positive relationship with one's neighbor is Reliability. 69 community members felt like they could rely on their neighbors for borrowing tools, asking for help, keeping watch over their house or pets, picking up packages from their porch, sharing food, etc. 7 of the 69 interviewees said they could rely on their neighbors even though they indicated that they do not have a close relationship with them.

There are varying degrees of how community members explained what constitutes a positive relationship with neighbors. For some, a positive relationship might be simply waving to one another. For others it means having long conversations or feeling comfortable enough to ask to borrow a tool. Other positive relationships were depicted as enjoying meals together, sharing food, spending holidays together, etc. 4 community members shared stories of how they have been discriminated against by their neighbors.
4 interviewees discussed the importance of shared community assets when it comes to building community and fostering positive neighbor relations. These assets include churches, fully programmed recreational areas like parks, community sports leagues, etc.

Only 12 residents--3%--used the word "community" to describe their relationship with neighbors.

Community members' relationships to their neighbors
48 Observations: Neighbor Relations
Q5: Neighbors
25 community members seem lonely. They yearn to really connect with neighbors, celebrate special occasions, and act as a community. We have seen this phenomenon repeatedly in the 5 years we have been investigating Hayward. 13 residents express awareness of, and pride in, how truly diverse Hayward is. Residents see diversity as a real strength, even if they don't tap into it as often as they might like.

The topic of Crime was brought up by over 17 residents in response to this question, which is interesting, given that the question made no specific reference to the topic.

Some residents hinted at their neighbors being the perpetrators of crime. Some residents brought up Crime in this question for the rather obvious reason that when Crime happens TO them, it usually happens in their neighborhood. 22 Community members expressed a lot of nostalgia about how their relationships with their neighbors used to be. There were many stories of community members sharing interactions they had with old neighbors before they moved as well as the changes they've noticed in their neighborhoods and Hayward at large. They had deep and long ties with those neighbors. But sometimes with their new neighbors, they don’t have that close relationship. This sentiment is a trend throughout all 400 interviews. 38 Community members are also okay with not having a deep bond with their neighbors. They like to "keep to themselves" and appreciate how "quiet" their neighborhoods are.

Many community members discussed reasons why it's difficult developing a close relationship with their neighbors. These reasons include not speaking the same language, age gaps, never being home, COVID (11), being new to the area, being too busy (31) implying that if they didn't have to work so much, they could have time to develop relationships with neighbors.
49 Q5: Neighbors
Residents Speak: Neighbor Relations
“We're close to our next door neighbors. When our kids were younger, they would go out and play with them and it's a little small gated area so we felt comfortable talking with them and everything but you know everybody kind of keeps to their own.” Mindy/36-45/Triplex “We're definitely not close with our street neighbors, which was different from when I was growing up where the neighbors were pretty friendly. But over the years I noticed that a lot of people kind of keep to themselves and you know, it's kind of sad. I miss the closeness that used to be.” Mindy/36-45/Triplex “So when I was younger, I used to have a very, very close relationship with my neighbors and we used to get along very well, all of us. But as we got older, conflicts arise. And we aren't necessarily close anymore.” Mia/-25/SFH

“Our families were very close knit. We'd have dinner together every once in a while.

It was kind of like a family. They'll give each other a hand." Mia/-25/SFH “We keep to ourselves because we had an incident several years ago and now we just ignore each other. I try not even to go outside if they are out there. It's a shame but it's better than fighting with them all the time.” John/56+/Apt. “I would say I don't have a tight relationship with any of my neighbors--when I see you I say hi or I smile, and that's about it. With my neighbors I do notice that there's a lot of turn around in my apartments. I've been in this apartment since early 2020.

And I've had two new neighbors in that timeframe." Raina/26-35/Apt. "I would like it to be more tight knit. When
I grew up in apartments it was tight knit,
our families all knew each other because
they all had kids and they all played with
each other outside.”
Raina/26-35/Apt.
50 Q5: Neighbors
Residents Speak: Neighbor Relations
"I can't tell you anything because we don't really talk. I'm 43 my neighbor is 80. We don't have any conversation, just different age gaps." John/36-45/SFH "Don’t have any relationship, I like my privacy." Melanie/46-55/SFH "I'm never home. I don't even know who they are." Jeff/-25/SFH "The gentrification pieces, just like you grew up in, in a neighborhood where it's all like brown and black folk, right? Like Asian folks living in our communities too, especially Filipino folks. And then like, growing up, it's just we all have very similar values that as the place gentrified like you get people with different values coming in. And it's not always super easy to like, align with them. So there's those pieces too but yeah, it's a mix of reasons." Alvaro/26-35/SFH "My neighbor is my enemy. I have a big tree in front of my house. When the leaves fall, they fall on her house. So she swept the leaves and put them in a bag and put it in front of my door. She said cut your tree and we won't have a problem in the neighborhood." Kina/56+/SFH "My relationship with my neighbor is really bad, I hate them. They are rude and I think they don't like Asian people. Before I came to this house. So in the street parking lot, literally everyone can park there, but he said to me only his car can park there. He said he will get a gun and kill my family if you park there one more time.

They are very rude and they see we are Asian people. They yelling very bad things at us like go back to your country." Nancy/26-35/SFH "When I first came to this neighborhood, first couple weeks I came here, when I walk around, there was one white woman, so I said hello to her. She just replied 'get out of here, go back to your country'.” Jesky/36-45/SFH "it's really hard living in an
apartment and having neighbors."
51 I think it’s one of the most refreshing parts of Hayward, people love the other people here and we all get along here. Like in the case of Lucy, who says, “For me as someone who is far away from my blood relatives and no blood related family members, I have a lot of people here who have become part of my family just from being around them for so long and becoming very close.” Having lived in Hayward my whole life, I can attest that I have never had an experience where my neighbor was an absolute nightmare or where they made my life incredibly difficult. Now to be quite honest I used to think that maybe I was just lucky with getting nice friendly neighbors and not having to deal with backwards people, but after all of this time I'm starting to think that maybe this is just the quality of the people in Hayward.

It is fascinating to see how people can count on others when they have a problem.

Every community should strive to have a relationship like most of the citizens of Hayward. As a supporter of this idea, Patrick mentioned that he does not have a close direct relationship with his neighbors (above all because of Covid), but they keep each other informed through social media. He pointed out that “a lot of it (relationship with the neighbors) is done through online social media, social platforms like NextDoor, where you are able to communicate a little more with neighbors.” The Covid era has made us more isolated. However, thanks to social media, people have not forgotten to help those around them. Even in these dark times, people should not forget that they need others in order to survive.

Q5: Neighbors
Excerpts: Student Essays
Interviewees' relationships with neighbors by years living in Hayward Neighbors supporting one another
52 Q5: Neighbors
Excerpts: Student Essays
An additional benefit of living in Hayward can be the diversity of ethnicities, age, gender, and sexuality. When looking for homes, having diversity in a community can be important, especially for people of color and people who are a part of the LGBTQIA+ community. A city with a lot of diversity in all different areas can be important when finding a home or a place to rent. This allows landlords to be exposed to people of different ethnicities, ages, gender, and sexuality, decreasing chances of potential discrimination towards the vast amount of people who are trying to find places to live. Because of the diversity of Hayward, residents of Hayward may not feel that they were discriminated against. As Alina said, “Ethnicity wise, I don’t feel like I’ve ever been discriminated against when it comes to finding housing.”
To be discriminated against in any way needs to be brought to awareness at all times. Luckily, the city of Hayward does provide resources on their online website to help file against those who discriminated against or harassed an individual. On their Hayward website, they give a resource, “Fair Housing: If you believe you have experienced illegal housing discrimination or harassment, you can explore filing a complaint with the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing at (800) 884-1684”. As a way to support residents of Hayward, the city provides resources that can help bring individuals justice and further prevent others from going through similar cases. It can ensure that the city can provide some form of resource, but sometimes a phone number is not enough. Constant awareness against all types of discrimination needs to be spread across Hayward, the state, and the country.

Interviewees' relationships with neighbors by living situation Hayward's Diversity
53 Excerpts: Student Essays
Q5: Neighbors
Diversity in a neighborhood is very important because it provides opportunities for exposure to different ethnicities and cultures, allowing fair-mindedness, diverse networks, and settings, and open-mindedness. To have these positive effects of diversity in a neighborhood will create a sense of community. This sense of community among neighbors can ensure a safe environment for everyone. As Stacy mentioned, “Despite the language barriers--because it was a pretty diverse neighborhood--my mother will go out of her way to let our neighbor know what she was cooking smells amazing!” Creating a safe and welcoming environment benefitted Stacy’s mom because she was able to form a relationship with their neighbor while exchanging recipes.

Neighborhoods strengthened by Diversity
Interviewees' relationships with neighbors by ethnicity 54 Q5: Neighbors
Excerpts: Student Essays
Maribel has an interesting relationship with one specific person living in her neighborhood. She says she has one neighbor that's not so pleasant and constantly calls the police and city on her and her family. One example she can name is, "She called the police because my dad had parked right in front of her house and he was like, two inches from the red part of the curb. And the police, of course, had to come, and they were really annoyed."
Neighbor problems
Interviewees' relationships with neighbors by age
55 Just as there are people who live happily, enjoy, and are part of the community, there are also people who live in fear of the high crime rates within the city of Hayward. In the words of Kathleen, who has lived in the Cherryland area for 16 years, “It’s scary to go to the store, Target, 7-11, etc. I never want to leave my house because I am afraid I am going to get robbed. If not robbed, someone is definitely going to approach me and ask me for money. I can’t stop and pick up groceries or anything on my way home from work because I always have my work backpack with me, and I cannot take the chance that I will come out to a window smashed." It is terrible that Kathleen, and others--especially other women--have to live like this.

Despite Hayward having a strong network of neighborhood relationships, it doesn’t stop criminal activity completely, specifically when it comes to stealing and car jacking. A city that tends to have a lot of crime is representative of the idea that people need to steal in order to make a living. However, this in of itself creates a negative feedback loop in the community where one party benefits while the other is in complete detriment.

Perhaps the criminals who steal cars or car parts have this mindset in which they believe what they’re doing is justified, and that the city doesn’t do anything to help them and therefore they will take their own individualized action. In fact, according to a Healthline article on the psychology of stealing, it states, “Some people steal as a means to survive due to economic hardship." This clearly shows that a person who attempts to steal a single car from a single victim provides the clear picture that Hayward has an issue when it comes to stealing-- all stemming from the psychological stress of finances.

Q5: Neighbors
Excerpts: Student Essays
Crime in neighborhoods
Interviewees' relationships with neighbors by gender
56 Q5: Neighbors
Interviewees' relationships with neighbors by number of people in household Interviewees' relationships with neighbors by number of families in household 57 Further Exploration: Neighbor Relations
Q5: Neighbors
How does proximity to public spaces
and resources foster positive
neighborhood interactions (like parks,
stores, etc.)?
Does a community member’s
relationship with their neighbors
influence whether they want to stay in
or leave Hayward?
Friends gather at Eldridge Park
How can the city facilitate and
encourage positive neighbor
interactions? How do residents
spend their leisure time?
How can Hayward’s diversity be
highlighted, feted, and leveraged, in
order to increase neighborhood
cohesion?
58 When it comes to housing, have you
ever felt discriminated against or
treated unfairly based on your
ethnicity?
Interview Question #6

Observations: Discrimination
Q6: Discrimination
The concept of "Passing" was brought up 8 times. 8 Community members stated they "pass as white" and therefore do not experience discrimination.

Like we've seen in many questions in these interviews, 5 community members stated that living in a home for a long time has enabled them to evade discrimination. Our analysis also shows that the largest group that does not experience discrimination is community members who have lived in Hayward for more than 21 or more years (132).

Having landlords who are of the same ethnicity as the community member prevents discrimination (18). This sentiment was also expressed in question #3 about Eviction when community members described having positive relationships with their landlords. In addition, living in a community that's predominatently the same ethnicity as the community member prevents discrimination (11). This creates a sense of safety and inclusivity as community members can bond over shared life experiences.
11 white community members stated they do not experience discrimination because they are white. A few Mexican and Asain community members said they also don't experience discrimination because they are Mexican or Asian.

Communnity members who have experienced discrimination
60 Observations: Discrimination
Q6: Discrimination
6 interviewees shared that while they may not have ever faced blatant or obvious discrimination, they still have to be vigilant about combatting subtle or stealthy forms of unfair treatment. This surfaces in relationships to neighbors. Communtiy members will avoid talking to neighbors to avoid the risk of being discriminated against. This sentiment was discussed 12 times. 2 community members stated that having a positive relationship with their neighbors subdues discrimination. However, it may be that living in a nonprejudicial community is a prerequisite for having a positive relaitonship with one's neighbors.
26 interviewees felt that they were discriminated against because of factors other than their ethnicity: socio-economic standing, gender, age, and housing situation. 30 community members said they never experienced discrimination because of how diverse Hayward is and how living in multi-racial communities make them feel safe and included. These traits provide a sense of safety and security. Diversity is seen as an antidote to Discrimination.

As with other issues uncovered in this project, Privilege is seen as being a buffer against problems, in this case, discrimination. Life is seen as “easier" for those who live in more exclusive neighborhoods and who are more affluent. It is curious that Privilege pops up in the answers to this Discrimination question 15 times, given that it is never explicitly asked about, nor were students instructed to bring it up. 34 community members have noticed discrimination to others but have not personally experienced discrimination.

Community members who have experienced discrimination by ethnicity 61 Q6: Discrimination
Residents Speak: Discrimination
"We're very, very lucky to have grown up in Hayward because it's such a diverse city. We grew up with Filipinos, Latino, Black, Polynesian, Asian--every color of the rainbow and I can count on one hand on how many times I've felt discriminated against and it was never in my city of Hayward." Cedy/36-45/SFH "Yes, I was discriminated against and it was because of my ethnicity. I believed it to be my ethnicity. Because I'm Asian Pacific Islander, they assumed me to be of a different class and a different financial status." Justin/26-35/SFH "Not because of my ethnicity but because of my status, because I'm the only renter in my townhouse. They're owners so yes I feel it, that and my kids are a different class status." Rachael/36-45/Townhouse "I've never felt discriminated against based on my ethnicity. It was actually really easy to get this apartment, I would say I didn't have any troubles and this is the first time I've ever gotten a place on my own in Hayward." Reina/26-35/Apt. "Never. Maybe because of the color of my skin. I'm lighter skin and people think I’m American but in reality I was born in a different country." Cesar/36-45/SFH "I think the reason why we don't talk to our neighbors is because our ethnicities are not the same. I feel like the same ethnicity, it would be easier to approach them." Pravnoor/-25/SFH
"We all look out for each other. And I think
if we, if any of us, as a community ever
saw that we would definitely speak up
and stand up. So no, to be honest, I
haven't. I haven't really been. I feel really
lucky to say that."
Cedy/36-45/SFH
62 Q6: Discrimination
Residents Speak: Discrimination
"I have a slim white passing, so I feel like that helps." Alina/-25/Apt. "I feel I belong where I am--everyone is so welcoming. I’m surrounded by great neighbors--it feels like such a tight and close community." Raveena/26-35/SFH "I feel like I'm being treated unfairly because of my ethnicity, that's why I'm not very close to my neighbors." Tran/26-35/SFH "Yes but not as in racism, but discriminated due to the fact that I'm homeless. I mean I understand why they would discriminate but at the same time it's the reason why I can't find a job." Michael/56+/Homeless "There are a lot of men here who's listed prostitution, but just because I'm homeless doesn't mean I'm a prostitute." Lalita/36-45/Homeless "Because in my in my street, we have different ethnicity. Some people are from Iran, some African American, Some Americans, some are from Hong Kong. So we just have mixtures of different people. And everybody is nice to each other. Yes, so often you're not gonna feel discriminated." Chibiya/26-35/SFH "Since our landlord is white and we are
Mexican, she thinks she's higher than us."
Jacqueline/-25/SFH
63 Q6: Discrimination
Excerpts: Student Essays
Another way landlords discriminate is to put too many requirements that people cannot meet or to falsely declare that the house has already been rented to another person. Emilio, who has lived in Hayward for 26 years, comments, "When they see you Latino or you don't make good money, sometimes [landlords] do not give you the place for renting. So that's a real problem." One of the conflicts that many Hispanics face is the lack of legal documents that allow them to live in the United States. Unable to prove their immigration status, many families are forced to rent rooms from other families or spaces within homes, since they cannot acquire their own homes. The second conflict that Hispanics are confronted with is a lack of communication. The lack of basic English to communicate sometimes closes the doors for Hispanics to rent a home.

There are many downsides to living in high-poverty neighborhoods: it makes one less likely to make it out of poverty, education is not as good, upkeep isn’t as good, higher pollution, etc. Housing discrimination is a very real situation in the United States and there are many housing laws with an unsaid racist intent. America has a racist history when it comes to housing.

Discrimination
Community members who have experienced discrimination
by number of families living in a single domicile
64 One other trend that I noticed was that people have felt discriminated against when it comes to housing in Haywards. It is not blatant dsicrimantion where they are telling them that they aren't allowed to buy or rent a house here because they are Mexican. Rather, it was more subtle, like making it more difficult for people to get a house. Putting them through many hoops so that they feel discouraged. Jose said, “As a Latino I feel that they ask you for a lot more things when even applying, and they also ask for it in very unpleasant and often demeaning ways.” These subtle little attempts to discourage people and to make people feel unwelcome when they are renting somewhere are effective in discouraging people. And thus when it comes to discrimination in housing I feel it's the little things that we must focus on.

The American community has come a long way since the days of discrimination and white supremacy, but, despite this social improvement, the ghost of racial discrimination is still present in today’s community. It is possible that blatant discrimination and segregation may have ended long ago, but their consequences are affecting some sectors of Hayward nowadays. Racial segregation in Hayward is a serious problem that is affecting many Hispanic, Black and Asian residents of Hayward. Also, it is not a coincidence that in these sectors of Hayward one can find big levels of poverty and disorder. Unless the city of Hayward starts working on this unfair situation, these residents will constantly fall into an abyss of poverty, where they will not be able to progress or change.

Q6: Discrimination
Excerpts: Student Essays
Discrimination
Community members who have experienced discrimination by age 65 Places like the Bay Area are filled with diversity, and it is one of the many great things about living here and something residents like Carlos are thankful for. Carlos, a Mexican resident of Hayward, currently rents from his father but has lived in other areas in Hayward and can't recall any discrimination he faced when it came to housing. Carlos had this to say why he thinks he hasn't been discriminated against:
"Where I live is very diverse and I never felt discriminated against, some of my neighbors are Filipino, Chinese. There's a gay couple across the street, a lot of Hispanic and black families living here too." Carlos gives a great example of how incredibly diverse Hayward is and how neighborhoods are filled with a variety of families, which is why he hadn't faced discrimination.

Diversity can definitely prevent discrimination; being exposed to multiple cultures can make you more open-minded and less biased compared to areas with a lack of diversity. Sandra, a Mexican immigrant, hasn't faced any discrimination regarding housing. Sandra goes on to say, "you know, being in the East Bay, there's such a diverse group of people." She adds that even her short period living in San Jose was great as well, and she never ran into any issues involving her ethnicity.

Living in the Bay comes with many privileges, and diversity is one of them; Despite coming from a South American country, Maria did not suffer any kind of discrimination in all her time sharing her apartment with her friends because “my friends and I came from the same country, and when we moved to the apartment, the apartment’s landlord knew our situation. He has always been kind to us. I do not think I ever felt discriminated against, at least with respect to housing.” Q6: Discrimination
Excerpts: Student Essays
Diversity prevents discrimination
Community members who have experienced discrimination by years living in Hayward 66 Q6: Discrimination
Excerpts: Student Essays
In Hayward, neighborhoods within the Hayward Hills typically consist of higher income and richer individuals as opposed to areas like North Hayward. This is an observation that many residents in Hayward have noticed as well. Duyen, a 33-year old long-time Hayward resident and parent, said, “I do notice that in the hills, the houses are very nice. There’s more space. If you go down to where I live, it’s very crowded and it’s a bunch of townhomes. So no one really has a backyard or front yard where their kids can play and stuff.” This exemplifies how there is a major physical and aesthetic difference in neighborhoods in the hills as opposed to other Hayward areas.

Nurse Allysa said, “In the hills, they have gated communities, they have multiple cars, multiple rooms. I feel like people don’t think rooms are a luxury but they really are.” This further supports the observation that living in the hills is more spacious and considered more “luxurious” living. It’s a very real thing, the Hayward hills look like a completely different city than what many people know as Hayward. Hayward hills consist of multimillion dollar homes, nicer parks, nicer schools, etc. It’s a privilege to have a home in Hayward Hills.

Privilege
Community members who have experienced discrimination by living situation 67 Further Exploration: Discrimination
Q6: Discrimination
What is the relationship--if any--
between Discrimination and
Segregation?
How can Diversity be leveraged and
activated in order to build community
power and limit Discrimination?
No Room For Racism in Hayward
How can over 90% of residents
say they see segregation, but
less than 10% say they have
never been discriminated
against?
68 Do you notice areas in Hayward
where there is more segregation? Or
more people living in poverty than in
other areas? If so, which areas? What
do you notice about these higher
poverty areas?
Interview Question #7

Observations: Segregation
Q7: Segregation
Community members were really thoughtful in their responses to this question. There’s a lot of nuance in how people define segregation and describe its impacts. Some discussed segregation by race, income, or gentrification. 55 interviewees said they didn’t notice segregation in terms of race, but they did notice it in terms of income, age, or gender.
63 community members compared the Hayward Hills to the "Flats" (specifically Tennyson and South Hayward). Community members claimed that people living in the Hayward hills have better resources including infrastructure like roads and more amenities like grocery stores and better schools.
30 community members declared that they aren’t familiar enough with Hayward to answer this question because they just “live” in the city but don’t spend time in the city or that they just moved to Hayward, so they don’t know the city well enough to make any claims regarding segregation. That said, 9 of these 30 community members have been living in Hayward for 21 or more years.

Community members who notice segregation by ethnicity
70 Observations: Segregation
Q7: Segregation
24 of the interviewees who said they didn't notice segregation in Hayward believe the city is really diverse and integrated and that diversity protects people from segregation.

Community members observed segregation in a variety of ways. 41 community members said segregated areas have higher rates of crime and violence, which induces a feeling of being unsafe.
49 community members suggested that segregated areas have more trash and litter. 17 community members observed that more affluent areas of Hayward like the Hayward hills are "cleaner."
46 community members associated segregation with homelessness. In addition, 9 community members pointed out that areas that are segregated have more liquor stores than more affluent areas of Hayward.
29 community members noticed segregation in predominantely LatinX neighborhoods while wealthier neighborhoods are predominately inhabited by white community members.

No one identified their neighborhood as being segregated. Community members described other areas of Hayward as being segregated but not their own. 3 community members did say their neighborhoods were diverse and not segregated.

Community members who have experienced segregation by years living in Hayward 71 Q7: Segregation
Residents Speak: Segregation
“Places like South Hayward or Cherry Land are traditionally in lower income areas.

There are pockets of low income housing, but Hayward does a really good job of not embarrassing our poor.” Gabriel/36-45/SFH “I know where Section eight housing units are. They're beautiful. They have beautiful little parks for kids. They have classes for parents if they want to learn something like computer skills and stuff and they're in good areas.” Gabriel/36-45/SFH “Tennyson and part of A street are are a bit more ugly and lacking resources with potholes and a lot of different issues. It feels like those areas are not taken care of and it is usually a lot more Latinos living in those areas.” Jose/46-55/SFH “I definitely notice areas with more segregation than others. Like you can really tell the difference between areas experiencing uncomfortable living situations versus a concentrated area of lower income families occupying those spaces and struggling to make ends meet. They live in overcrowded conditions and they're more at risk of eviction or displacement.” Adi/26-35/SFH “There's a really big divide between the hills of Hayward and South Hayward. The houses and living situation in South Hayward is definitely of a lower class compared to the hills of Hayward. The hills are generally affluent communities and neighborhoods as compared to South Hayward where we see a lot more homelessness and just a lower standard of living.” Isiah/26-35/Apt. "Around Tennyson area there's more poverty. There's a lot more trash and more broken traffic lights and things that aren't too well taken care of compared to areas like downtown. And then other areas closer to the Hayward Hills. There's a lot more quiet compared to Tennyson." Sandra/26-35/SFH “Hayward is pretty integrated. My
neighborhood is pretty diverse.

That's one thing I like about the
community is that it's diverse.”
Lynn/56+/SFH
72 Q7: Segregation
Residents Speak: Segregation
"I'd say I'm very blessed that I live in the community that I am considering that it is a gated community and the area that I live in, there's not much of a high criminal rate. So I feel safe for myself and my children. I do not have to worry about much.

Also with all the hate crime going on to Asians. Thank God I haven't been personally segregated but I see all over the news people getting hurt worst case killed. It breaks my heart." Nikki/36-45/SFH "I have noticed South Hayward It's a more poor area than others. There is a lot more crime and trash on the floor in those areas." Kimmy/-25/Apt .
"I wouldn't say there's really much segregation, I feel like it's pretty diverse. I do see a lot more poverty kind of around the Tennyson area, between Tennyson and Hesperian, I feel like that's where I see most homeless people. On top of that there is also a lot of pollution." Myrvin/-25/SFH "You can really tell the difference in areas experiencing a comfortable living situation versus like a concentrated area of lower income families occupying those spaces and struggling to make ends meet. They live in overcrowded conditions and they're more at risk of eviction or displacement." Gabriel/36-45/SFH "There are neighborhoods that have apartments that are cheaper and they live three families in one apartment because that's the only way they can afford rent. A lot of those families are going to be removed because they're building fancy condominiums around them so they might lose their place." Gabriella/46-55/SFH "There are certain areas in Hayward who choose to keep their neighborhoods specifically white." Joanne/46-55/SFH "You could tell when there’s two
different communities divided in
one area."
Stephanie/-25/Duplex
73 It is apparent that Hayward has its own segregation issues; minorities live in lower- income areas while the white and wealthy get to live in their mansions. Anyone can see how different south Hayward is compared to up in the Hills. The lower-income regions are riddled with litter, an obvious need for construction on roads and buildings, and there's a lack of resources. You look at the Hills; the streets are clean, everything is presentable, and there are clean parks, country clubs, and plenty of resources for the residents. Hayward is fueling this segregation by neglecting lower-income areas rather than helping them.

Sandra states areas like Tennyson, where the residents are primarily low-income and come of Latin descent, are heavily segregated from wealthier areas of Hayward. Sandra goes on to say, "The Carlos B or a Stone gray area where you have multi-million dollar homes and country clubs is definitely a big difference to lower-income areas like Tennyson. And all you have to do is go down the hill and a mile south."
There could be a solution to this problem, and it starts with Hayward to stop perpetuating segregation. According to Habitat.org's article called "5 policy solutions to advance racial equity in housing," one of the five solutions mentioned is to stop perpetuating segregation which can be done by "Reforming zoning to allow mixed-income communities. By diversifying the types of homes allowed in their communities, localities can make them more racially and economically inclusive." Once you start mixing classes and racial groups, it not only diversifies neighborhoods but will lead to the city to have less of bias towards a neighborhood based on their class or race, creating more liveable and presentable communities.

Q7: Segregation
Excerpts: Student Essays
Community members who notice segregation by age
Segregation
74 Q7: Segregation
Community members who notice segregation by housing status Community members who notice segregation by number of
people living in a single domicile
75 Further Exploration: Segregation
Q7: Segregation
WHY, in fact, is Hayward segregated?
What answers--if any--do residents
have for this question? How does
the city answer this question?
What tools, strategies, programs can
the city employ to limit Segregation in
Hayward?
Liquor Store on B St.

Residents see discrimination
as a personal act. Why do
they not see segregation as
personal?
76 What environmental or pollution
issues do you face where you live?
What is preventing you from solving
these issues? What support do you
need to change these issues?
Interview Question #8

Observations: Environmental Pollution
Q8: Environmental Pollution
Of all the different issues that the 400 interviews uncovered, the one that surprised us the most was Trash and Litter. The topic of trash and litter was mentioned 123 times, and we were surprised how often it was discussed, especially considering that there is no specific reference to the topic in the question. We were also surprised how ANGRY and frustrated the topic made people feel. The community's frustration came predominatenly from how "ugly" it made their neighborhoods look and how unsanitary it is to have near one's home.
16 Community members were concerned about trash and litter contaminating creeks, hiking trails, and water systems in Hayward.

While this sentiment wasn't expressly stated in response to this question, in question #7 about segregation and question #4 about homelessness, many residents are aware that those with more Privilege and economic status are far less likely to be impacted by pollution, and especially by Trash and Litter. 30 community members blamed the homeless for the litter around Hayward.

There’s a difference in how the 127 interviewees who responded that they "don’t notice environmental pollution" responded to the question. 109 of the 127 interviewees do not notice pollution at all (19 of whom believe Hayward effectively manages environmental pollution) and 28 of the 127 interviewees claimed that they don't experience pollution in their neighborhoods but recognize it in other areas of Hayward.

Top identified sources of pollution
78 Observations: Environmental Pollution
Q8: Environmental Pollution
Community members were mixed in whether they felt like they had any agency to end or prevent environmental pollution. 34 interviewees said preventing environmental pollution was out their control and they wanted the city to do more and the community to work together to clean up litter and environmental pollution. 17 interviewees suggested that there should be more education around recycling and waste. 11 interviewees felt they could make a difference to end environmental pollution and they shared what they were doing personally to reduce waste or to work with city council members around pollution. But even these 11 interviewees acknowledged they alone cannot end environmental pollution without broader support from the government and the community.

Although the phrases "climate change" and "global warming" were mentioned only 3 times, 61 community members discussed their concerns about the impacts of climate change including wildfires (26), air pollution (21), droughts (4), hotter temperatures (4), carbon emissions (2), sea level rise (1), etc.
39 community members described their living situations to be on the frontlines of environmental pollution. They were frustrated by and concerned about the proximity of their homes to what they perceived as sources of pollution including freeways, BART stations, construction sites, the Hayward airport, industry sites, the power plant, etc.

They described a noticeable difference in the sounds (12 of 39) and the smells (10 of 39) near their neighborhoods compared to neighborhoods in Hayward that are further away from these sources of pollution. The environmental justice implications of this are significant. 10 of these 39 interviewees' concerns were amplified when they stated that the pollution they experience is out of their control and that they do not have the means to move to a new home away from any source of environmental pollution. One community member attributed her twins' asthma to living near the BART station. 29 community members suggested ways to reduce litter such as increasing education and awareness around the impacts of litter, adding more trash cans throughout the city, increasing the frequency of street cleaning, and organizing community clean ups.
79 Q8: Environmental Pollution
Residents Speak: Environmental Pollution
“The people don’t worry or they don’t care about the amount of trash they leave on the streets in their daily life. All of that matters and sometimes emotionally.” Bertha/36-45/SFH
“There's a lot of homelessness in my area. They leave a lot of trash and waste laying around in the streets. I guess If it was cleaner, I would feel safer. But I haven't really thought about seeking help to clean the streets in my area." Stephanie/26-35/Apt
“We have power plants and I see how they are portrayed in movies. They can malfunction, blow up and it will be a chaotic mess if something happened at the power plant here in Hayward. But what will I change?” Juan/46-55/SFH “I don't think I have environmental or pollution issues. If it's global for the earth, I feel like plastic will be a big problem because there's nowhere you cannot see plastic. It is everywhere and it's harmful for our environment overall.” Zhe/26-35/Condo “A lot of people have anxiety in terms of how destructive climate change is. It's hard because climate change is something that people need to take more seriously or if they don’t believe in it to find a way to take it seriously and learn about it. Our world is basically dying and we’re living in it.” Stacy/26-35/Apt “I don't have many problems but my last child had autism and I think the main problem was ambient because the fertilizer or chemicals that the people use on the garden affected my pregnancy.” Reina/46-55/SFH "The reason why I think we live in a bad
environment is due to the garbage that
we see a lot in the streets."
Bertha/36-45/SFH
80 Bertha/36-45/SFH
Q8: Environmental Pollution
Residents Speak: Environmental Pollution
"My twins both have asthma. We live by the train tracks and also Bart, so I feel like that has correlation to their asthma. We barely got signed on this house that's big enough to comfortably house us all. But it's the best we can do with all of the money that we make. We can't move and you can't move Bart and you can't move the train tracks. So I don't think there's anything that I can do." Alysa/26-35/SFH "Well, the complex that we live in is right next to the freeway. Something that does concern us is air quality." Juan/36-45/Apt "The fact that natural habitats are being removed and developed, and so it affects the wildlife. That's one of my passions. The water and the Bay are so polluted." Elizabeth/56+/SFH
"It’s starting to feel overcrowded. The destruction of the beautiful Hayward hills for housing developments is also heartbreaking. I wish they would stop destroying what little natural beauty we have." Norma/26-35/SFH "I need help from both the people and the government. You need more safe public transportation. So that's from the government. There is public transportation, but people try to avoid it because they are scared. Are they accessible? Are they reliable? So I think for both ways, it should be the government, provided services, and the people need to utilize it." Sharon/46-55/SFH "Some of the smaller streets are neglected from being cleaned up or getting things working, fixing the streetlights, those types of things." Mindy/36-45/Apt "We live in a nice, gated community. We never really had problems with pollution." Kristian/26-35/SFH

http://tiny.cc/ud7suz
Scan the QR code or click the link to watch From Earth to Chabot College. In this movie, Chabot students share their concerns about the climate crisis and what they'd like Chabot and the city of Hayward to do in response.
81 Trash and littering on Hayward streets is a growing concern. littering along streets and highways is an issue that a lot of cities face and Hayward is no exception.

Many reasons go into why people can feel the need to litter or why it occurs. Public trash cans are not disposed of regularly, trash can easily spill from garbage trucks, and there is not enough enforcement or education on the importance of not littering.

The City of Hayward is not exempt from these problems; environmental pollution affects society, and the communities are sometimes responsible for environmental pollution. Kathleen, who lives in the Cherryland area, says, “There is garbage everywhere. People just dump their old mattresses, furniture, garbage, everything on the streets! I noticed the dumping of things is mostly around the freeway, and apartment complexes near the Cherryland neighborhood.”
Kathleen lives in a gated condominium complex, and when she goes to work, she notices the garbage that accumulates in the streets. The problem with garbage in the streets is that a percentage of it disappears into drains that end up in the sea or underground water currents. Garbage that goes down the drain ends up in the ocean and causes damage to the marine ecosystem.

Residents like Sebastion and Alicia are rightfully upset to see so much litter in their city; it can make the overall environment dirty and unappealing, something nobody wants for their city. So the question is, what can Hayward do to combat this ongoing littering issue? As stated previously, you can't really control people when it comes to littering, but is there a solution? According to Grist.org, they suggest involving the community to solve littering. For example, "Community trash pick-ups are a really simple way to bring together newcomers and longtime residents of a neighborhood." Many cities across the country make community trash pick-ups a crucial part of their communities, such as in Pittsburg, where they have the "Garbage Olympics," where neighborhoods compete who can pick up the most litter. This event not only brings the community together but helps reduce litter, so it is a win-win. Hayward could easily incorporate something similar, combating the ongoing litter and bringing the city closer.

Trash and Litter
Q8: Environmental Pollution
Excerpts: Student Essays
82 The more affluent neighborhoods in Hayward tend to also be a lot cleaner and clearly have more upkeep than the lower income neighborhoods in Hayward and this isn’t something that is distinctive to only Hayward, but is present in almost all cities all over the United States and maybe even some parts of the world.

According to Rahul, a Hayward college student, he notices a striking difference between the more affluent areas of Hayward and others. He says, “Definitely cleanliness, like the roads… you can tell Hayward doesn't fund certain areas, for sure. Like streets are completely wrecked, or there's a lot of litter that is definitely not taken care of.” He believes that there is a difference in the amount of upkeep depending on the area, which probably has a lot to do with money.

Privilege and Pollution
Q8: Environmental Pollution
Excerpts: Student Essays
Climate issues
In an article from Thinking Sustainably, How Does Littering Affect Climate Change?, Greenorb states, “Littering affects climate change because most materials like plastic will not break down over time or take hundreds of years to break down. This causes greenhouse gasses as well that leak into our atmosphere and causes our planet to become hotter." When trash does eventually break down over time, carbon dioxide and methane are released, causing greenhouse gasses. The greenhouse gas in the earth's atmosphere will cause the planet to become hotter, worsening climate change. Hayward is not the only place with this issue, it’s worldwide.

To see trash on the streets is a constant reminder of what humanity is doing to the planet. As a concerned resident, Stacy mentions, “I think climate change is really something that people need to take more seriously”. Climate change is a serious issue that affects everyone. Something as simple as throwing away trash and recycling can make a difference. Along with enforcing no littering, encouraging people to be conscious about the environment, and the use of environmentally friendly products, not only will it create a cleaner and more beautiful environment, but it can help prevent climate change.
83 Q8: Environmental Pollution
Excerpts: Student Essays
Nurse Allysa, who is also a mother of three, has experienced personally the harmful effects of living close to a high pollution area. She shares, “Two weeks ago, I just got back from the doctor's with my twins. they're both five, and my youngest is three. So the twins both have asthma. We live by the train, the train tracks that's frequently used and also by Bart, and I feel like that has correlation to their asthma.” She has researched that there are harmful health effects from living close to high traffic areas, especially for children. Of course, that is not the only possible root of the situation, but it does serve as a possible reasoning. Pollution is a growing issue all over the world. We’re in an era that has to deal with the harmful effects of climate change. Pollution, especially in places near our homes, can be harsh especially for those who are immunocompromised.

Health Impacts of Pollution
Noise Pollution
Another issue affecting specific communities in Hayward is air and noise pollution.

Lila, who lives next to the highway, suffers from this problem; she states, "My residence is behind the freeway which seems to have endless traffic noise. I don't think I have any way to address this issue, except to bring some changes in the acoustics of my dwelling." The constant noise caused by the traffic on the highway and the smog that the vehicles produce create an uncomfortable situation not only for Lila, but this problem also affects her neighbors. Lila cannot open the windows of her house or enjoy the backyard of her house without the discomfort of noise and smog that affects her health. She confronts a difficult situation, and it seems that she can not find a solution.

Construction in Hayward
84 Q8: Environmental Pollution
Excerpts: Student Essays
Not only does wealth buy cleanliness, but wealth also buys homes away from high traffic and highly polluted areas. Some may even say that wealth buys health. In Hayward, there’s two Bart stations, a ton of bus stops, and, of course, a ton of busy main roads. Unfortunately, this doesn’t stop homes from being placed around these busy, high traffic areas but the catch is that homes in these areas tend to be more affordable which brings more environmental and pollution issues for those residents. But for residents living in more affluent areas, they simply do not see or hear any pollution.

Unexpectedly, a great number of Hayward residents consider that there are no pollution problems, at least around their neighborhoods. All of them are pretty satisfied with how the authorities keep the city clean, and they cannot complain. As a matter of fact, Miguel, a 42 year old hispanic father, commented that he does not find any problems related to contamination.

In Paul’s case, he thinks that pollution is almost nonexistent in Hayward. He cannot complain about the situation in his neighborhood or sound pollution in Hayward, because “in this area I do not see things like that--the area is kind of clean, kind of organized, it is not really noisy for the noise pollution, the area is kind of good.

Basically, I do not notice any kind of pollution around here." Some residents don’t think pollution is that bad
Chabot students tabling at Weekes Park Clean Up
85 Further Exploration: Environmental Pollution
Q8: Environmental Pollution
How can the city and residents work
together to shape a concerted
response to the Climate Crisis?
Hayward Shoreline
What is the day-to-day
reality for residents who live
on the frontlines of pollution
in Hayward?
How can residents be invited and
supported to become more involved
in grass roots responses to the
Climate Crisis?
86 When it comes to high quality jobs, is
Hayward a place you would look?
Why or why not?
Interview Question #9

Observations: Jobs
Q9: Jobs
47 interviewees equated high-quality jobs with tech jobs. They said Hayward doesn’t offer high-quality jobs in tech, and you need to seek tech jobs in other cities. 54 community members acknowledged that Hayward offers high-quality jobs in city government, education, biotech, industry, as well as opportunities for small family businesses and warehouse work.
28 interviewees described Hayward as a commuter town, implying that Hayward serves as a hub from which to commute to jobs in other cities; it does not necessarily offer high-quality jobs in its own right. This sentiment was expressed numerous times throughout all of the interviews.

Community members who believe Hayward offers high-quality jobs 88 Observations: Jobs
Q9: Jobs
Community members are mixed in their opinion on whether the jobs in Hayward could support living in Hayward. 17 community members believed that jobs in industry, healthcare, or education enable residents to afford the cost of living in Hayward.

However, over 27 interviewees were adamant that jobs in Hayward do not cover the cost of living in Hayward.

While only 27 community members stated the jobs available in Hayward do not support the cost of living in Hayward, this sentiment was implied in many responses to many of the community members who commute to other cities for work. These community members used words like "suburb," "blue collar," "lower class," "poor," and "minimum wage" to describe jobs in Hayward.
8 interviewees broadened their responses about job quality to the entire Bay Area rather than focusing specifically on Hayward.

Interviewees who believe Hayward offers high-quality jobs by number of families living in a single domicile
89 Q9: Jobs
Residents Speak: Jobs
“If you're a mechanic, it's a blue collar city so, when we say a high quality job here, it's a high quality blue collar job.” Gabriel/36-45/SFH “Finding a high-quality job in Hayward is like finding a needle in a haystack. I think it's very difficult unless you have already had a career before and have been able to be successful.” Paige/-25/Apt “It depends on what someone considers a high quality job. Being a resident my whole life, I've had jobs in Hayward and close by Hayward and you know it's a city that's definitely undergoing some development.” Cedy/36-45/SFH “No. Hayward is more of an area that you live in and commute from to your job.

And I don't really see good quality jobs coming into Hayward. It's more like the low and small jobs or normal ones.” Abdul/56+/SFH "Someone can't make something of themselves such as owning a house; they wouldn't be able to achieve that by working here because here salaries are low.

Secondly, the prices of houses here are very high." Marcelino/56+/SFH "No, because there is no higher paying jobs in hayward. It's a pretty much a suburb trying to be a small city." Melanie/46-55/SFH “I guess it's really just manufacturing.

There's a lot of good work here in that
area. There's also a wastewater plant.

And so that's good. Those are great jobs
if you're interested in that kind of thing.

But these kinds of jobs are not like
Google or anything like that.”
Gabriel/36-45/SFH
90 Q9: Jobs
Residents Speak: Jobs
"I don’t think Hayward is the right place to find high level employment. You can find jobs here, but it’s not going to take you far. You will just pay your rent and bills. If you have bigger plans, you have to look somewhere else." Cesar/36-45/SFH "No, because I'm having trouble paying my rent because of high rent and not enough high paying jobs. There's not a lot here." Nate/-25/Apt.

"I don't know anyone who wants to live in Hayward and wants to work in Hayward due to the payment." Maria/36-45/SFH "It can be very difficult to find a single job in Hayward that will help you afford rent food and other utilities." Elvira/46-55/SFH "This place had a lot of great industrial jobs for a guy like me but not anymore.

Hayward is not what it used to be." John/56+/Apt. "Hayward is a good place because there seems to be a lot of companies and warehouses." Damariz/46-55/SFH "There's no job here
that can pay for living
here." Martha/36-45/SFH
91 Q9: Jobs
Excerpts: Student Essays
Hayward should be working to help their residents afford housing as it would be beneficial to both them and their residents. Jenny, age 31, has stated that she would like to have quality and competitive paying jobs in Hayward, but it really doesn’t exist. Despite this, Jenny feels ”confident about me and my husband's job security to continue being able to afford a home." But overall, people living in Hayward aren’t given the opportunity to sustain themselves in their own city.

Ernest, a business owner, doesn’t think that there are many good job opportunities in Hayward. He compares Hayward to Silicon valley saying that “Hayward is mostly mom and pop stores, they’re mainly like blue collar jobs." As you head towards Fremont and the south bay you’ll start to notice more tech companies. Generally those are where the high quality jobs would be. But the issue with that is accessibility. People struggling financially are less likely to be able to find quality jobs in Hayward. They’ll scour the city and realize all the good opportunities are outside the city. If these higher quality jobs were made more local it would incentivise people to not only move to Hayward but start to help the pre existing population sustain themselves.

Jobs
Community members who believe Hayward offers high-quality jobs by age 92 Several people mentioned Hayward as a good place to live because its centrally located between many major job hubs, but no one identified Hayward as a place where they could find “high quality” jobs. There's a lot of industrial areas. But many people that live in Hayward commute to larger employment areas like the Peninsula, Silicon Valley, San Francisco, and Oakland. I think it's extremely rare for a person from my generation to even think about Hayward as a place that offers high quality jobs. I think back to when I was younger, there was the Mervyns Corporate Office, Hunts Cannery and Kaiser but all have since been shut down or moved out of Hayward.

In the case of jobs, citizens of Hayward often do not look to their own city when they are in the search of high quality opportunities. They tend to opt for places like Silicon Valley or San Francisco, where they know they can find a job which helps them to improve in their research and as a person. Hayward is known for having a hard-working community; unfortunately, if they want to progress in their career, they will need to look beyond their city. Patrick, a 42 year old caucasian hispanic citizen of Hayward, thinks that, as a technological worker, if he really wants to build his career, he will need to look into the big cities like San Francisco, Oakland or Fremont, because “I would look for companies that are based outside or across the bay… because I do not know and I do not think that the quality jobs that I would be looking for I could find them in Hayward." Patrick feels Hayward is not an option when it comes to high quality job searching. His reason is that compared to the bigger and more technological cities, Hayward cannot compete with them.

Q9: Jobs
Excerpts: Student Essays
Jobs
Interviewees who believe Hayward offers high-quality jobs by number of people living in a home
93 Further Exploration: Jobs
Q9: Jobs
Downtown Hayward
How can the city get the
word out about the quality
and quantity of jobs in
Hayward?
X
What can the city do to attract more
"career" or high tech jobs to Hayward?
Where do Hayward residents get their
information about jobs? How
accurate--in fact--are their opinions?
94 Please describe some good
memories you have of where you live.

Interview Question #10

Observations: Positive Memories
Q10: Positive Memories
A point of pride for 84 community members was the duration they’ve lived in Hayward.

Many community members grew up in Hayward and raised a family in the same house they grew up in.
37 memories were centered around downtown Hayward. Community members shared stories about dining with friends and family at local restaurants and taking advantage of resources like the movie theater and the library. 39 community members expressed a lot of nostalgia of their time growing up in Hayward. They recalled riding bicycles around the neighborhood as kids and playing with their neighbors. These community members also reflected upon how close they used to be with their neighbors.

As interviewees reflected on their memories, 29 of them talked about the desire to have close relationships with their neighbors. Some interviewees have such relationships. Others do not.

The city’s and the community’s response to COVID-19 elicited a lot of positive feelings for at least 4 community members. Community members are grateful to the city of Hayward for supporting them through the pandemic with resources like the food distribution. Many community members also expressed a lot of gratitude towards their neighbors for supporting them during the lock down.

The shoreline, parks, Sulphur Creek, and other local green spaces and nature trails were sites of 96 interviewees' positive memories.

Most common sources of positive memories
96 Q10: Positive Memories
Residents Speak: Positive Memories
“There's so many good things. So I love the fact that there is so much to do for free.

There's a lot of events that we do. We have a great library. I work for the historical society and we have a lot of free events that we offer. So as many challenges as there are in Hayward, there are so many advantages to living here in terms of accessibility in terms of Parks and Recreation.” Caroline/36-45/Apt. “I've lived in other places and this is the easiest place to be poor, as ridiculous as it sounds. But, you know, I've always said I would rather economically struggle in Hayward than anywhere else just because of resources and accessibility and parks and swimming pools.” Caroline/36-45/Apt. “Some of my best memories are from my elementary school days. Taking day trips on BART from downtown to places all over the Bay Area definitely made me happy.

Living near downtown, always being walking distance to try new restaurants and catch a movie, and the summer street fairs is always something I’ve done since I was in high school. The movie theater was my first job, and it was a great place to work and make friends.” Norma/26-35/SFH “With the entire pandemic, I feel that there was a lot of help that Hayward provided.

Looking back I got a lot of help from things like the food bank and getting weekly food boxes at different locations; so that is one good memory I have recently that people are willing to help each other.” Elvira/46-55/SFH Holiday Bowl
97 Q10: Positive Memories
Residents Speak: Positive Memories
"Some good memories are bringing home my two children from the hospital to our small, cozy Hayward home. Playing with them in our big backyard and taking walks around the block, stopping to see the chickens on the front yard of a nearby house." Julieta/36-45/SFH "I have one neighbor, whom I truly love and respect. We walk together. We go to lunch, we go to each other's homes. She helps me out and I help her out. It's also just a really nice little area to live in because it's peaceful--it has really nice parks. I am close with my family, they're friendly people." Najia/46-55/Duplex "With living in Hayward for about 15 years, I would say the best memories I’ve had are with my family. Recently, my daughter got married and since it was in the middle of quarantine we did it at home. All of my family was there to see this beautiful moment of my daughter." Lilly/46-55/SFH "I grew up here, so I have built a lot of relationships throughout the years. I remember going to the park with friends and family, playing games, playing football, playing sports and having a good time. Even with my kids and our friends' kids that we can even help our kids grow, and be able to make relationships last like the ones we've had." Juan/46-55/SFH "I have a lot of good memories growing up in Hayward and going to the Mount Eden swim center and the community center at South Gate. There was a lot more things for kids to do back in the day. Riding our bikes to get ice cream at Dairy Belle after a long day of swimming at Mount Eden. It's sad to see that those places aren't utilized as much as before. Mount Eden Swim Center is no longer there. It's very sad to me that that's not available for the this generation." Reina/26-35/Apt. "It's really rewarding
living here."
Caleb/26-35/SFH
“Every aspect of living in
Hayward has been good
because I planted my
roots here.”
98 Catherine/36-45/SFH
The Vice President of Marketing asked me what I wanted to do when I grew up and I quickly answered, “I want to be the CEO of Mervyns”. Obviously, those dreams would never come to fruition because in 2008, Mervyns filed bankruptcy and its building stayed vacant on Foothill Blvd for over 10 years. Now, the spot with lots of childhood memories for myself and nostalgia for so many others will now be the location for 476 apartments and 80,500 square feet of retail space. “Lincoln Landing is poised to become the cornerstone in the revitalization of the Foothill- Mission Boulevard corridor and the transformation of downtown Hayward,” said City Manager Kelly McAdoo. Many Hayward residents look forward to its opening but with slight skepticism around what it will do for traffic and the homeless population.

Jibrail says, “I played on the local Little League baseball team when I was a youngster. Hayward is where I graduated high school. It's where my older siblings graduated from school. It's where I graduated from, Cal State East Bay University.

So a lot of good memories. You know, a lot of my best friends that I've met in life live in this area.” Even with the pollution and rise of housing prices, the people still are moving forward with their lives to maintain strength and to not dwell on the hardships of life, as patience is the key to success. Memories are made from experiences of life that have emotional or physical impacts that are stored in a human’s brain for a lifetime. Memories are not to be identical, but are unique because every person has a life of their own that is changing with time day by day.

Lilly shares, “With living in Hayward for about 15 years, I would say the best memories I’ve had are with my family. Recently, my daughter got married and since it was in the middle of quarantine we did the ceremony at home. This would be a great memory because all my family was there to see this beautiful moment of my daughter.”
Q10: Positive Memories
Excerpts: Student Essays
Memories
Hayward Little League Team
99 Q10: Positive Memories
Excerpts: Student Essays
Chris, a young resident of Hayward, shared which are his good memories in Hayward. One of his happiest memories in Hayward involves a Japanese tea garden that was located near his house that he enjoyed with his wife. He deeply enjoyed it because “it is a nice place to go for walks, and on the whole, our apartment complex is pretty nice, meets our needs, and it is also the first time living with my spouse, for our first apartment, it really helped to make good memories”.

He really enjoyed getting his first apartment with his wife in a nice apartment complex, and near a garden that relates with his culture. Not many people could have afforded to live in such a nice place and to have such nice opportunities, so definitely it helped that Chris had an above-average income. Some people would say that he only had happy memories in Hayward because he had the money.

Nevertheless, money does not buy happiness, and I am sure that if Chris would have lived in poorer situations with his wife, he would have still made some good memories with her in his place.

Mark and Cynthia lived in Hayward for the majority of their children’s lives; spending time and effort raising their two kids for nearly 20 years. Both Mark and Cynthia resonate about the good memories they’ve had living in Hayward:
“Basically, this is really where our kids kind of grew up. I mean, if anything else, all of those years, I can't imagine looking at Hayward and not thinking about, you know, the kids. Because raising a family, that was like a good part of it." I think Mark makes an excellent thought on the idea of understanding how his association with raising his kids and the town of Hayward have been intertwined as that’s where everything took place. Hayward in itself is filled with a majority adult population and has comparatively more affordable housing prices when compared to other major cities within the Bay Area, which means that there must be a lot of families also raising their children within the city as well.

Memories
Hayward Japanese Gardens
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What is your biggest hope or dream
when it comes to your living
situation? What's preventing you from
achieving your hope or dream? What
support would you need to make it
happen?
Interview Question #11

Observations: Hopes & Dreams
Q11: Hopes & Dreams
No one said their dream is to headline Coachella or to win a million dollars. The residents of Hayward are thoughtful and practical. Their dreams really are the American dream. The pathos in this is that residents are well aware that the dream of a house and kids and a good job is not guaranteed, especially in the Bay Area. 25 interviewees expressed their intent to stay in Hayward for the following reasons: it's where they grew up, they have deep family roots here, their nostalgia of growing up in Hayward, they believe Hayward has a good environment, and the diversity of the city.

For 27 community members, it’s their dream to raise a family in the same city and house in which they grew up.
3 community members responded to this question by describing their frustration with the increase in development in Hayward. They were concerned about Hayward becoming overpopulated and crowded. This sentiment was expressed 46 times among all responses to the interview questions, especially in questions 1, 2, and 8.

For 24 interviewees, their dream is to leave Hayward in order to secure more affordable housing.
26 residents stated their dream is to have improved community resources such as cleaner parks, improved schools, support for the homeless, reliable public transportation, etc. Many of these residents also expressed a desire for more connected communities.

Most commonly identified dreams
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Q11: Hopes & Dreams
Residents Speak: Hopes & Dreams
"My biggest hope is that I don't have to wait for my parents to die in order to buy a house here--I don't think that's a unreasonable dream. I would like to stay in Hayward. It's where I grew up. I've lived in other states and I've lived in other places, and this is where I prefer to be. But at this point in my life, it will have to be my parents passing away in order for me to be able to afford to own a home in Hayward. I would inherit their home. But if I'm dreaming really big, it would be really great if I, as a three times college educated adult with a full time job, would be able to afford to buy a house in my hometown." Caroline/36-45/Apt. "I hope the area improves, like we get nicer parks and schools are funded and better equipped." Liz/36-45/SFH "My biggest dream would be to have a nice, safe, clean, charming city. What is preventing is probably a lot of renters, homelessness, and just the craziness that the world is today." Kathleen/36-45/Condo "My dream would be to make my home a comfortable place for our kids and grandkids and the neighborhood. Where kids can feel free and they don't feel discriminated against, they feel just just love and friendship as they come in through the door." Celeste/46-55/SFH "Having the income to fix up the home and leave it to our children and be able to build it up and make modifications so the house will last a lot longer. I don't want to leave them a home that is going to be broken down." Celeste/46-55/SFH "My dream is to buy a home in
Hayward. What's preventing that is
my financial situation. Being
single, living pay check to pay
check, not being able to save."
Kevin/26-35/Condo
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Q11: Hopes & Dreams
Residents Speak: Hopes & Dreams
"My biggest hope in our living situation in Hayward is to someday see less crime in Hayward. To be able to freely walk without fear, or being able to leave your garage door open." Sharon/46-55/SFH "I think the main thing would be a stellar school district." April/26-35/SFH "One thing I think would be cool for Hayward is if we just had better bus routes for people. Safer buses that are a little bit nicer." Sarah/26-35/Apt. "The population is getting crowded and crowded but I don't think that's gonna be solved in the next 5 years if anything. The only one thing it's gonna get worse because the population is growing. So, I don't think my dream will come true because I really miss the day when I moved in, it was so quiet." Eian/56+/SFH "I don't want to live in Hayward. It's not the most ideal place to live. There's still a lot of issues." Kristi/26-35/Duplex "I hope to afford a decent living situation that won't cause me to move so far away from a place that I've always called home. Just because the Bay Area is very expensive, so to stay and live here. Like of course, I would want to stay and live here but if I can't afford it, obviously I'm not going to." Mia/-25/SFH "I hope to be more connected to the
community. I haven’t had enough time
to connect with organizations to
improve my ability to serve my
community at a higher level."
Jen/36-45/Apt.
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What song encapsulates
living in Hayward?
Interview Question #12

“Just the Way You Are” by Bruno Mars
~Jedrick: “The song encapsulates life in Hayward because even though there are many things to be done, the city is fine the way it is.”
“Don’t Stop Believin’” by Journey
~Joanne: “Because I know our city will continue to improve.” “Dear Mama” by Tupac
~Claudia: “Because he talks about growing up with her support and he couldn't imagine a life without his mom to help him grow up. She brings more stability to the environment.” “ California Gurls" by Katy Perry
~Naomi: ”Because we're all from Cali. I'm a California girl and I love my city.” “What's Goin’ On” by Marvin Gaye,
~Jamal: “Since he kind of encapsulates and brings up environmental pollution issues going on.” Tiff: “There's a lot of older parts of Hayward, and there's like, newer parts too. So, Yeah.” “Icy GRL” by Saweetie
~Jenn: “Because she is from Hayward.”
“I'm from Hayward” by Russell City
~Celeste: “ I am from Hayward. I grew up in Hayward. That's all I've known from all the different parts of Hayward. So I know the area. The song talks about the areas that as a teenager I hung out in.” “My Shit Bang” by E40
~Elizabeth: “Okay, the lyrics and his song that says ‘sometimes I dress uppity, sometimes I dress scummy. Sometimes I just dress high class. Sometimes I dress bummy.’ I feel like this summarizes the people that live in Hayward. And you know, like when this song plays everybody dances.”

“I get Around” by Tupac
~Adi: “Because that's Hayward and between Hayward and the neighboring cities, like ‘I get around.’ It's just a positive song.”
Tell Me When To Go” by E-40
~Wendy: “It's the Bay Area. That's how I look at it. More just like the vibe.” ~Sidhant: “Hayward is the heart of the bay. It's like physically, centrally located. it's literally the doughnut hole of the Bay Area. So, the culture of Hayward is a good mix of all the surrounding areas.” ~Demonica: “Because I want someone to tell me when to go and leave the Bay Area.” ~Jessica: “ I was more with the Hyphy movement so I heard it everywhere and I loved it." “It’s Hard to be Humble” by Willie Nelson.
~ Cesar: “I chose this song because when you try to be nice with everybody everyday but people don’t help. I mean you get to the point where you are tired but you can’t give up." Hayward Residents' Playlist
Q12: Song 106
“It’s Hard to be Humble” by Willie Nelson.
~ Cesar: “I chose this song because when you try to be nice with everybody everyday but people don’t help...you get to the point where you are tired but you can’t give up.” “We are Family” by Sister Sledge
~ Elizabeth: “We are in the middle of everything. Hayward is my family home.” ~ Maria: “Growing up in Hayward it's songs like this I listened to in high school or elementary school.”
“Love Will Lead You Back” by Taylor Dayne
~Melanie: “Because this is where your family is where you all grew up. Obviously if you ever leave one day, love will lead you back eventually to Hayward. “The Bay” by Zion I
~Stephanie: “The song is just culturally what represents Hayward I think and the type of music a lot of people here listen to.”
"Happy" by Pharrell
~Nancy: "I'm happy in my little casita and happy in my neighborhood." "Movin’ on Up" Jeffersons' Theme Song
~Kathleen: "Because I am moving on up my way out of here." "De Colores" by Joan Baez
~Jen: "It is a song that includes lots of different backgrounds and people coming together." "Mi querido Viejo" by Oscar Ovidio
~Gloria: "It means my lovely old man, it reminds me of my mother, because she always played it." Scan the QR code or click the link to be taken to a Spotify playlist of the interviewees' selected songs that encapsulate living in Hayward .
http://tiny.cc/2e7suz
Hayward Residents' Playlist
Q12: Song 107

The TEA team was on pace to submit this Final Report two week or three week ago. It was all done–all except for this last section that you’re reading now. Why did we agonize so much over this Recommendations section?
One reason is that we were stymied by the fact that the problems the interviewees discuss–fear of eviction, out of control housing costs, segregation, crime, litter, etc.--all seem so intractable and widespread. These issues are not just happening in Hayward. So, no doubt thousands of city staff from around the nation have tackled these issues for years. If there WERE easy answers and obvious solutions, the city of Hayward would have given them a go–long ago. So how likely is it that TEA can offer an off-the-shelf recommendation for solving this or that issue and have the city reply, “Well, we didn’t think of that. Thank you so much!” Not likely.

Not likely, because as we have seen in our 5 years of working with city staff, they are really smart, wise, and engaged. So it seems a bit presumptuous for a couple of English teachers to think they have the answers. We are not hoarding some monopoly on solutions that we are only just now deciding to share.

A second reason we struggled with this section is that any solutions that might exist are very easy to offer–but a whole lot harder to implement. It is not hard to suggest to someone that the way to win the race is to “just run faster.” Or the way to solve crime is to “lower the crime rate.” Putting any solution into practice is where the Devil’s details emerge. So we were reticent to recommend anything that would add to the work load and stress of Hayward staff.

All that said, later in this section we will be offering recommendations to address the different issues raised in this report. We well understand that to bring many of these recommendations to life will take copious brainstorming and detailed planning. With that in mind, we see each recommendation as being more of a conversation starter, a seed to grow. They are intended to spark interest and TEA would welcome engaging with the city to explore any recommendation that the city believes we can contribute to.

The reason we call this section "Towards Recommendations" is because before we offer any recommendations, we first want to share some principles that have not only guided our work with Tennyson Thrives, but which we have road tested and are confident enough about to think they can also be value-added to the city and city staff.

To be perfectly honest, many of these principles we gleaned from Hayward staff, especially in the early years of Tennyson Thrives. We are in a sense offering them back to staff, to perhaps remind and inspire you about what you already know.

Towards Recommendations
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Towards Recommendations
The first principle, and the one from which all the others flow: grow change from the ground up. To echo that hoary real estate dictum about “location, location, location”--for us it is “grassroots, grassroots, grassroots.” We are under no illusion that this approach to improving communities is easy. On the contrary, it is exceedingly hard. But as Churchill famously said about Democracy: “It is the worst form of government, except for all the others.” We feel the same way about grassroots organizing: it is the worst way to create positive change, except for all the others. We are beholden to Hayward staff member Mary Thomas for her early guidance in helping us to develop this approach to change making in communities. And we are especially thrilled to see the current grassroots and participatory budget initiative-–The People’s Budget– that she and other staff members are implementing in Hayward.

The second principle: Activate and Leverage the Core Strengths of Residents. In the executive analysis, we detailed 4 Core strengths that contribute to Hayward residents’ resilience. Accessing these strengths in support of initiatives, and in order to solve civic problems, is a win-win for both residents and the city.

The first core strength is Diversity. Developing initiatives, events, or ongoing projects through the lens of Diversity releases a huge amount of civic potential energy. Residents are grateful when this strategy is implemented, and you can feel the synergy between people percolate and grow. One example of this:
for one of our community events, we invited residents to bring and share foods from their respective cultures. This was a huge success–residents ended up trading recipes, and sharing stories about the cultural and familial history of the dish they brought. Chabot students seized on this, and came up with the idea of creating a cross-cultural cookbook–complete with recipes from all over the world, and with pictures of the residents and their families preparing the dish in their home kitchens. Residents who never even knew who their neighbors were, were now side by side with them in the book, helping to create local community.

The second core strength is residents’ commitment to family. To leverage this, we make sure at all of our events that we have games for kids, art for kids, food for kids, music for kids, and more. This attracts so many more families to the event, and then while the kids are getting their faces painted or smacking a pinata, the parents are freed up to engage with us about whatever issue we want to address.

The third core strength is how hard residents work and how skilled they are at their jobs. We found repeatedly that if we can find ways to leverage these job skills, by inviting residents to apply them to this or that project, it makes the project so much more successful. For example, our garden at Chabot College was immeasurably improved over the years by all of the Hayward parents of students who would come help out. Woodworkers, welders, gardeners, pond builders, carpenters all offered their time and skills in service of this community project. In addition, you can just tell how proud and needed it makes residents feel to be of such assistance.
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Towards Recommendations
The fourth core strength is residents’ remarkable stoicism. We believe, however, this trait is a hindrance to improving community. Chabot student Carlo implies that this stoicism is a badge of honor. And indeed it is, but not only do squeaky wheels get the grease, but maybe they should get the grease. But Hayward residents do not speak up nearly enough about the many issues that hinder them. Or perhaps they just do not have a platform from which to speak.

How do we break through this stoicism? We believe the most effective way is to embrace and engage with the full humanity of residents. One way to do this is to supply residents with a platform for communication and interaction. The results of doing this are powerful. For example, in reading through the 400 interviews with Hayward residents, it is striking–and humbling–how truly intimate this experience is. Residents are so vulnerable, thoughtful, and open. Listening to the audio files, we can feel how epic their challenges are, and how rich their lives are. And because we cannot talk back to the files, it feels like we are finally being good listeners. Sometimes communities are described as being underserved. It may be that, rather, they are underheard.

The third principle: Unleash Students. Students are the absolute key to all of our community outreach efforts. So much so, that it is odd to recall that 5 years ago we had no idea if student-driven community outreach would even work. We asked the director of the think tank at Pepperdine who funded our first efforts if she had any research or case studies that we could draw on as we began our work, and she replied, “Why do you think you got the grant? No one has ever tried to do what you are attempting.” Happily it worked. And we can talk all day about how and why this is the case. Indeed, we have an entire website devoted to how to implement student-driven local initiatives. This is the work of TEA. We are “franchising” this idea by training teachers at other colleges, who in turn are then poised to collaborate with their city and other nonprofit organizations.

We are very proud of the thousands of Chabot students who have engaged in this work. And we would like to think Tennyson Thrives and subsequent initiatives have made a positive difference to Hayward.

That said, it is shocking to consider that, yes, thousands of students have done this work, but only 2 to 3 teachers have been involved. What does this mean to the city of Hayward? It means there is room for massive growth in this space. On any given school day–from kindergarten to college–thousands of students and hundreds of teachers are ensconced in classrooms all over the city of Hayward. Imagine dozens of teachers and all their hundreds of students being invited (and trained) to create curriculum that serves the needs of community members. Imagine the city putting together a contest or sponsoring an initiative that invites teachers to engage in Project Based Learning that addresses community issues.

We have seen repeatedly that students are eager and LOVE engaging in this kind of learning. Within its boundaries, the city of Hayward sits on top of a great untapped resource hiding in plain sight–students.

To unleash students, the city can: create internships; hire students; offer grants; host contests; serve as a matchmaker to bring classrooms and communities together. And even much more can be done. 111
Conduct research and focus groups to determine how many residents are aware of these web resources. How often do they access these resources? What has been their experience with the site? These findings could no doubt be applied to other areas of the city’s website.

A final point must be made about why it is so value added for a city to nurture students in doing community based learning. When students complete their degree at a 4 year college, most of the time they leave the town the college is located in. This is decidedly not the case when it comes to community college students. They stay in their neighborhoods and hold on tightly to their family ties. What this means for the city is that sprinkled throughout the neighborhood are fledgling community organizers, who have enjoyed success in making a difference to their community. They are eager to engage in such endeavors again. The city needs only to illuminate the "Bat Signal" and these students will appear.

In the executive analysis, we devoted a lot of ink to writing about problems that residents say they contend with. It is a heavy and even depressing list, and we don't want to leave it just lying there. So, In this next section we offer recommendations that respond to the different problems posed.

Eviction / High Housing Costs & Homelessness
One of the most eye opening trends this project uncovered was just how many residents are actively concerned about eviction or who otherwise struggle with high housing costs, We know that the city knows how dire this problem is because on the Housing Resources landing page of Hayward’s website, we find no less than 32 possible links that a visitor can choose from. And many of those links hold more links inside of them when opened–like Russian nesting dolls. This huge amount of content is an indication of how robust the city’s support is of housing issues; however, it surely cannot be simple or smooth for most residents to navigate all these Housing tools, resources, and information. And how often are residents even visiting the Housing part of the website? With Homelessness and Hayward, it is a similar situation to that of Housing/Eviction: there is a disconnect between what the city is doing, and residents’ awareness of what the city is doing, coupled with residents’ misconceptions about the issue itself.

The city is highly involved in addressing the many facets of the issue. A keyword search of the city’s website reveals over 40 current meetings, studies, or proposals related to homelessness. However, in reading through the 400 interviews–and in our experience as teachers–it’s clear the average resident or average student is not very aware of nuances of the issue, nor are they aware of what the city is doing.

That said, residents and students display a free-floating empathy for those struggling with homelessness. They just are at a loss to know how to channel it.

Recommendations:

Towards Recommendations
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Create a social media campaign to tout the fact that all this great content exists.

Create short “How to Navigate” videos that walk through the Housing and Homeless web pages.

Host Zoom Classes where residents can be walked through the content and learn how to access the resources that most apply to their situation.

Advertise and Host classes out in the community that walk residents through the content and teach them how to access the resources that most apply to their situation. The TEA team was very impressed when City Hall (pre-Covid) took the show on the road, so to speak, by hosting council meetings at places like Matt Jimenez Center. We think that this strategy can work for many other aspects of city business.

That the city provide residents ongoing opportunities to work together on community projects, and provide events where they can gather together. In our Tennyson Thrives collaboration with the city, we have worked with staff to host block parties, put on community events in parks, host family movie nights, develop community art projects, organize focus groups to garner opinions about community issues, and much more. We have learned–to quote from Field of Dreams–"if you build it, they will come." And indeed residents do. And further, it does not take them long to take ownership of the event. By the second time we put on the Palma Fest, area residents were using possessive pronouns to talk about “their” event.

That the city reaches out to those residents who have lived in the city for decades. When we met with such residents during our Smoothie Sunday community gatherings, it was noticeable how hungry they were to share their insights about living in the neighborhood–insights that felt like wisdom. Many of these residents are homeowners and have no intention of ever leaving Hayward.

Segregation
Hayward is segregated. That being said, many residents talked about feeling more at ease being around people who are like them. We think that this comfort provides an opportunity for the city to bring neighbors together in the service of building community. Of course this is easier said than done and that leads us to another issue that we discussed in the executive analysis–Neighborhoods lacking community. We will offer recommendations in the section that follows that also can be applied to this issue of segregation.

Neighborhoods lacking community
A great many interviewees shared how well they get along with their neighbors. But for many residents, a cordial relationship was the extent of the interaction. We don’t point this out to be judgmental, and in fact for many neighborhoods around the nation this is the norm. And especially in affluent neighborhoods, residents have many ways to get their needs met without relying on a neighborhood community; Mere cordiality is probably enough—they don’t need their neighbor. However, we do not believe this is the case for many neighborhoods in Hayward, especially the segregated ones.

To ensure a healthy future for these stressed communities, we need to find ways to engage neighbor with neighbor–to bring them together for modern day barn raisings.

Recommendations:

Towards Recommendations
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They possess a deep well of community knowledge and city history. We recommend that Hayward access, honor, and leverage this longevity. We are reminded how some indigenous communities make a point of honoring and giving community space to the elders of the community. These long standing residents really are Hayward Elders. (That could even be the branding for this initiative.) It behooves us to engage them, ask them questions, hear their stories, and listen to their advice. For example, one data point that emerges from the interviews is that homeowners who have lived in the city for more than 20 years enjoy markedly more positive relationships with their neighbors. It would be instructive to find out why this is the case.

Tale of Two Cities
As was pointed out in the executive analysis, many interviewees cite the sometimes stark differences in affluence found in different areas of the city. Our Chabot students, too, have noted this over the years.

What is intriguing, however, is that our affluent students–those who actually live up in the hills of Hayward–have often said that they would like to bring the affluent and the underserved together. They mean this literally. They talk about creating events or collaborations that bring these different demographics together in a fun, cross-cultural way. We recall one student saying he wanted such events to “level the playing field.” We never pushed students to flesh out what such an event might look like or what it might hope to accomplish, but we have always been intrigued by it. And it speaks to the desire for economic fairness and social justice that students--even our more affluent students--possess.

Our recommendation for this issue would be to explore this idea, flesh it out, and see if putting on such events might help to meld these two cities more into one single Hayward .

Parks / Gender
In 2021 TEA collaborated with Hayward to investigate residents’ attitudes about the city’s parks. Similar to this housing project, students interviewed area residents around a series of questions. One finding was so unexpected and jarring that it threatened to derail the entire project. This was the fear and concern that women have about going to parks–at all. It was laughable to female interviewees to be asked “how often do you go to the park” when the answer was almost always NEVER. And it sure made it pointless for students to ask the next 10 questions that inquired about things like “What do you like to do at the park?”
When we say this finding was “unexpected,” that is not entirely true. It was unexpected for men. For many female students and female Hayward staff, this was woefully obvious. One Hayward male staff member spoke for all of the other men in a meeting when he apologized for not having any awareness of something that is so harshly obvious for half the population. It is a disgrace that so much of public space is controlled by men, and thus off limits to women. How can any city–or parks department–take pride in a service or asset if half of the area’s residents are unable to use the asset? Towards Recommendations
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HARD needs to be brought into serious conversation with the city and female residents about this issue.

Organizations with expertise in gender equity issues should be also invited to the table.

Students and residents generated numerous ideas for dealing with this issue, including practical strategies like more lighting. These ideas need to be considered and implemented.

Students also conducted research into cities–including Vienna–that filter all urban planning decisions through a gender lens. We think that a wider conversation should be entered into around this problem--this cultural blindspot--that most public space is designed for, and controlled by, men.

Create a platform for local environmental groups to share their work. (We have been doing this for several years at Chabot.)
Create Project Based Learning collaborations between the city and Chabot College. Expand this to other local schools.

Highlight and tout the measures residents are taking: installing solar panels, building gardens, saving water, etc.

Create neighborhood challenges and contests to boost resident engagement.

Recommendations:

Climate / Pollution / Environment
When we first introduce students at Chabot to the Climate Crisis, they invariably have two questions:

1. Why didn’t anyone tell me about this? 2. What can I do about this? Among the 400 interviews, many residents posed these same questions about their environment.

Residents are stymied. They do not know how to get involved though they often desperately want to.

Recommendations:

Trash and Litter
According to many, many interviewees, the trash and illegal dumping problem in some sectors of the city is overwhelming. Clearly this is debilitating to residents’ spirits because it is a tangible sign of a broken neighborhood. This problem is one case where TEA is going to retreat from our principle that grassroots responses are best. We think this issue is beyond the ability of local residents to fix. Local efforts are haphazard at best. This “finger in the dyke” approach does not work. And it is unfair to expect residents to solve a problem that they did not create. As Hayward resident Marleni says, "I have school and homework. I can't clean up everything."
As for recommendations, TEA will resist the urge here to say simply "Clean it Up." It is a daunting challenge even for a city that is truly committed to fixing the problem as is Hayward. We learned from our students who investigated this topic that the city does have a number of strategies and programs in place. TEA recognizes that when it comes to this topic, as the Dude, in The Big Lebowski, says, "There are a lot of Ins and Outs." But like Donny in the movie, we are "out of our element." Our value-added to this issue, if any, is to make it abidingly clear that for many residents, when it comes to trash, "This aggression will not stand."
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Community involvement is attenuated because residents aren’t aware of the options Problems go unsolved because residents don’t know city has solutions at the ready City’s loses a chance to burnish its reputation
Designate ambassadors on the Next Door website. These residents work with the city to share pertinent information about whatever pressing issue residents are talking about on the site.

Encourage community organizations and stakeholders to promote The Stack Newsletter, Access Hayward, and Hayward’s social media accounts to their constituents. Post QR codes to these resources around the city.

Deploy digital road signs in high traffic areas that inform community about important events, meetings, policy changes, etc. that are occurring in the city.

These final three recommendations are more global in nature, and as such can be brought to bear on most all of the issues we have been talking about in this final report.

Creative Communication
Last week we were orienting a new climate intern at Chabot. She has been passionate about the environment since she was child and is highly informed about the issues. She is also a Hayward resident, so we told her about some of the great things the city is doing in this arena. She was truly flabbergasted; she had no idea about any of it. And she seemed genuinely mad about not knowing.

This scene repeats itself over and over in our classrooms. Pick any topic that the city is involved in — we tell the students what the city is doing —and students say they didn't have a clue. And this is also overwhelmingly the case with Hayward residents that we engage.

When we shared this phenomenon with Hayward staff, they indicated that the city has known about this disconnect for a long while. And we agreed obvious negative consequences result from this disconnect between the city and the residents:

Since we first started working with Hayward we have been continually impressed and amazed by the robust responses the city makes to so many pressing issues. We know this when we are looking at the website for example. But speaking of the website, we wonder–and Hayward staff have also said as much– how much of this ‘good news’ is getting to the 158,000 residents of Hayward. Whom the website serves is those residents who visit the website. We realize the website is not the only way that the city communicates with its residents. These recommendations offer additional potential approaches for sharing the vital work of the city, and for inviting residents to become more engaged.

Recommendations:

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Collaborate with HUSD, Chabot, and Cal State East Bay to develop Hayward specific curricula that showcases and informs students about their local area. An environmental science class could incorporate the Hayward Shoreline or feature Hayward’s climate action plan and the steps the city has taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Develop projects with stakeholders across the city that promote events, achievements, and other important matters occurring in the city. For example, in 2020, city staff collaborated with HUSD and Chabot to facilitate an art contest that reminded community members to complete the census. K-12 students submitted artwork, which was then printed, laminated, and then displayed throughout the entire city.

Bring information to the community by creating Hubs or Satellite offices for city staff to work at and continue to host “City Hall to You” meetings in neighborhoods throughout the city. (We will expand on this recommendation in the next section.)
Host contests and create simple quizzes that can be shared with stakeholders aimed at informing community members about Hayward’s history, culture, and policies.

Work with community members to create neighborhood specific newspapers. While working on the Tennyson Thrives initiative, many community members were excited about creating a “Tennyson Times” newspaper focused on stories in the Tennyson area.

City Staff directing students in doing research into issues like Climate, Pollution, Crime, etc.

An institute where Hayward staff convene with Chabot students and community members to hash out issues and opportunities, and Project Based Learning is called upon to address these issues Students teaming up with non-profit organizations and the city An internship program that pairs students with staff members across a host of areas: GIS map building, engineering, grounds and gardening, waste treatment TEA Time
Although there are many irons in the fire even right at this moment, we would love to see even more links forged between the city of Hayward and Chabot College with TEA serving as intermediary. We can imagine:

It has been such a thrilling ride for our students and for us in working with the city, that we would love to punch more tickets and climb back on. And indeed, we are. We are very excited to be starting a new initiative with the city that has students engaging with residents to gauge their perspectives and concerns about environmental issues. This work will contribute to the city’s efforts to revise and update the Climate Action Plan.

Towards Recommendations
117
A Modest Proposal
We wrote in the executive analysis that a city is only its people. We believe that this also holds true for City Hall. What is City Hall other than its people? Yet most of these people are ensconced in their cubicles (at least this was true pre-Covid.) Hayward has over 800 employees, and most of them spend their days far from residents. Of course this is by design because each of these 800 folks has important work to do.

But, the central insight TEA had over the last 5 years in working with the city is that 100 students is a substantial resource. It is a LOT of people power. They can get so much accomplished. Well, the city has at its disposal 8 times that! 800 people represents a massive resource that can make a huge impact out in the community if it is brought to bear out in the community.

The proposal:

If each of these 800 Hayward employees devoted just 2 hours per week to direct community contact, involvement and support, this represents 1600 hours per week. This is equal to 40 full-time positions dedicated to community outreach and community building.

TEA recognizes that this proposal involves a major culture shift on the part of the city and its employees. And that there are all sorts of reasons why "it could never work." But we think it is worth a try. Desperate times call for desperate measures. And for many Hayward residents things are indeed desperate; their living situation, their community, their future–all of this is under siege.

We hear about PAL’s all the time: Police Activities League. Why can’t we have SAL’s? Staff Activities League. We hear about police posting up in kiosk type satellite offices out in the community. Why can’t we have the same for city staff? Hayward staff members have a thousand skills and interests. Why can't these be shared with the community to enrich lives and bring neighbors together? There’s that famous phrase from the late 1800’s: “You can’t fight City Hall” Well, who wants to fight City Hall anyway? That sounds like a drag. Instead, Let’s play with City Hall, let’s collaborate with City Hall, create with City Hall, cook with City Hall, paint with City Hall, dance with City Hall–literally dance.

To quote ourselves, a few pages ago we argued that to really improve residents’ lives, we need to “embrace and engage with the full humanity of residents.” This is exactly what would happen if Hayward staff had more direct contact with the community. And staff would benefit from this too. We need to touch each other’s hearts. After all, this is the Heart of the Bay.

Towards Recommendations
118
Hayward City Hall rotunda
Hayward City Hall rotunda during Needles in the Haystack Art Show

Housing Survey Results
Hayward Housing Element Survey
Summary
The City prepared and distributed Surveys inquiring about housing, access to resources, and experiences with discrimination to all individuals in the City of Hayward. The project website hosted an online housing survey for 60 days (from January 10 to March 10, 2022). The surveys were translated into Spanish and Chinese. To encourage participation, the City advertised a drawing for five $50 Hayward business gift cards for individuals who completed the survey. There were 64 survey participants (60 surveys completed in English, 3 surveys completed in Spanish, and 1 survey completed in Chinese). The input provided by the participants included the following major themes:
▪ High Cost: Difficulty finding affordable housing, paying the deposit for rental housing, and monthly rental housing costs were identified as housing challenges personally experienced by survey participants.
▪ Housing Accessibility: Affordability, homeownership, and availability of housing were identified the most urgent housing issues in Hayward.
▪ Need More Homes: Entry level or starter homes, co-living housing, apartments, and condominiums were identified as housing types needed in Hayward.
▪ Housing Types: Mixed support of diversifying housing types and increasing housing overall in Hayward.

Survey Results

73%
2%
14%
5%
6%
Do you currently live and/or work in Hayward?
I currently live in Hayward
I currently work in Hayward
I currently live and work in
Haywward.

Other
None of the above.

6%
10%
14%
20%
39%
11%
If you live in Hayward, how long have you lived here?
Less than 1 year
1-5 years
6-10 years
11-20 years
More than 21 years
I do not live in Hayward
67%
20%
10%
3%
If you live in Hayward, do you rent or own your home?
Own
Rent
I do not live in Hayward
Other

71%
5%
11%
9%
0%
0%2%
0%
2%
0%
0%
What type of housing do you live in?
A detached single-family house
A duplex/triplex/fourplex
A condominium or townhome
An apartment
A mobile home
An accessory dwelling unit (granny
flat or guest house)
A group home or assisted living
facility
Motel, hotel, or couch surfing
2% 3%
32%
28%
23%
0% 12%
Which best describes your household?
Single, living alone
Single, living with roommates.

Number of roommates: (write in)
Couple living together, no children
Living with children under 18 at
home
Multiple generations living together
(adult children, parents,
grandparents, etc.)
Multiple households living together

31%
30%
0%0%
0%
0%
8%
31%
Does your household include any of the following people? Children
Senior or older adult
A person or people with chronic
health concerns (such as asthma,
diabetes, high blood pressure,
heart disease)
A person or people with a sensory
impairment (vision or hearing)
A person or people with a mobility
impairment
A person with a developmental
disability
2%
23%
22%
12%
6%
8%
15%
12%
What do you like most about your residence and its
location?
Close to public transit
Close to amenities, such as grocery
stores, dining, nightlife
Close to parks and open space
Quality of housing
Cost of housing
Ability to maintain independence,
regardless of age
Close to family and friends
Other (please specify)

8. How would you rate the overall condition of your residence? •

9. What are your housing needs?
• My current housing is great. It is just very, very expensive to afford. • Low-income housing availability
• As rental property increases in monthly payment need to prepare for affordable housing in retirement
• parking, green space, near nature
• Roof, electrical, plumbing and rats
• We’re ok, some days a little more room would be nice
• Too many cars, boats and trailer.
• Larger land lots, conduits underground instead of burred cables • Would like a SFR
• Cheaper everything
• Safe place to live without crime in my neighborhood
• Better security camera, ADU for adult child
• Studio apartment
• Insulation
• Sidewalk maintenance, new paint, new driveway
• No more housing! There is already too much congestion in Hayward. • Need to look at electrical and plumbing since the home was built in the 50’s. • Landscaping needs to be updated. Three large windows need shutters to provide privacy and help with temperature control.
55%
2%
19%
8%
16%
How would you rate the overall condition of your
residence?
Excellent
Shows signs of deterioration
(peeling paint, chipped stucco, etc.)
Needs modest rehabilitation (new
windows, new roof, new siding, etc.)
Needs major upgrades (new
plumbing, new electrical, foundation
repairs, etc.)
Other (please specific)
• Solar and insulation
• Small
• I am looking for 2 bedrooms now on behalf of my brother and caregiver. He is registered at Cril • Tobacco smoking regulation. Our children are exposed to second hand smoke daily • Need for people to stop bitching about how expensive it is. We CHOOSE to live here. If people don't like it, they can leave.
• City of Hayward has been notified that due to changes related to new residential projects surrounding our street, the street is now unsafe and deteriorating due to speeding, disobedience and lack of traffic enforcement, unacceptable noise levels, littering, lack of physical traffic calming installations, no crosswalks or parking around homes and no restriction of the influx of new residents flooding our street
• More affordable housing options
• Cheap rent
• affordable housing
• HVAC update, stucco repair
• Not sure I understand this question. We need a house for shelter that is a reasonable distance from our jobs and close to family and friends.
• Ability to maintain and expand freely.
• Support to upgrade home for safety as it is older
• 3-bedroom, 2 bathroom home, in an area that is safe to walk outside, with enough parking and outdoor space.
• My duplex needs some paint, new flooring, may need remodel • Home
• The duplex is in good condition but could use some updates like a new carpet and paint. • senior low-income housing
• sell house & move to smaller one/condo in coming years • Renovation
• Lower utilities
• New electrical
• I need affordable housing that is maintained.
• Currently, I would like more affordable housing options in Hayward. • Need more options nearby in case of displacement
• I wish the neighborhoods would take into consideration the existing feel. Allowing new residences to break neighborhood plans is a major slap in the face and creates distrust of the city, county and state, not to mention being forced to live near these overcrowded compounds and McMansions that ruin the long-standing aesthetic.
• We chose this area to build our home because of its rural quality, the views and the proximity to open space.
• Windows
• I need more space, a big patio (backyard or front yard), the apartment is too small. • Quiet and peaceful (neighbors)

10. What are housing challenges in Hayward that you have experienced personally? • Other - Government helping foreigners instead of Americans. • Other - Inherited home with a mortgage balance
• Other - high taxes
• Other - Worked to buy my own house 40 yrs ago
• Other - Too much low income housing
• Other - Sick of people not taking care of their homes. • Other - The City of Hayward's reluctance to truly listen, prioritize and respond to resident's proposals to eliminate hazards in their neighborhood and devalue residents' desires to retain the historical characteristics of their neighborhood that motivated residents to move to Hayward in the first place. The City of Hayward is on a monolistic path to transform Hayward into an ugly, lackluster city with same-same box style high density housing; eliminating the natural habitats of all the wildlife and gorgeous natural greenspaces that was the original attraction. This 'new journey' is quickly resulting in Hayward morphing into the typical pattern of urban decline - congested roads, increase in crime and residents displaying predictable behaviors of rats crammed together in little boxes. Unfortunately, a lot of longtime residents are 'stuck' here - due to having our families here as the pulse in our care and the inaccessible price of relocating
• Other - I have not personally experienced housing challenges

• Other - My comfort and safety in my own home have been negatively impacted by homeless people who steel things from my front yard, take fruit from my trees, leave their trash on my street, park their cars blocking my driveway, and exhibiting menacing behavior to me and my neighbors.
• Other - I may need to remodel, not sure where to get funds. • Other - value of home is lower than neighboring cities partly due to poor public school ratings • Other - City regulation changes to the neighborhood against the agreements we’ve lived under for decades

11. When we consider all housing issues in the City of Hayward, what do you believe is the most current issue?
• Other - All the above.
• Other - having an adequate fund for housing relocation costs out of Hayward • Other - Too many low income housing
• Other - Start building micro-units so folks who can't afford larger units have somewhere they can afford.
• Other - The City of Hayward not prioritizing the well-being of residents and indigenous plant and wildlife FIRST. The uncreative march to follow the boring and insensitive template engaged by most municipalities of eliminating the unique geographical characteristics of their town by eradicating them to build more, more, more box like homes and destroying the natural beauty and habitats of wildlife and vegetation. A more creative solution to providing more affordable

housing would be incorporating the desired trend of working remotely and repurposing all of the existing, vacant and soon to be vacated structures, due to remote working trends, into affordable housing solutions.
• Other - The infrastructure to back all the homes that are being built right now. • Other - Neighborhood displacement
• Other - Displacement or Gentrification, Affordability, Availability. • Other - Overcrowding, but specifically the overflow of cars, street congestion and exhausted services
• Other - I would say that the perception of Hayward is an issue. General safety, personal security, etc. Empty stores downtown also add to this perception. It would be helpful to have a downtown that is inviting to visit, shop in, and therefore live near-by.

16%
76%
8%
Are you now or have you ever been at risk of losing your housing?
Yes
No
I don't know

15. If current housing types in Hayward do not meet your needs, please explain. • I really wish I lived in housing that is close to public transit, except my neighborhood is super car dependent. I wish there were more parks around my home. I wish there is a stronger sense of community and more open public places for building social infrastructure. • Hard for a homeless person to rent if they don't have rental history. • I'm a single woman professional who cannot afford most housing options in Hayward despite being internationally known for my work and fairly well paid for it. • Larger lots, updated layout and infrastructure
• Need cheaper everything
39%
26%
28%
7%
How satisfied are you with your housing choices?
Very satisfied
Somewhat satisfied
Somewhat dissatisfied
Very dissatisfied
53%
47%
Does Hayward's current variety of housing types meet
your needs?
Yes
No
• No housing for independent developmentally disabled such as Sunflower Hill Livermore • Hayward needs denser and transit oriented housing.
• Too many low income housing
• More single family house
• We have plenty of good stuff in Hayward.
• Explained already in other answers above - I LOVE my house, I LOVE my neighborhood, I STRONGLY DISLIKE the City of Hayward's slavish adherence to the typical, uncreative thinking of other Cities that morphs a great 'human' City into a dangerous, crowded, traffic congested, ugly box housing, litter strewn City, that drives natural wildlife out and sacrifices its natural and unique beauty for the same same greenbelts that Developers praise as being falsely equivalent to the one they razed. BORING, INHUMANE, DOESN'T PUT PEOPLE OR THE PLANET 1ST.

Repurpose the tons of vacated parcels with dilapidated building 1st - then move on to vacated retail and commercial buildings, then move on to soon to be vacated office buildings, then move on to empty parcels that owners no longer want or can't develop. AFTER doing all of that doubtless the Housing target will remain unsatisfied, but if it is - THEN TALK AND LISTEN TO THE EXISTING RESIDENTS AS A PRIORITY, to see what would be amenable to them to retain the characteristics of their neighborhood that they most likely are locked into for LIFE- due to the cost of living in the Bay Area. But please - STOP DESTROYING OUR NEIGHBORHOODS AS A GO

TO PRIORITY STEP
• Few options, options that exist too expensive
• Need to have cheap rent
• not enough affordable housing
• Need more Mid to High end housing, no more "affordable" high density units. • Wish the school district was higher rating like neighboring cities like Castro Valley and Union City. Because of the HUSD ratings/quality, we are seeking to leave Hayward. • There are too many homes in Hayward with too few bedrooms for our family. Also there are many homes built too close to multifamily homes or on flag lots---too crowded. Many newer homes have no private outdoor space.
• I wanted to buy or rent a 2-bedroom house, but couldn't find one. We ended up getting something bigger than we needed (3 bedroom townhouse) instead. I would also have liked to buy a house with an ADU so my mother-in-law could live with us while still being independent.

During our search we didn't find anything like that in our price range. • I may want to find elderly housing nearby my family there. • Not enough senior housing in Hayward
• space and pricing
• Need more single story homes that have enough parking space. Too much congestion on street with current street parking situation for residents
• The apartments are mostly old, and even those are expensive. Newer buildings are expensive even with a healthy salary. And it is impossible to save to buy. • There needs to be more higher density housing options in Hayward. As it currently stands, there isn't enough affordable housing or housing in general for residents who wish to maintain an affordable way of living in the city. There needs to be more affordable higher density housing options to make room for demand for those who wish to relocate without having to leave the Bay Area and for those who wish to remain in the Bay Area. • There simply needs to be more of all types. The cost for housing needs to decrease • Needs more volume, more density
• Too much affordable housing, luring in low income.
• Starting to look like China
• The cost of living in Hayward is too high.
• Single family homes are too expensive. I hope there will be more townhomes. We don't need luxury homes.

16. In your opinion, what types of housing is most needed in Hayward? • Other - NO MORE BUILDING !!
• Other - communal housing in which residents' "rent" is actually the mortgage payment • Other - Standard single family homes
• Other - Regular houses with larger lots and better roads. • Other - No more housing. Focus on noise, crime, cleaning up the streets, responding to 911 calls promptly.
• Other - Non-luxury single family homes on their own lot (not condominiums), 3+ bedrooms, 2+ bathrooms, with private outdoor space.
• Other - No more housing until the infrastructure is addressed. • Other - No more housing until the infrastructure is addressed. • Other - All types
• Other - Single family neighborhoods. No slums in waitingting

• No more housing, the city is overpopulated.
• Affordable townhouse

18. Which areas of the City do you think would be better suited for multi-family apartments and/or condominiums?
• Other - None. We do not need
50%
27%
23%
Would you support new types of housing built in your
neighborhood?
Yes
No
Maybe
6%
15%
39%
8%
9%
23%
Which areas of the City do you think would be better suited for multifamily apartments and/or condominiums?
Residential neighborhoods
Along major streets (e.g. E. 14th
Street, Hesperian Boulevard)
In areas within walking distance to a
BART station
In areas within walking distance to
AC Transit
Existing shopping centers
Other (please specify)
• Other - None.
• Other - Maybe Industrial area where some parts are so vacant. Hayward is starting to be very crowded.
• Other - Why do you only allow 1 box to be checked? Very time-consuming to keep having to text answers in other - discourages folks from doing this survey and will yield inaccurate results when you force folks to make 1 selection only which will skew the tallies and the intent of the respondent.
• Other - Areas within walking distance of public transportation (BART or AC Transit). Survey did not allow me to choose both options above.
• Other - In areas within walking distance of a BART station and/or AC transit • Other - Primarily near BART, but also residential and near AC transit. Would be nice to be able to rank this question instead of just picking one option.
• Other - I would urge building more apartments in traditional single-family-home zoned upscale areas, especially in the hills, to avoid more stratified housing (i.e. apartments in the flatlands, large houses in the hills) as has been done in Hayward in the past, leading to many of the current inequities
• Other - access to public transportation and shopping
• Other - None. They are everywhere dlready stay out of established neighborhoods • No more housing, green spaces are being destroyed.

22%
25%
6%
23%
8%
14%
1% 1%
What amenities would you like to see near high density
residential development?
Parks and play areas
Open space and trails
A bus stop
Grocery stores and other shopping
Schools
Community centers, libraries, or
other public facilities
Health Care Providers
Pharmacy

21. Do you have any additional ideas to improve the quality of existing housing in Hayward? • Build affordable apartments with very efficient management • Safe, clean
• Intentional communities, cohousing?
• Do not allow investment money buy the property and single family homes in Hayward • Stop allowing contractors to bribe the city and not allow more affordable housing units to be built
• Think about how much more traffic will make driving difficult • Rezoning of commercial zones to residential zones to build more houses • Decrease crime
• More houses with yard space
• Building denser and upwards rather than sprawled out. • Remove all low income housing
• Take care of the residents currently living here so that they don’t leave! • How about some tiny homes, like the ones in Castro Valley next to Trader Joe's?? • Tobacco smoking ban in condominium. Please follow many cities in Alameda county to prevent children from exposed to second hand smoking
• Get rid of rental property restrictions. ALl you're doing is pissing of property owners who are taking their rentals off the market and investing elsewhere. Also, with such restrictions, these rental property owners can't afford to improve their properties because you don't make it easy for them to afford to do so!
• LISTEN TO THE EXISTING RESIDENTS WHO PAY YOUR SALARIES VIA TAXES, FEES ETC AND INCORPORATE WHAT THE RESIDENTS WANT IN THEIR NEIGHBORHOODS. • More resources and support for tenants living in low quality housing 38%
35%
27%
Would you be open to new types of housing in your
neighborhood as a way to address the housing
shortage?
Yes
No
Maybe
• Adequate parking for the different types of housing offered. For example, creating a condominium or apartment complex where each unit gets one parking space is not realistic. It is likely that a unit would have 2 drivers and therefore 2 cars. 2 parking spaces need to be factored in for each unit. AND flex parking for those who live in the complex to have guests visit • We need quality, not quantity.
• Provide grants or subsidies to renovate/upgrade older homes • Require new housing to have at least a small amount of private outdoor space, even in planned developments.
• Give owners of older homes an allowance for the landscaping and exterior of their homes • More green space in lower income neighborhoods.
• Higher storied buildings ok, if near BART & A/C buses • Provide subsidies to allow owners to make improvements to both owner-occupied homes and apartments, with stipulation that tenants are not hit with huge rent increases. And the subsidies should be geared toward lower middle income, not just low income, as has been the practice in the past
• Applicants receiving help from the government should have mandated drug test. • Be respectful of existing neighborhoods
• As listed above, more affordable higher density housing options in the city. Think San Francisco and New York and how housing is handled there. The City of Hayward needs high-rise apartment buildings to meet demand while remaining affordable. We have the space and the empty lots to do it.
• More of everything
• Stop pushing multiple unit homes all over the city
• Continue to follow the agreed upon terms made between the neighborhoods and the city, and hopefully we’ll continue to want to have people live here rather than the continued mass- exodus that occurs every 10-20 years robbing our schools of full spectrum diversity and shorting our income dedicated to schools
• There is so much construction of new housing taking place along Mission Blvd. and at Lincoln Landing, I think this evaluation should wait until completion to access the market. • Upzone and remove any restrictions around the BART stations • Stop the building. Stop cramming people in here as a way of money grabbing. GET RID OF DEMOCRATIC LEADERSHIP.
• The city should consider that with overpopulation there are more problems like the ones we are experiencing now such as the city being full of garbage on the streets and highways, and the elimination of mountains and green spaces. If the city can't handle this, I don't know why it should build more.
• Stop raising the cost of rent.
• The condo was purchased by off-site investors and rented out. The tenants upstairs are very noisy in the evenings. It is problematic that investors do not live in Hayward, nor do they care.

The letter from the HOA was too long and not helpful. Investors should not be allowed to purchase and rent out the condos.

22. Which properties or sites would you like to see developed or redeveloped with residential uses? • Properties that are dilapidated, empty lots on busy corridors • Southland mall is a huge plot of land that mainly serve as parking places. There is possibility for midrise higher density development. Maybe can add in more facilities so people in this neighborhood don't feel compelled to drive to downtown but can walk over to Southland mall area. The current layout of the mall discourages walking even if I am within walking distance.

Considering adding shade through trees could also make the area more walking friendly during hot summer months.
• greenspaces near parks
• Hesperian Blvd area
• My plan for the past four years is to develop the back of the old Sears lot. This will also rejuvenate our Southland mall and bring new businesses to the area. • We already have a lot being built. Think of the traffic mess. • Russell city, west of Hesperian Blvd.
• Sites close to downtown
• Properties along Mission Blvd
• The former Holiday Bowl site.
• South land mall
• I would like to see some new developed near southland mall where the Burlington coat factory used to be. It’s a big space and close to many amenities. Single family homes will be good for first time home buyers and it will hopefully bring in more revenue to the City. I understand affordable housing is a hot topic but bringing in families who can afford to buy will hopefully bring in more revenue if they shop around their area as well. • The empty lot on A Street, near BART
• As I stated earlier, toward the industrial areas.
• Hayward hill
• See above. if you get rid of the restrictions, existing property owners will be happy to improve existing housing stock.
• see previous answers - incorporate and repurpose existing unused buildings/parcels and do not destroy the existing neighborhood characteristics and profiles • Hayward
• empty lot at corner of B & Fourth Streets
• I believe we have enough locations throughout the City of Hayward currently approved for residential housing. I do not see a need to add new housing developments at this time. • 22196 Main St
• The old Kaiser site on Hesperian. Any lot that has been sitting and just collecting trash. Also the lot across the street from Lorin Eden elementary. Transform it into something useful. • Vacant sites such as A St. & Fourth St., vacant infill sites along B St., D St., E St. up the hill, that matches adjacent density
• Any properties older than 30 years old that do not meet certain standards on the exterior should be fixed in order to improve the aesthetic of our city. Hayward really wants to be proud of every street
• None, there are already too many.
• Any empty space you can see through the city with too much trash. • The empty shopping center

23. Are there any additional comments you would like to submit to the City of Hayward regarding the Housing Element update?
• Don't build near the bay nor near fault lines
• more communities and land available?
• people who can't afford Hayward simply need to move and commute in OR move to another state. A relocation fund is important.
• For the past couple of decades, the city has concentrated its efforts on high-density condos and townhomes throughout Hayward. This has caused families to move schools to close and our unhoused population to rise. We need to focus on our businesses and residents again and make affordable housing our number one goal. I would also direct staff to eliminate the city in-lieu fees for housing contractors. Just doing those two things would make an enormous positive change for Hayward.
• Garbage dumping
• More development of single family homes to fund new schools and improvements to existing schools
• Keep housing for homeless out of residential areas
• Need to work on reducing crime and homelessness to make Hayward a desirable place to live • Raise FAR and dwellings per acre.
• Please stop low income housing. It only brings in a lot of issues which will cause a dominos effect.
• Use existing housing and stop building. Some people have million dollar homes paying a lot to live here. Clean up your dirty streets, the loud car noise and stop building because it’s already too congested.
• In my opinion, I see ALLOT of development going on and I mean allot, yet there are more and more homeless people. Something is wrong with this picture. My family lived in Russell City and I am native to Hayward. I've never seen this. It's awful and sad. • Please ban smoking in condominium
• No. Just stop acting like we owe housing to people who aren't working for it. • Let Residents be at the table - not just as a placating gesture, but ACTUALLY LISTEN TO RESIDENTS so we are not just placeholders on the Strategic Roadmap that always pts us as #1, but we can ACTUALLY see our input INCORPORATED in the City planning and implementation actions that follow
• More affordable housing
• As we consider housing, I believe it's important to ensure any new housing can be supported by existing infrastructure and availability of natural resources, specifically water. We have been through several years of drought and added housing units put additional strain on finite resources. Sometimes, "no" or "not now" is the right answer to development. Also, it may be beneficial to work with some of the larger companies based in the bay area to subsidize affordable housing as janitorial staff, maintenance staff, food service workers, etc. who create a desirable community for the workers of those large corporations need a place to live too. If companies want to attract primary workers, they have a responsibility to contribute to the larger community where the company resides.
• Provide safety upgrades. I.e. Earthquake, Fire. Especially to the homes near the PGE land where the grass grows so tall in the summer and catches on fire EVERY summer. • Please make it more clear how we can keep up to date with this process. Thank you. • Would it be difficult to get permit to add second story to my duplex? • Please a lot more funds into cleaning of the streets. We do not need any more housing. There are tons of buildings currently building built and those should be low rent for all the people you see on the street, especially on Tennyson Road
• Just cost and quality need to improve
• Everything possible should be done to house homeless people: parking lots for RVs & tents, tiny homes, more space at Navigation Center, shelters, co-housing, churches for overnight sleeping, & all other ideas
• It would have been nice to have multiple answers to some of the questions on this survey • Planning department should be instructed to be open to new types of housing, such as tiny homes, micro-apartments, and others that may be proposed, and work with developers rather than be rigid about rules. Also be open to greener technology in building, including more elaborate greywater systems, compostable toilets, etc. Look to Europe for inspiration. Also require more connected green space and trails, rather than a hodge-podge of disconnected smaller areas, as is done now. Allow more amenities closer to homes and provide better transportation options to reduce need to rely solely on cars • Take into consideration nature and capacity of existing neighborhoods when developing plans • Allow the building of multi-story, high-rise, high-density apartments. Make Hayward into a walkable, pedestrian friendly city like New York or San Francisco. • I’m ticked off that we’ve been forced to abide by rules that are arbitrarily tossed out when the city/county/state is done with them. Keep our neighborhoods consistent with what we bought into.
• Upzone A street and the entire loop around the foothill and mission • Stop worrying about populating Hayward even more, instead they should be concerned about recuperating the City to how it used to be, with the high taxes that we pay we deserve a clean and safe city. They should also think about the poor and middle class people too. • Being able to prevent too many people living on the street.

3%
61%
9%
27%
What is your age?
18-24 years old
25-54 years old
55-62 years old
62 years and over
10%
15%
21%
2%
46%
6%
What is your annual income?
Less than $33,800
$33,800-$56,300
$56,300-$90,100
$90,100-$100,150
More than $100,150
None of the above

16%
14%
5%
2%
3%
0%
0%
9%
51%
Do you represent or are you associated with any of the
followin community organizations or groups?
Faith-based or religious groups
Non-profit organization
Walking and cycling
Public transit
Business owners
Real estate
Student
I represent multiple groups listed
above
None of the above

3%
20%
21%
35%
21%
Where did you find this survey?
Posters
Website
Social Media
Email
Other
Community Resources for Independent Living (CRIL) Housing Meeting Discussion
CRIL Focus Group Discussion
June 10, 2022
Zoom
Attendees:

Warren Cushman, CRIL Consumer, Advocate
Shay Roberson, Community Organizer
Rose Davis, CRIL Consumer
Alejandra Hacker, CRIL employee

1. Which best describes your household?
- Shay - Work in Hayward, notice the problem that the consumers have is related to accessibility for people who use mobility devices and cost of living. Living independently is incredibly difficult. As an advocate would like to see more available affordable housing that is accessible to individuals with disabilities (universal design).
- Warren – lives with partner. Echoes issues with affordability. Total personal income is $1100/month. Affordability is a huge issue, needs to be addressed at all levels of government.

Lives in an apartment and the elevator doesn’t work which is problematic because he has issues with stairs, plus his unit is not accessible to friends in wheelchairs. Fire in building disabled elevator and it hasn’t worked for months – landlord hasn’t fixed the issue. Affordability & accessibility and housing problems.
- Rose – live in an apartment. Lives with her dad. When it comes to accessibility in Hayward, it is difficult to take paratransit because has to be accompanied by someone or her or boyfriend who does IHSS for her. Is pretty much landlocked unless someone helps her out. Does believe that there is elevator and wheelchair ramp but the pavement in parking lot is uneven and dangerous for her to traverse alone. It is a hazard. Feels that residence is safe because it is gated. Lives at the top of a hill, so even if she wanted to go to the grocery store at the bottom of the hill, couldn’t go by herself because of the steep slope. There is a bus stop and she uses paratransit.

Others with disabilities that live in the complex are blind and with wheelchair (mobility). Always some kind of noise in an apartment. Lives in a rent controlled apartment but experiencing increases in other costs (i.e. food) which is difficult. - Alejandra – live in Contra Costa County, work in Hayward. Live in a house with her husband. Has a neighbor that helps them out because they have a steep driveway and both have physical disability. Hear most from consumers: people want to be closer to services, transportation not adequate to get people where they need to go. Public transportation and paratransit not adequate. Need more affordable house.

Transportation:
- Paratransit is not reliable, late, forget to pick people up. Need to think about how to use Uber or Lyft because people need to be able to get around.
- Experiences with BART, bus, Uber. Uber only has 4 wheelchair accessible vehicles so limited availability. Has tried calling Uber several times but often not available to get to work or to get home. Isn’t sure who to contact at Uber – tried calling but no one picks up the phone. With paratransit: has to call Dial-a-ride (local company) to schedule it and then wait for EB paratransit to get back to Dial-a-ride about a time of day that they will pick her up and then she has to call to verify time. Working from home helps. Traveling an hour and a half a day to get to and from work.
- Has to go far for neurologists and other care – so have to travel far to get to medical care. Is given a window for when paratransit will come and will stand outside to wait for the ride. - Paratransit inefficient. Cannot have same day paratransit service which is a huge inconvenience.

AC transit tends to be more reliable than paratransit – need to call out stops, sometimes bus drives by, if miss stop need to walk back. BART more reliable in terms of time. However the bus and BART connections could be better, should “talk to each other.” - Housing and transportation should be more connected. Should be better planned.

Sidewalks and Access
- Need to think about sidewalks, public right-of-way, being able to cross street, chirps to cross the street. Need to connect first mile, last mile piece.
- Specific areas: Downtown is easier to travel on sidewalks and path of travel but have noticed that sidewalks becoming more crowded i.e. scooters. Cannot hear scooters coming if you are blind so people can be injured. Area around Southland is also easy to navigate. Area along A Street near CRIL, unable to go on the sidewalk because something blocking like branches or no curb cuts or road block. Have to go into bike lane in wheelchair. When you go to Mia’s Dream Playground, there is a sidewalk that is very narrow so not space for wheelchair and person is single file. Doesn’t feel like it is actually useable even if it just meets ADA access. Very uncomfortable and dangerous.

Community Services, Parks, Recreation:
- Need to have access from bus stop to park or public facility. You can use Mia’s Dream but it is hard to get to the park.
- COH and HARD need to make sure CRIL or others that can offer insight into lived experiences of sites are involved throughout project from vision, design to final construction. Contacting too early and then not executing.
- Maybe hire CRIL to provide design and insights.
- HARD looking into forming ADA Advisory Body. Warren is working with them. - Good example, Fremont Elizabeth Lake is a good example of an accessible trail. - Would like to see more accessible trails for people with ambulatory issues.

2. Types of housing/locations.
- Affordability has to be a major part of this conversation. Need to prioritize housing affordable to the lowest incomes possible.
- Need to have higher density housing at commercial areas and near transit but also want to talk about a continuum of housing. “Choice is important as well.” - “Want people with disabilities to have options in terms of affordability and accessibility.” - Warren
- “First and foremost, it has to be affordable to people who do not have the income and luxury to pay thousands of dollars for housing and they need to be around services, transportation.” - Shay
- Within buildings, if there are housing problems or an emergency, there needs to be alternatives to getting out of building if elevator fails, such as a stair chair, right by the elevator inside the building.” – Shay
- Landlords need to be educated in these issues: Once requested to live downstairs because of limitations but heard that only living downstairs is discriminatory from landlords. People should be able to live on whatever floor they want and not face an issue. - Prioritize development of housing near public services such as transit, grocery stores. - Concerns about safety – wanting to feel safe, both on roadways and in housing. - From BART to CRIL – train tracks and it doesn’t feel safe. Is there any way to help people get over the tracks.

Community Resources for Independent Living (CRIL) Housing Survey Results
Hayward Housing Survey for Community Resources for Independent Living 1 / 24

0.00% 0

66.67% 2

0.00% 0

33.33% 1
Q1 Do you currently live and/or work in Hayward? Select all that apply.

Answered: 3 Skipped: 0
TOTAL 3
# OTHER (PLEASE SPECIFY) DATE
1 I do business in Hayward 6/8/2022 8:28 AM
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
None of the
above
I currently
live in Hayward
I currently
work in Hayward
Other (please
specify)

ANSWER CHOICES RESPONSES
None of the above
I currently live in Hayward
I currently work in Hayward
Other (please specify)
Hayward Housing Survey for Community Resources for Independent Living 2 / 24

0.00% 0

50.00% 1

0.00% 0

50.00% 1

0.00% 0

0.00% 0
Q2 If you live in Hayward, how long have you lived here? Answered: 2 Skipped: 1
TOTAL 2
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Less than 1
year
1-5 years
5-10 years
10-20 years
More than 20
years
I do not live
in Hayward

ANSWER CHOICES RESPONSES
Less than 1 year
1-5 years
5-10 years
10-20 years
More than 20 years
I do not live in Hayward
Hayward Housing Survey for Community Resources for Independent Living 3 / 24
Q3 What type of housing do you live in?
Answered: 3 Skipped: 0
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
A detached
single-famil...

A
duplex/tripl...

A condominium
or townhome
An apartment
A mobile home
An accessory
dwelling uni...

A group home
or assisted...

Motel, hotel,
or couch...

Shelter
I am currently
unhoused
Other (please
specify)
Hayward Housing Survey for Community Resources for Independent Living 4 / 24

0.00% 0

33.33% 1

66.67% 2

0.00% 0

0.00% 0
TOTAL 3
# OTHER (PLEASE SPECIFY) DATE
There are no responses.

ANSWER CHOICES RESPONSES
A detached single-family house
A duplex/triplex/fourplex
A condominium or townhome
An apartment
A mobile home
An accessory dwelling unit, such as a granny flat or guest house A group home or assisted living facility
Motel, hotel, or couch surfing
Shelter
I am currently unhoused
Other (please specify)
Hayward Housing Survey for Community Resources for Independent Living 5 / 24

0.00% 0
100.00% 3

0.00% 0

0.00% 0
Q4 Which best describes your household?
Answered: 3 Skipped: 0
TOTAL 3
# OTHER (PLEASE SPECIFY) DATE
There are no responses.
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Single, living
alone
Single, living
with roommat...

Couple living
together, no...

Living with
children und...

Multiple
generations...

Multiple
households...

Other (please
specify)

ANSWER CHOICES RESPONSES
Single, living alone
Single, living with roommates.

Couple living together, no children
Living with children under 18 at home
Multiple generations living together (adult children, parents, grandparents, etc.) Multiple households living together
Other (please specify)
Hayward Housing Survey for Community Resources for Independent Living 6 / 24

33.33% 1

0.00% 0

33.33% 1

66.67% 2

33.33% 1

0.00% 0

0.00% 0
Q5 What do you like about your residence and its location? Select all thatapply.

Answered: 3 Skipped: 0
Total Respondents: 3
# OTHER (PLEASE SPECIFY) DATE
There are no responses.
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Close to
public transit
Close to
amenities, s...

Close to parks
and open space
Quality of
housing
Cost of housing
Ability to
maintain...

Close to
family and...

Other (please
specify)

ANSWER CHOICES RESPONSES
Close to public transit
Close to amenities, such as grocery stores, dining, nightlife Close to parks and open space
Quality of housing
Cost of housing
Ability to maintain independence, regardless of age, disability status, or other functional limitations Close to family and friends
Other (please specify)
Hayward Housing Survey for Community Resources for Independent Living 7 / 24

33.33% 1

0.00% 0

33.33% 1

0.00% 0

33.33% 1
Q6 How would you describe the overall condition of your residence? Answered: 3 Skipped: 0
TOTAL 3
# OTHER (PLEASE SPECIFY) DATE
1 all right 6/8/2022 8:28 AM
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Excellent
Shows signs of
deterioratio...

Needs modest
rehabilitati...

Needs major
upgrades, su...

Other (please
specify)

ANSWER CHOICES RESPONSES
Excellent
Shows signs of deterioration, such as peeling paint, chipped stucco, etc.

Needs modest rehabilitation, such as new windows, new roof, new siding, etc.

Needs major upgrades, such as new plumbing, new electrical, foundation repairs, etc.

Other (please specify)
Hayward Housing Survey for Community Resources for Independent Living 8 / 24
Q7 Please explain your housing needs.

Answered: 3 Skipped: 0
# RESPONSES DATE
1 There are minor repairs in the bathrooms. 6/10/2022 9:38 AM 2 N/A 6/9/2022 4:03 PM
3 My biggest need is housing affordability 6/8/2022 8:28 AM Hayward Housing Survey for Community Resources for Independent Living 9 / 24
Q8 What are housing challenges in Hayward that you have experiencedpersonally? Select all that apply.

Answered: 3 Skipped: 0
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Diﬃcult to
ﬁnd aﬀorda...

Diﬃcult to
ﬁnd housing...

Not enough
housing unit...

Monthly rental
housing cost...

It is hard to
pay for the...

Providing
everyday...

Threat of
displacement...

Discrimination
in the housi...

Hard to obtain
rental...

Hard to obtain
mortgage loa...

Other (please
specify)
Hayward Housing Survey for Community Resources for Independent Living 10 / 24

66.67% 2

0.00% 0

33.33% 1

0.00% 0

33.33% 1

0.00% 0

0.00% 0
Total Respondents: 3
# OTHER (PLEASE SPECIFY) DATE
There are no responses.

ANSWER CHOICES RESPONSES
Difficult to find affordable housing.

Difficult to find housing for people with special needs, such as seniors, persons with disabilities or functional limitations Not enough housing units big enough for households with families or multiple generations living together.

Monthly rental housing costs are too expensive
It is hard to pay for the deposit for rental housing because it is too expensive.

Providing everyday services to people experiencing homelessness, including showers, bathrooms, food, medical care, temporary shelter, and opportunities for permanent housing.

Threat of displacement including eviction, foreclosure, etc.

Discrimination in the housing market based on race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, gender, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, or veteran or military status.

Hard to obtain rental assistance to sustain rental housing.

Hard to obtain mortgage loan large enough to buy a home.

Other (please specify)
Hayward Housing Survey for Community Resources for Independent Living 11 / 24
Q9 When we consider all housing issues in the City of Hayward, what doyou believe are the most urgent issues? Select three.

Answered: 3 Skipped: 0
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Rental housing
is too...

There is not
enough housi...

Lack of
housing...

Homelessness
Homes are too
expensive to...

Overcrowding
or too many...

Displacement,
gentriﬁcati...

Housing
Quality,...

Leasing and
tenant...

I don’t know
Other (please
specify)
Hayward Housing Survey for Community Resources for Independent Living 12 / 24

33.33% 1
100.00% 3

66.67% 2

33.33% 1

66.67% 2

0.00% 0

66.67% 2

0.00% 0

33.33% 1
Total Respondents: 3
# OTHER (PLEASE SPECIFY) DATE
1 new housing will not allow for people to age-in-place 6/9/2022 4:03 PM

ANSWER CHOICES RESPONSES
Rental housing is too expensive
There is not enough housing available to rent or buy
Lack of housing accessible to people with disabilities
Homelessness
Homes are too expensive to buy
Overcrowding or too many people living in one home
Displacement, gentrification, or friends/neighbors have to leave the City to find housing Housing Quality, maintenance, or housing does not have desired features Leasing and tenant screening process is too difficult
I don’t know
Other (please specify)
Hayward Housing Survey for Community Resources for Independent Living 13 / 24

33.33% 1

66.67% 2

0.00% 0
Q10 Are you now or have you ever been at risk of losing your housing? Answered: 3 Skipped: 0
TOTAL 3
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Yes
No
I don’t know

ANSWER CHOICES RESPONSES
Yes
No
I don’t know
Hayward Housing Survey for Community Resources for Independent Living 14 / 24

33.33% 1

66.67% 2

0.00% 0

0.00% 0
Q11 How satisfied are you with your housing choices?
Answered: 3 Skipped: 0
TOTAL 3
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Very satisﬁed
Somewhat
satisﬁed
Somewhat
dissatisﬁed
Very
dissatisﬁed

ANSWER CHOICES RESPONSES
Very satisfied
Somewhat satisfied
Somewhat dissatisfied
Very dissatisfied
Hayward Housing Survey for Community Resources for Independent Living 15 / 24

33.33% 1

66.67% 2
Q12 Does Hayward’s current housing types meet your needs? Answered: 3 Skipped: 0
TOTAL 3
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Yes
No

ANSWER CHOICES RESPONSES
Yes
No
Hayward Housing Survey for Community Resources for Independent Living 16 / 24
Q13 If current housing types in Hayward do not meet your needs, pleaseexplain.

Answered: 2 Skipped: 1
# RESPONSES DATE
1 I have to be accompanied by someone and can't go out by myself.yself 6/10/2022 9:38 AM 2 Costs are way to high for my income 6/8/2022 8:28 AM
Hayward Housing Survey for Community Resources for Independent Living 17 / 24
Q14 In your opinion, what types of housing are needed in Hayward? Selectall that apply.

Answered: 3 Skipped: 0
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Apartments,
which are...

Condominiums
or condos,...

Entry level or
starter home...

Accessory
Dwelling Uni...

Micro units or
tiny homes,...

Co-living
housing whic...

Senior housing
and assisted...

Luxury or
Above-Market...

Student Housing
Transitional
Housing, whi...

Supportive
Housing, whi...

Shelters,
which is...

Other (please
specify)
Hayward Housing Survey for Community Resources for Independent Living 18 / 24

66.67% 2

33.33% 1

66.67% 2

0.00% 0

33.33% 1

0.00% 0

66.67% 2

0.00% 0

66.67% 2
100.00% 3

33.33% 1

0.00% 0
Total Respondents: 3
# OTHER (PLEASE SPECIFY) DATE
There are no responses.

ANSWER CHOICES RESPONSES
Apartments, which are defined as a suite of rooms forming one residence in a building containing multiple residences.

Condominiums or condos, which are defined a building or complex of buildings containing a number of individually owned apartments or houses, that serve as an alternative to owning a single family residence.

Entry level or starter homes, which are defined as a relatively small, economical house or condominium.

Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) or “in-law unit” which are defined as a small, secondary dwelling unit, built on the same lot as the main house, and can either be attached or built independently.

Micro units or tiny homes, which are defined as a streamlined version of housing that includes efficient, space-saving innovations.

Co-living housing which is defined as communal living with a private bedroom and shared common areas.

Senior housing and assisted living which is defined as housing facilities with daily care services for older adults Luxury or Above-Market Housing which is defined as housing that is above market value due to its quality of amenities.

Student Housing
Transitional Housing, which is defined as temporary housing for homeless people to transition into permanent, affordable housing.

Supportive Housing, which is defined as a combination of housing and services in one location.

Shelters, which is defined as a temporary residence for homeless individuals that provides residents with safety and protection from exposure to the weather.

Other (please specify)
Hayward Housing Survey for Community Resources for Independent Living 19 / 24

66.67% 2

0.00% 0

66.67% 2
100.00% 3

0.00% 0

66.67% 2

33.33% 1

66.67% 2

0.00% 0
Q15 Which amenities would you like to see near housing? Select three.

Answered: 3 Skipped: 0
Total Respondents: 3
# OTHER (PLEASE SPECIFY) DATE
There are no responses.
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Parks and play
areas
Open space and
trails
A bus stop
Grocery stores
and other...

Schools
Community
centers,...

Health Care
Providers
Pharmacy
Other (please
specify)

ANSWER CHOICES RESPONSES
Parks and play areas
Open space and trails
A bus stop
Grocery stores and other shopping
Schools
Community centers, libraries or other public facilities Health Care Providers
Pharmacy
Other (please specify)
Hayward Housing Survey for Community Resources for Independent Living 20 / 24
Q16 Please describe your hopes for Hayward’s future housingopportunities? Answered: 3 Skipped: 0
# RESPONSES DATE
1 Flatter pavement where I can use my rolling walker outside. 6/10/2022 9:38 AM 2 Housing in which one can age in placd 6/9/2022 4:03 PM 3 I would hope that Hayward would be able to produce accessible and affordable housing for persons with disabilities!
6/8/2022 8:28 AM
Hayward Housing Survey for Community Resources for Independent Living 21 / 24

0.00% 0

66.67% 2

0.00% 0

33.33% 1
Q17 What is your age?
Answered: 3 Skipped: 0
TOTAL 3
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
18-24 years old
25-54 years old
55-62 years old
62 years and
over

ANSWER CHOICES RESPONSES
18-24 years old
25-54 years old
55-62 years old
62 years and over
Hayward Housing Survey for Community Resources for Independent Living 22 / 24

50.00% 1

0.00% 0

50.00% 1
Q18 What is your annual income?
Answered: 2 Skipped: 1
TOTAL 2
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Less than
$33,800
$33,800-$56,300
$56,300-$90,100
$90,100-$100,15
0 More than
$100,150

ANSWER CHOICES RESPONSES
Less than $33,800
$33,800-$56,300
$56,300-$90,100
$90,100-$100,150
More than $100,150
Hayward Housing Survey for Community Resources for Independent Living 23 / 24

33.33% 1

0.00% 0

66.67% 2

0.00% 0
Q19 Which race/ethnicity category best describes you? Select all thatapply to you.

Answered: 3 Skipped: 0
Total Respondents: 3
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Native
American or...

Asian—For
example,...

Black or
African...

Hispanic,
Latino, or...

Middle Eastern
or North...

Native
Hawaiian or...

White or
Caucasian—Fo...

I prefer not
to answer.

ANSWER CHOICES RESPONSES
Native American or Alaska Native—For example, Ohlone, Yrgin, Chochenyo, Karkin, Ramaytush, Yokuts, or Muwekma.

Asian—For example, Chinese, Filipino, Vietnamese, Korean, Japanese, Indian.

Black or African American—For example, Jamaican, Haitian, Nigerian, Ethiopian, Somali.

Hispanic, Latino, or Latinx/Latine—For example, Mexican or Mexican American, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Salvadoran, Dominican, Colombian.

Middle Eastern or North African—For example, Lebanese, Iranian, Egyptian, Syrian, Moroccan, Algerian.

Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander—For example, Native Hawaiian, Samoan, Chamorro, Tongan, Fijian, Marshallese.

White or Caucasian—For example, German, Irish, English, Dutch, Polish, French.

I prefer not to answer.

Hayward Housing Survey for Community Resources for Independent Living 24 / 24
Q20 Please provide your email if you would like to receive updatesregarding the City of Hayward housing and climate update.

Answered: 2 Skipped: 1
# RESPONSES DATE
1 [email protected] 6/9/2022 4:03 PM
2 [email protected] 6/8/2022 8:28 AM
Balancing Act Summary
Balancing Act: Housing Sites Simulation
The City ran a Balancing Act simulation for 35 days (from April 8 to May 13, 2022). The sites simulation allowed the public to provide feedback on each housing site (CalTrans Corridor, Downtown, along Mission Boulevard, on publicly-owned land, and other residential and mixed-use areas) and explain where they would like to see additional development or higher density development in Hayward to accommodate the Regional Housing Need. Links were provided to the groups on the email and mailing lists described above, the City’s email lists, interested parties and was advertised on social media. .

There were 19 participants that provided 44 comments on 1722 potential housing sites. The input provided by the participants included the following major themes:

Recommend prioritizing residential development on empty lots first.

Public comments regarding the CalTrans Corridor included the following major themes:
▪ Residential units ranging from 600 units to 2000 units. ▪ Recommend focusing on Carlos Bee for higher density housing due to location near California State University East Bay (CSUEB) to provide quality housing for students. ▪ Recommend higher density housing in South Hayward near BART and mission. ▪ Recommend a mix of mid-rise towers or 5+1 developments. ▪ Agree this location is untapped and a great opportunity for high-density housing near City resources. ▪ Recommend creating a pedestrian-friendly, transit-oriented "Main Street" with an emphasis on mix- use and affordable housing, including commercial leasing space made available to encourage lower income entrepreneurs to get a proper store front with nearby housing. downgrade Mission Boulevard to include more walking friendly infrastructure and dedicated transit/bike lane. ▪ Recommend removing height allowances and affordability requirements so that volume will provide affordability.
▪ Recommend allowing a residential building (as big, if not bigger) than the old City Hall that was torn down, update Grove Street, and pub a left turn signal so people can turn left onto Foothill onto Highway 580.
▪ Recommend developing more apartment units on Parcel 5 and affordable housing development on the upper portion of P7.
▪ Concerns with location’s proximity to fault lines.
▪ Desire to preserve most of the land in the area for parks and open space, particularly in the hills.

Public comments regarding the Downtown Area included the following major themes:
▪ Recommend for high-density residential development because of its walkability to BART, Downtown amenities, and new projects around the new Lincoln Landing site and the old Chiropractor College site on Main Street, which promotes a sustainable lifestyle. ▪ Recommend mixture of mid- and high-rise residential towers. ▪ Recommend securing the underutilized BART-owned lot on B Street to the north of the BART station to establish mixed use development.
▪ Recommend Downtown B Street at Main and Mission should be redeveloped to include more mixed-use development and add hundreds of housing units. ▪ Recommend the City designate the Upper B Street neighborhood for higher density development for multifamily apartment complexes.
▪ Recommend removing density restrictions in this area to encourage as much residential development as possible.
▪ Desire to maintain dining, entertainment, and services in Downtown while also promoting new housing development, such as six-story apartments found in Redwood City. ▪ Recommend removing parking minimums because of walking distance to BART station, change all retail and commercial-only zoning to allow for mixed use to allow for retail on the first floor and 5-8 stories of apartments on top.

Public comments regarding the Mission Boulevard included the following major themes:
▪ Agree there is potential to revitalize the area and increase housing in the area due to empty and underutilized lots.
▪ Concern regarding limited resources and opportunities for walkability. ▪ Recommend mix of mid-rise towers or 5+1 developments or converting one-level commercial buildings to 4-5 story mixed use development.
▪ Recommend affordable housing or homeless shelter in the area. ▪ Recommend pairing residential development with improved investment in public transit infrastructure.

Public comments regarding the Residential and Mixed Use Area included the following major themes:
▪ Recommend adding more housing in North Hayward.
▪ Recommends graded density, through zoning, to include mid-density townhomes around commercial development and amenity hubs, since Hayward has a lot of infill sites.

Additional recommendations include:
▪ Demolish the billboard located on Foothill Boulevard in order to light the water tower with solar powered light, similar to the project in Campbell.
▪ Recommendation to include bike lanes, public transit infrastructure (e.g., bus lanes, light rail) in Downtown Area.
▪ Recommend adding housing on the empty lot at Clay Street, D Street, 4th Street, and B Street. ▪ Concern about the identified locations generally requiring cars for transportation due to limited public transit, and instead, focusing on adding new high-density residential development near public transit and splitting lots and incorporating accessory dwelling units (ADUs) in existing low-density housing areas.
▪ Recommend eliminating single-family zoning citywide to increase the city’s capacity to build housing to meet RHNA without the risk of gentrification and runaway speculation. ▪ Recommend increasing density along major corridors, including Tennyson and Industrial, to incentivize further small business development and public transit use in the region. ▪ Recommend using empty lots located along B Street and on Templeton and Hill Avenue due to lack of development and proximity to public transit.
▪ Recommend upzoning and redeveloping existing low-density commercial development located at Hesperian Boulevard, A Street, and Jackson Street.
▪ Recommend any new construction beyond the pipeline should be the only buffer option and more toward the western “4” area. Also recommend limiting residential development near the hills because of earthquakes and landslides as well as areas located near the shore because of climate change-induced sea level rise.
▪ Recommend mixed-use opportunities in Jackson Triangle (Huntwood Avenue and Harder Road), Burbank (Winton Avenue and A Street), Southgate (along Hesperian Boulevard).

Public Workshop Summary

Polling Questions

1. How long have you lived in Hayward?
a. Less than 1 year
b. 1-5 years
c. 6-10 years
d. More than 10 years
e. I do not live in Hayward

2. Do you rent or own your residence?
a. I own my residence
b. I rent my residence

3. Do you see yourself in your current home in 5 years? a. Yes
b. No
c. I don’t know

4. Do you need help to achieve your housing goals?
a. Yes
b. No
c. I don’t know

5. Which zip code do you live in?
a. 94540
b. 94541
c. 94542
d. 94543
e. 94544
f. 94545
g. 94552
h. 94557
i. Other
j. I don’t live in Hayward
Discussion Questions
Session 1: Welcome and Introductions

1. What three words would you use to describe your housing situation? • Spacious, comforting & supportive
i. "Spacious" meaning NOT hemmed in!
• too expensive! Car-dependent but beautiful
• Need affordable housing
• garden, sanctuary, nurturing
• comfortable, family, community
• x

Session 2: Discussion

2. What is your greatest housing need?
• What is there to encourage more rental units? Current rental development compared to historic development for rental development is pitiful. • Great presentation. 30 years ago, I graduated for Hayward, and my daughters graduated from East Bay. As a college graduate it was difficult to find affordable housing. I do not know how to help them. I would prefer to let them be independent rather than me co- sign, but students are struggling to find affordable housing. They are our future and I hope you will include them in your policies.
i. To add onto Celia's point, I work for a local engineering firm, and we have a hard time hiring interns because it is just so expensive to live within a reasonable distance from work.
• As a renter I’m looking for flexibility for how long I will live in an apartment. The requirements for apartment applications are a huge deterrent for housing without the guarantee of receiving housing (e.g., credit scores, background checks). I’m wondering what the City can do to remove those barriers. Also, as we build these units how do we make sure the developer will put the units on the market? Would this require support from the City Council?
i. Also, anecdotally to George's point, a lot of rental units require making 2.5x-3x the monthly rent in order to even be considered. Making Hayward minimum wage, this would require working 100hrs a week to just barely make that number.
• I am a resident of Hayward, born and raised along with my brother. We’ve lived here our whole lives. My brother has been homeless for five years. He has tried to use resources and every time he has found the facilities inadequate (e.g., requirements of the facility, not providing resources, rehabilitation program for addiction, rehabilitation program that is sustainable). In the Housing Element, does it include programs to improve these circumstances?
• Most of the units at CityView apartment which is the closest to Cal State Hayward, $1800 per month for one bedroom, $2600-$2800 for two bedrooms. Ironically, students cannot afford them. I wonder if it is taken over by working professionals, rather than students.
• Celia, I lived at CityView. There are many one bedroom apartments there with more than 4 people, not just students, living there. Students tend to split the apartments and have more than 2 people per room.
i. Doesn't that violate the maximum allowable people per bedroom in a unit like that?
• Is there transitional housing in your housing element? • The mayor’s most recent address said the St. Regis building potentially rehabilitated into units for individuals experiencing homelessness or struggling with substance abuse. Was that included in the numbers for the Housing Element? Is it too early to be incorporated? Can we use hotels for transitional housing? Recently Hayward passed an ordinance to increase sales tax on hotel rooms. When we talk about a shallow rent

subsidy is it possible to waive sales tax for individuals experiencing homelessness and a way to use hotel rooms as transitional housing.
• I have followed the homelessness task force that meets once a month. There are more opportunities for the task force to get money to buy and lease hotels in the city for transitional housing for those experiencing homelessness. I’ve testified they should be doing it. There are many marginal hotels in Hayward that we could buy or do long-term leases for with services from non-profits. There seems to be hesitancy from staff and City Council to go after those hotels. There are at least seven or eight willing hotel owners who are willing to sell or long-term lease their hotel for the City to use for this purpose. I do not understand why it is not being aggressively pursued. It’s suggested as a study in the Housing Element, but I do not know what needs to be studied. • I have followed the Housing Element update and I do not have particular needs. I am here in gratitude for what I have, as a home owner for 30 years. I have advocated for the City to require housing developers to build affordable units as part of every housing project.
• I would like to go back to the difference of affordable housing units that are available for renting. Are they going to be bought and then rented at excessive rates. They put money in an in-lieu fee fund, which is used for a variety of things, some of which are not on-the-ground built affordable housing units. Inclusionary housing should be included in every project rather than segregated. If we did that at the bowling alley project, we would have affordable housing and inclusionary housing near BART. But instead ,we ended up with only market rate housing.
• The City could increase 6% requirement for affordable housing units. Developers would rather put the money into in-lieu fees and leave it up to the City. • Of the units, how many will be rental units compared to market rate housing. The current cost to rent a studio apartment is $2,500 per month, which is absurd. All the houses that are being built, how many are being bought so they can be rented out at absurd rates? I say as an overpaid tech employee, it is difficult for me to find rental housing that is affordable within 30% of my income. Are there rent-controlled subsidy policies that could be put in place to protect renters from increasing rental rates? • I’m concerned about the vacancy rate (4.8% or 2,000 units). That seems high. Can we quantify how many people do not have a place to live? It’s not right. There are too many people who need places to sleep.

3. Do you need help to achieve your housing goals? If so, what would help you right now? • Re "help in ACHIEVING housing goal- how about Help in maintaining housing quality of life. ..... food for thought

4. Do you have any additional recommendations for the Housing Element? • No comments received.

5. Additional Questions and Comments
• What is site #14 up in the hills?
• Are there any planned communities to go into the hills that are for low-income or moderate income persons? I see a lot of affluent communities in the hills going in. • Very clear presentation. though required, just want to thank you for your efforts to meet your RHNA numbers and also to create more affordable housing overall.

3 Presenters and 17 Participants

Public Comments on Draft Housing
Element

August 3, 2022

Planning Division
City of Hayward
777 B Street
Hayward, CA 94541
Email: [email protected]

Dear Leigha Schmidt:

Thank you for meeting with Tim Chan, Seung-Yen Hong, and Tobias Liebermann on March 16, 2022, indicating the City of Hayward’s (City) interest in including BART’s land in its 2023-2031 Housing Element. We also appreciate the opportunity to review the draft 2023- 2031 Housing Element that was released in July 2022. BART supports the goals and policies included in the draft 2023- 2031 Housing Element. However, as the City is aware, BART’s Transit -Oriented Development Program Work Plan currently does not categorize the BART -owned properties that are listed in the Housing Element Sites Inventory as ‘Near-term (project initiation in 2020-2025)’.

I
t is our collective goal to deliver as much housing near transit as possible while supporting local jurisdictions in achieving the Bay Area’s regional housing goals.

However, BART has limited staff resources and few funding sources for the infrastructure - most notably parking replacement - that is often required to free -up space on BART’s land for development. Given current resources, it will be challenging for BART to support development of all the land proposed in BART partner jurisdictions’ Housing Elements during the 2023-2031 cycle.

In addition, we noticed in the Housing Element Sites Inventory that BART -owned properties at the Hayward and South Hayward Stations were shown to have all units in the Lower Income Capacity Category. While BART strongly supports high density affordable housing as reflected in BART policies, the amount of affordable housing that can be supported on our property is greatly dependent on the amount of affordable housing funding available including local subsidies. Given current funding availability, the size of some of the BART properties included in the sites inventory, the costs associated with developing BART land and related access and parking improvements, achieving 100% affordable units may not be feasible

Delivering transit-oriented development (TOD) projects on BART’s land is much more complex and time consuming than development projects on private land and requires strong partnerships and commitment between BART and local jurisdictions.

As noted in the previous lett er issued on March 7, 2022, BART’s TOD Work Plan prioritizes development in its station areas based on the following three criteria:

1. Market readiness for TOD

2. Local support for TOD

3. Infrastructure needs

SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA RAPID TRANSIT DISTRICT
2150 Webster Street, P.O. Box 12688
Oakland, CA 94604-2688
(510) 464-6000

2022

Rebecca Saltzman

PRESIDENT

Janice Li

VICE PRESIDENT

Robert Powers

GENERAL MANAGER

DIRECTORS

Debora Allen
1ST DISTRICT

Mark Foley
2ND DISTRICT

Rebecca Saltzman
3RD DISTRICT

Robert Raburn, Ph.D.
4TH DISTRICT

John McPartland
5TH DISTRICT

Elizabeth Ames
6TH DISTRICT

Lateefah Simon
7TH DISTRICT

Janice Li
8TH DISTRICT

Bevan Dufty
9TH DISTRICT

www.bart.gov

August 3, 2022

Page 2 ends

Hayward City CouncilFebruary 7, 2023

Hayward City Council
February 7, 2023