Never Leaving the City of Hayward
I live just above the downtown area of the city of Hayward on the top floor of an apartment building overlooking the city and looking out to the hills. My husband and brother have been trying to convince me to move for years. “We could get a house,” they say. “The kids could have a yard,” they say.
“Find me something similar to what I have now, for a similar price, and I will move.” I always respond in the same way.
Especially now that I have children, location is incredibly important to me.
My daughter and I have been walking to our city library (We have a new library going up now, and we cannot wait to get in there!) since she could walk. It is less than a mile away. The hubby and I walk to the movie theater, which is seldom overcrowded, for date nights. The theater is even closer than the library. I live in a secure building. My apartment has windows on three sides (I get to gaze at the horizon from my desk while I write), a balcony on the backside and a patio on the front, and we enjoy two thousand square feet of space.
No, I’m not leaving until I buy my dream house. (I have been getting more anxious for that recently. More on that later.)
But, I didn’t always live in this big place; we needed the space when my brother moved in after my daughter was born, and we lucked out when the only three bedroom apartment in my building became available. When I was 19, I moved into this building, into a one bedroom apartment on the fourth floor. Years later I moved into a two bedroom. Now we are here.
The Good with the Bad
The building is nothing to brag about. People throw trash in the elevator, vomit in the stairwells, and pee in the hallway. It can be pretty gross sometimes. Plus, our fabulous pool just happens to be located next to the dumpster. So, yea, that’s luxury living at its finest right there. But I understand also that I live just down the hill from my alma mater, California State University of East Bay (Hayward, really), and that college kids and their friends can be idiots. Also, some people never learned the “don’t poop where you eat” rule. Go figure.
But we have a great group of people here who wave to each other as we head out for the day. We make conversation in the elevator (over the vomit), and we ask after each other’s family. We also commiserate over the pee and the trash.
I am not going to throw the baby out with the bathwater, as they say, and I’ll tell you why.
Location. Location. Location.
I have lived in this building for twenty years now, in this spot, for the location. You cannot beat the convenience of living in a downtown walkable environment. You also cannot beat living in a centralized location in the San Francisco Bay Area.
I can walk to Trader Joe’s or Safeway with both my kids in a stroller, grab some groceries and a Starbucks and head back home without breaking a sweat.
I can drive anywhere in the entire bay area in under an hour, including the beach.
Also: parks. The east bay area has a park system made especially for nature kids, and since I homeschool, my kid is kind of obligated to be a nature kid. I am not sitting in the house all day with an energetic five year old and an infant.
I simply cannot say enough about living in the city of Hayward. It is called The Heart of the Bay for a reason.
Not All Peaches and Cream
Do we have our flaws? Of course. We have our ghettos and our prostitutes. We have crime and trash problems. We have broken roads and a “crappy” school system. (Remember, I’m homeschooling, so I obviously think that all school systems are crappy to one degree or other. As an educator, I honestly don’t think Hayward’s is any better or worse than any other urban city public school.) The city of Hayward is not perfect.
But we are an urban city with a large, diverse population. Walk downtown and you will see representations of every ethnicity you can imagine, and you will hear just as many languages.
And the thing to remember is that a city, a school, a community, is only as good as its people. We cannot complain if we do not also attend city council meetings, call the police every time we see a problem, and get out into the streets and do some work ourselves. This is not the suburbs, and as a city girl, I say thank the goddess for that.
Yogurt Hill
Today, I want to tell you about a little favorite spot of ours: Yogurt Hill.
It is run by a man named Ali, who opens the door for us when he head in, makes kind conversation with us, praises my daughter’s manners, and opens the door for us on our way out. He is friendly and helpful, and he takes pride in his business.
I try to keep the kids out of the car at least one day a week, which means we are on the good foot. (Remember I said I have no intention of staying locked up in the house all day with these two? No way.)
Last week, Celaya asked for frozen yogurt, so we headed out, her on her scooter and Matilda in the front back.
We took the short walk/scoot downtown and greeted Ali as he opened the door for us. “Hello! Hello!” He calls to us in his singsong voice.
Yogurt Hill has a different special every day of the week, and this day it happened to be buy one get one half off. Other specials include discounts per ounce and free cake cones, among other offers.
Variety
Yogurt Hill has a variety of flavors, typically six to eight, and this day we could choose from vanilla, dark chocolate, tart, watermelon sorbet, and cookies and cream.
Celaya, typically eclectic, chose watermelon sorbet and dark chocolate. I had cookies and cream. This shop is so clean that you could lick the frozen yogurt off the floor. Ali takes excellent care of the place, so I trust Celaya to pick out her own cup, serve her own yogurt, and head over to the vast array of sugary toppings. The topping buffet is almost too much. Who puts entire cookie wafers on her frozen yogurt?! Oh, right, my kid.
Price
After we chose our toppings, we placed our cups on the scale and paid by weight. All in all we paid a little over $5 for both of us. The price is worth it. Celaya got M&Ms and a giant cookie wafer and sprinkles. I had granola with raisins on mine. It was basically lunch. Super unhealthy lunch for my five year old, but she’s homeschooled, and she’s indulged. What can I say?
Yogurt Hill is a quaint little spot, and if you haven’t been, you should go. Wander downtown, enjoy the twinkling lights at night, see a movie, and grab a heaping serving of frozen yogurt at with toppings for a great deal at Yogurt Hill. Check them out on Yelp, and you can even get 15% off your purchase!
Come Visit, or Move On In!
I have many many wonderful things to say about my city, the city of Hayward. Yogurt Hill is just the icing (or yogurt) on the top of a lively, fun, charming downtown life. When I buy my dream house, it will definitely be here, and we’ll head down to celebrate our new purchase with some frozen yogurt at our favorite spot.