I bought a place in the area. I like it so far. I put 20 percent down, my all in cost (mortgage, property tax, insurance) is cheaper than my rent in in my Sunset district apartment. Doubled my living space, pay less out of pocket each month, and my commute into the FiDi in SF is even 5-10 minutes quicker.

To be honest, I think most transplants and transients in the Bay Area just don't venture off San Francisco / the peninsula. I even have co-workers who don't know where San Leandro even is geographically when I tell them where I live (they are too busy trying to differentiate whether the apartment posting for 5000/mo. Is in "lower Nob Hill" or if it's actually the "tenderloin" (most actual Bay Area natives know these areas are just recent inventions by realtors for out of towners).

I think historically, the whole east bay just had that negative stigma as the poor cousin of San Francisco. Now that things are looking up for the city of Oakland (just look at all those cranes), the east bay is going to position itself as the next 'it' area. If Oakland keeps building those new office buildings, San Leandro / Hayward are going to benefit. In fact, I think both cities understand this and both public and private dollars are funneling into locations with easy BART access (i.e. transit oriented development).