Hayward Area Recreation and Park District

Hayward () is a city located in Alameda County, California in the East Bay subregion of the San Francisco Bay Area. With a population of 162,954 as of 2020, Hayward is the sixth largest city in the Bay Area and the third largest in Alameda County. Hayward was ranked as the 34th most populous municipality in California. It is included in the San Francisco–Oakland–San Jose Metropolitan Statistical Area by the US Census. It is located primarily between Castro Valley, San Leandro and Union City, and lies at the eastern terminus of the San Mateo–Hayward Bridge. The city was devastated early in its history by the 1868 Hayward earthquake. From the early 20th century until the beginning of the 1980s, Hayward's economy was dominated by its now defunct food canning and salt production industries.

Downtown Hayward is the original and current central business district of Hayward, California, United States, and is home to the current Hayward City Hall, along with the two previous city halls, Alex Giualini Plaza and the City Center Building. The Hayward Fault runs through the area, and is the cause of the two previous city halls being taken out of use. The boundaries are Third Street to the east, Grand Street and Hayward BART to the west, Jackson Street and E Street to the south, and City Center Drive/Hazel Avenue to the north. Foothill Boulevard was known as "The Golden Strip", a retail business corridor that was built in the 1950s, and housed Capwell's and I. Magnin department stores. The street lost businesses after the opening of Southland Mall in 1964. Parks include Newman Park and The Julio Bras Portuguese Park. San Lorenzo Creek runs through downtown. The Hayward Public Library is located there. "Hayward City Center" a mall and building complex located at the northern end of downtown, contains the City Center Building, which served as the city's second city hall from 1969 to 1991, and is now an abandoned 11 story building, Hayward's tallest building, formerly the second tallest prior to California State University, East Bay's Warren Hall demolition in 2013. The City Center complex previously contained the now demolished Centennial Hall Convention Center. The bankrupt Mervyns department store chain's large former headquarters is across the street from the City Center mall. The Hayward Area Historical Society operates a museum downtown, which relocated and re-opened June 2014. The FBI operates a resident agency in downtown Hayward. The Hayward Art Council, founded in 1975, operates the Sun Gallery downtown. The Independent Order of Odd Fellows building on B Street is one of Hayward's oldest buildings, and was built in 1868. The Hayward 9/11 Memorial was dedicated May 30, 2016, to the first responders who died in 9/11, and to the city's own fallen first responders, and the city's fallen soldiers.

The American Distilling Institute (ADI), is the major trade association for the craft / micro distillery industry in the United States representing over 2000 licensed craft distilleries operating in the United States.

Alex Giuliani Plaza is a park surrounding a vacant building in downtown Hayward, California. The building was Hayward's first city hall. It is located on Mission Boulevard and D Street.

The Green Shutter Hotel is a historic hotel building located in downtown Hayward in Alameda County, California, United States. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004, and is on the California Register of Historical Resources.

Hayward Area Historical Society (HAHS) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to documenting the history of the city of Hayward, California and adjacent communities. These areas include San Lorenzo, Ashland, Cherryland, Castro Valley, Fairview, the former communities of Russell City, Mount Eden, Schafer Park, and other parts of unincorporated Alameda County. The society was founded in 1956. Their museum in Downtown Hayward closed in 2012. Their new facility opened nearby in 2014.

Hayward High School is a public high school in Hayward, California, United States, serving students living in northern Hayward and portions of Castro Valley, Cherryland and Fairview. It is one of four high schools in the city and is one of the oldest high schools in Northern California. The school's official mascot is the "Farmer", which dates back to Hayward's period as an agricultural center. Its emblem features a farmer with a plow, a reference to the city's agricultural past.

Hayward City Hall is the third and current Hayward city hall building, located in downtown Hayward, California, United States, next to the Hayward BART Station. The city hall opened in January 1998, replacing the abandoned City Center Building, which served as Hayward's city hall for 29 years from 1969 to 1998. Hayward's first city hall, which is also closed to the public, is now in the Alex Giualini Plaza, three blocks away.

The Hayward Japanese Gardens, located near downtown Hayward, are the oldest Japanese gardens in California designed along traditional lines. They are maintained by the Hayward Area Recreation and Park District (HARD).

The City Center Building, known briefly as Centennial Tower, was the tallest building in Hayward, California. It was previously the second tallest, until the 2013 razing of Warren Hall on the Cal State East Bay campus. It was for many years an abandoned building, located between Foothill Boulevard and City Center Drive, in the City Center section of Downtown Hayward, adjacent to the PlazaCenter mall. It was formerly used as Hayward City Hall.Demolition of the building began in January 2020 and was completed by September 2020.

Hayward is a Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) station located in Downtown Hayward, California, United States. The station opened on September 11, 1972.The elevated station has two side platforms. A two-lane bus terminal is located on the northeast side of the station. A pedestrian tunnel under the Union Pacific Railroad Oakland Subdivision connects the fare lobby to a parking lot and a five-level parking garage.

The Centennial Hall Convention Center was a former gymnasium and convention center located in downtown Hayward, in the City Center complex with the former Centennial Tower. It closed as a convention center on November 1, 2009, and was demolished shortly afterward.