Make it Big! Cherryland Announces Itself With New Sign

Champagne was flowing at the corner of Mission Boulevard and Hampton Road in Cherryland Thursday morning, where a score of community activists and county workers gathered to unveil the neighborhood's long-awaited new face. 

There were plenty of reasons to raise a glass—sidewalks where there had been no sidewalks, baby-smooth pavement where potholes had reigned. An end to lake-like puddles and a safe route to school for Cherryland's children.

"It's thrilling to see this happening," said District 4 Alameda County Supervisor Nate Miley, who represents the community. "Cherryland deserves it." 

The, the second of three phases of improvement planned for the community.  

The newly spiffed-up stretch is a showpiece for the county's redevelopment agency, and a model for how similar agencies statewide can reform themselves if they survive the governor's proposed budget this summer, said Alameda County Development Agency Director Chris Bazar. 

"When you look at redevelopment in the state of California and what it's supposed to do, this is exactly what it's supposed to do," Bazar said.

Coming in $1 million under budget didn't hurt, either.

Still,  for many in this oft-overlooked  community, it was as much about the sign—15 feet if it's an inch, standing sentinel over bustling Mission Boulevard—as the sidewalks.  

"When I got to the Board of Supervisors, I was like — Cherryland? What's Cherryland? Where's Cherryland?" Miley said. "Now at least you've got a sign."

In fact, this corner of the unincorporated community so frequently lumped in with Hayward is layered with its own history, from Spanish missions to the Meek Estate. 

"Whatever we say here today won't be remembered," said Basil Sherlock, a community historian and member of the Cherryland Citizens Advisory Committee. "But when they see that sign 20 years from now coming off the freeway, that'll be remembered."