WELCOME TO SAN LEANDRO

San Leandro is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. It is considered a suburb of Oakland and San Francisco.

The first inhabitants of San Leandro were the ancestors of the Ohlone Nation, who arrived sometime between 3500 and 2500 BC. The Spanish settlers called these natives Costeños or "coast people" and the English-speaking settlers called them Costanoans. San Leandro was first visited by Europeans on March 20, 1772 by Spanish soldier Captain Pedro Fages and the Spanish Catholic priest Father Crespi.

Because many of the residents who moved to San Leandro in the 1950s and 1960s have stayed here, San Leandro as of 2007 has a large elderly population, although increasing numbers of families with children have begun moving into the city. In the 1980s, the community's diversity grew as African Americans, Asian Americans, and Hispanics also began moving into the city, many relocating from the city of Oakland. In addition, the industrial makeup of the city has been changing, moving away from its traditional manufacturing base toward more of an emphasis on services and warehousing industries.

San Leandro was an 86.4% white-non Hispanic community according to the 1970 census. African-Americans were excluded by the use of "covenants" as well as the collusion of real estate agents, some of whom refused to sell houses to African-Americans. The police sometimes harassed African-Americans who crossed the border into San Leandro from Hayward and Oakland.

Jack Maltester became the first directly-elected mayor in 1962 and was re-elected three times until term limits were enacted in 1974.

San Leandro became a more diverse city with the massive development of apartment buildings going from 74.4% white-non Hispanic in 1980 to 42.3% white-non Hispanic in 2000.