Daly City is a place defined by its practicality and shaped by its unique geography and history. It’s where people go to find that elusive fourth or fifth bedroom or the coveted second, front-facing garage. Parts of the town sit directly atop the San Andreas Fault, which runs under the Westlake Shopping Center and stretches out toward Skyline Boulevard as it heads to Pt. Reyes. Nestled under SFO’s departure flight path and often cloaked in fog, Daly City’s uniform rows of Doelger ticky-tacky little boxes lend it a distinct, if understated, charm that’s slowly edging toward something more luxe. Stroll through its neighborhoods—if you’re not driving, that is—and you’ll likely hear Tagalog or Chinese. More likely, you’ll hear these languages at Serramonte Mall or Target since Daly City’s car-centric layout means walking isn’t the norm for errands.
For many San Franciscans, Daly City represents an escape—whether you’re passing through to get to the airport, heading south to work on the Peninsula, or driving over to Pacifica. More often, though, it’s a destination for suburban conveniences: a place to shop for life’s essentials or indulge in a big-box retail fix. Unlike San Francisco, where opening chain stores or formula retail requires Herculean permitting efforts, Daly City welcomes suburban conveniences with open arms. Sprawling parking lots, car dealerships, and major retailers dominate the landscape. Within a 10-minute drive, you’ll find three Home Depots, three Targets, and lines of cars waiting for In-N-Out, Chick-fil-A, and Krispy Kreme. It’s suburban living, with easy access via Mission, Alemany, Skyline (from the Zoo), Sunset Boulevard, or I-280.
And, in a fitting nod to San Francisco’s tendency to ban what’s common elsewhere, Daly City shoulders another burden for its northern neighbor: burials. In 1901, San Francisco banned burials within its city limits, leaving Colma—Daly City’s neighbor—to house the City’s dead. Today, Colma’s sprawling cemeteries stretch along the backside of the San Bruno Mountains, conveniently under SFO’s outbound flight paths, offering a quiet contrast to Daly City’s bustling retail hubs.
The older sections of Daly City, where homes date from the 1930s to the 1970s, feel like a continuation of San Francisco’s Crocker Amazon neighborhood (District 10). Cross the invisible border, and the shift is subtle but telling: street signs transition from black-and-white to blue-and-white, and even the typeface changes slightly. Daly City’s practical, understated character continues to evolve as rising home prices encourage many buyers to skip San Francisco altogether, redefining the area as more than just the City’s suburban extension.