Peninsula

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 a 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. Walk through its neighborhoods, and you’ll likely hear Tagalog or Chinese, reflecting the diverse communities that have made Daly City their home — actually, you’ll hear that at Target or at Serramonte Mall as you wouldn’t be walking as you pretty much have to drive to get most places.

For many San Franciscans, Daly City represents an escape — either passing through it to get to the airport, passing through it to get to work on the Peninsula, passing through it to get to Pacifica or, more likely, a bit of convenience that suburbs offer — a place to shop for life’s essentials or indulge in a big-box retail fix. Unlike San Francisco, where chains and formula retail require moving heaven and earth for permit approval, Daly City embraces suburban conveniences, which explains the sprawling parking lots, car dealerships, and major retailers surrounding those parking lots. With three Home Depots and three Targets within 10-minutes of each other, and chains like In-N-Out, Chick-fil-A, and Krispy Kreme drawing lines of cars, Daly City serves as a hub of convenience. It’s easily accessed by heading south on Mission, Alemany, Skyline (from the Zoo), Sunset Boulevard, or via I-280.

And, fittingly, Daly City plays a role in San Francisco’s predilection to ban things common everywhere else. In addition to chain stores, San Francisco banned burials within its city limits in 1901, leaving nearby Colma—Daly City’s neighbor—as the resting place for many of the departed with cemeteries stretching up and down the backside of the San Bruno Mountains (also conveniently under SFO’s flight path out).

The older sections of Daly City where homes were built anywhere from the 1930s to 1970s, can be seen as a continuation of the Crocker Amazon neighborhood (District 10). Crossing the invisible border, the street signs shift from black-and-white to blue-and-white, and even the typeface changes slightly. Daly City’s practical, understated character is also evolving as rising home prices push many buyers to skip San Francisco entirely and settle here instead, redefining the area as more than just San Francisco’s suburban extension.