City, San Mateo County
© McCormack's Guides
Zip Codes: 94013, 94014, 94015, 94016, 94017
San Mateo
County's most populous city, 106,361 residents. Plain-Jane reputation but many
charms. Pacific or Bay views from many streets. Median age of residents is 35.
Kids under 18 account for 22 percent of inhabitants; over 55 years, 21 percent.
Another town with graying demographics. www.mccormacks.com
Served by
several elementary districts and one high school district that covers other
towns. Compared against other California public schools, Jefferson, the largest
elementary district, scores generally in the 30th to 80th percentile. Bonds
have been passed to renovate almost all the schools. See Schools.
Three
homicides each in 2005 and 2004, zero in 2003, two in 2002, five in 2001, one
in 2000, seven in 1999. In previous years six, four, zero, three, one, seven,
two, four, five, three, zero, six and four, reports the FBI. See Crime.
Click for regional or detailed map
One of the best commutes in the Bay
Area. Daly City borders San
Francisco, the job center for many of its residents, and is close to San
Francisco Airport and the bio-tech firms in South San Francisco.
The town
is served by two freeways (Highway 101 and Interstate 280), several parkways
(Guadalupe Canyon and Skyline Boulevard), SamTrans buses to downtown San
Francisco and other parts of San Mateo County, and by BART. BART has one
station in town and one just outside of town. Both are short drives by bus or
car or even walks for many Daly City residents.
In 2003,
BART was extended to the airport; some airport workers and residents will find
this helpful. The Daly City BART station has revived its neighborhood. It has
shops and restaurants, a movie house with 20 screens and new housing. BART is
trying to get other towns to do something similar with their stations. Caltrain
station in adjoining town of South San Francisco; line goes to downtown San
Francisco and to Silicon Valley. www.mccormacks.com
A city of
hills and dales, Daly City almost spans the peninsula, with the massive San
Bruno Mountain protruding into its middle. Homes open to the Pacific winds will
catch the cold summer fogs. Daly City in July can be jacket weather. Homes
sheltered behind hills will escape the fog or get less of it.
In some
spots, Daly City has its rundown homes. But overall there is much here that
pleases: homes and yards well maintained, paint applied, inviting
neighborhoods.
Old,
established cities usually do very well by recreation and Daly City is no
exception. Soccer, baseball, basketball, over 260 youth sports teams, exercise
and enrichment classes, golf courses, community centers and more. Thirteen
parks, two swimming pools, movie theaters, large state park on the beach. San
Francisco and all its delights are within a short drive or train or bus ride.
Daly City
got much of its housing right after World War II when the county government,
lax in planning controls, politically ruled much of the farmland in North San
Mateo County.
During the
Depression, home construction had been negligible. After the War, millions of
veterans were guaranteed home loans — the G.I. Bill. An enormous housing
boom was about to begin, and few people realized this. www.mccormacks.com
Henry
Doelger, and not too far behind him, the Gellert brothers, Carl and Fred, were
exceptions. They had made fortunes building homes in the Sunset District of San
Francisco, they knew the political game, they knew their market.
Doelger
purchased 1,350 acres on the west side, just over the San Francisco border, and
over the next 20 years or so built the Westlake subdivision. The Gellerts
purchased 1,000 acres south of Westlake and built and built. Others came after.
In many instances Doelger and the
Gellerts and others followed the typical Sunset design: one-car garage inside
the house, living room with large picture window directly above the garage,
kitchen to the rear of the living room, two bedrooms, one bath (the remodelings
and additions would come later). One tree out front. A typical price then:
$16,000. Now these homes sell for over $500,000.
As each
section was built, it was annexed to Daly City, which supplied the municipal
services: police, fire, recreation, road maintenance, etc.
Many were
the complaints, especially from the city residents, who were picking up the
costs of these services, but for a long while the developers had a free
hand. They built monotonously: row
upon row of homes, almost all rectangular boxes and, except for a little gingerbread
often indistinguishable from one another, usually all the same distance from
the street. www.mccormacks.com
Malvina Reynolds wrote a song deriding
the little houses on the hillside. Some called Doelger’s streets, The White
Cliffs of Doelger. To this day, Daly City suffers from its looks. It is a city
of plain housing, and some homebuyers probably cross it off their list because
of its plainness.
But there
is another perspective: Doelger and his colleagues built to a market
discipline. If they didn’t, the homes would not have sold. They may be small
and plain but they have features that translate into homeowner appeal.
Many
homes, back yards and streets command spectacular views of the Bay and the
Pacific. One neighborhood directly overlooks the Pacific.
The
result: many neighborhoods have retained the affection of their owners. You can
see it in the level of care bestowed on yards and homes.
The state
in 2008 counted 31,778 housing units: 16,136 single detached homes, 4,517
single attached, 10,455 multiples, 670 mobile or modular homes. www.mccormacks.com
As the postwar prosperity caught on,
home sizes increased. For the larger units, often laid out row upon row, take a
look at the southern portion of the city, along Callan Drive. Another spot: the
neighborhood surrounding Seton Medical Center (the city’s largest employer). For
new, modern housing, with great views, drive to the top of Crocker Avenue.
For the
older, often cheaper housing, look around the BART station and nearby streets.
Daly City has been around for a while, as the street names attest. Cavour,
Bismarck, Moltke and Garibaldi celebrate statesmen and generals of pre-World
War I.
Regarding
apartments, many old, plain and boxy; in the rear, large windows or balconies
for the views. For the modern designs, look near the BART station.
Daly City
has always been a congenial address for newcomers, including immigrants. John
Daly, who gave the city its name, hailed from Boston and made it to the West as
a boy by crossing the Isthmus of Panama. The latest arrivals are Filipinos and
people of Asian descent. Schools
and the city are making efforts to help everyone get along. Annual Gateway
Festival celebrates all cultures. There's also a Festa Italiana.
About 25
parks. Swim center. Four community or seniors centers. Performing arts center.
Two swimming pools (one of them at Jefferson High School). City hall runs many
recreation and activities for all ages; see city catalogue on web site. Pacific
beach park (run by state). www.mccormacks.com
Although
close to downtown San Francisco and its shops, Daly City has come a long way in
its shopping choices and the city goes out of its way to promote and nourish
small businesses. The Westlake neighborhood recently spruced up its shopping
section. Restaurants and stores are plentiful. The town has a large mall,
Serramonte, and neighboring Colma also has large stores. Daly City is talking
up office and business opportunities.
Chamber of commerce (650) 755-3900.
• Some
neighborhoods get noise from planes from San Francisco International. City hall
has information.
• Some
homes with lovely views of the ocean fell into the ocean when rain and waves
eroded the bluffs. Ask questions.
• Daly
City surrounds a small island of unincorporated land, called Broadmoor. Some of
its street names delineate its age: Midway, MacArthur, Nimitz, the heroes and
battles of World War II. Rare for an unincorporated village, Broadmoor has its
own police department.
• Daly
City, especially on its west side, taps into the benefits of San Francisco,
which has three golf courses (one public) sitting on the Daly City border. Also
closeby, a large shore park, the San Francisco zoo and San Francisco State University,
which through its extension program offers many classes to the public. For
shopping, the Stonestown Galleria (Nordstrom, Macys). Another golf course in
Colma. www.mccormacks.com
• Opened
in 2007, Daiso, a large store specializing in Asian goods. Serramonte mall.
• For
years, a store advertised itself as Top of the Hill Daly City and made the
location famous throughout the Bay Area. Top of the hill is at the intersection
of Mission Street and John Daly Boulevard. BART station, library and school
located nearby. City is spending to upgrade the neighborhood. Among
improvements, a library to replace existing structure.
• Daly City,
stretching from the ocean almost to the Bay, has mini climates that are quite
noticeable. The Pacific neighborhoods catch a lot of fog in the summer. Also
blustery winds. Moving toward the Bay and depending on where the hills come in,
the fog shows less of itself. Some people love the fog, some hate it. City
newsletter is called the Fog Cutter.
• Windy
afternoon in 2006. Demolition crew was tearing down an old market with a
30-foot-high wall. East Bay woman pulled to the curb to look at map. Wall collapsed
and killed her.
• The Cow
Palace, on the east side of town, used to be the top convention center for San
Francisco. Eclipsed by the Moscone Center, it still attracts many entertaining
events, for example, dog, truck and fishing-hunting shows. www.mccormacks.com
City web
site: www.dalycity.org
