San Mateo County, California
City GuideSan Mateo County's northernmost city, pressed against San Francisco's southern edge — hillside homes, coastal fog, a seven-mile shoreline, and BART and freeway connections that put the whole Bay Area within reach.
Illustrative image — a general view of the area, not a photograph of any specific property
About the city
Daly City is where San Francisco ends and the Peninsula begins. It is dense, hilly and practical — freeways on the edges, BART through the middle, neighborhoods stacked up the slopes with views that surprise people who have only seen the city from the highway.
This page is general city information, written for anyone considering a move to Daly City or curious about the area around 102 Lycett Circle. It contains no MLS data and makes no representation about the characteristics of current or future residents.
Distances, routes, services and amenities are described in general terms and change over time. Confirm school assignments with the district, transit schedules with the agency, and business or facility details with the operator. Nothing here is a promise about any property's value, condition or future.
Daly City covers about 7.7 square miles at the northern tip of San Mateo County, bordered by San Francisco, Brisbane, South San Francisco, Colma and Pacifica. It was incorporated in 1911 — by a vote of 138 to 136 — and named for local landowner John Donald Daly. The 2020 census counted 104,901 residents, making it one of the Peninsula's largest cities.
Interstate 280, U.S. 101, Highway 1 and El Camino Real all run through or beside the city, so downtown San Francisco is roughly ten miles north, San Francisco International Airport about fifteen minutes away, and the South Bay an easy ride down 280. Two BART stations connect Daly City to San Francisco, the East Bay and the airport, with SamTrans and Muni filling in local routes.
The city is really a collection of distinct neighborhoods: Westlake, St. Francis Heights, Serramonte, Top of the Hill, Hillside, Crocker, Southern Hills and Bayshore. Westlake is the famous one — among the earliest planned large-tract suburbs in the country, and the inspiration for Malvina Reynolds' 1962 song "Little Boxes." Crocker and Southern Hills share a street grid and character with San Francisco's Crocker-Amazon and Visitacion Valley.
Serramonte Center and Westlake Shopping Center are the two anchors, with Skyline Plaza and the commercial strips along Mission Street, Gellert Boulevard and Hickey Boulevard filling in the rest. Daly City is known across the Bay Area for its Asian American food culture — Filipino, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese and Japanese restaurants, bakeries and markets — and its shopping centers host farmers markets and community events.
About seven miles of coastline run along the city's western edge, publicly accessible from Thornton Beach to Mussel Rock Park. San Bruno Mountain State Park adds more than 2,000 acres of ridge and trail immediately to the east, and the city's own parks — Gellert, Westlake, Marchbank, Palisades, Northridge and a long list of neighborhood tot lots — cover everything in between.
Three elementary districts serve the city — Brisbane, Bayshore and Jefferson Elementary — while Jefferson Union High School District serves most grade 9–12 students in Daly City as well as Brisbane, Bayshore, Colma and parts of San Bruno and Pacifica. The South San Francisco Unified School District serves residents in the Serramonte area. Six colleges and universities sit within ten miles, including San Francisco State University and UCSF.
Daly City's fog is a local institution, and it is what keeps summer temperatures mild: average highs near 68°F, winter lows around 46°F, and roughly 22 inches of rain a year. It is a layer-and-light-jacket climate rather than a hot one, and it also makes for the city's best photographs.
Daly City's food and retail landscape is unusually varied for a city its size: Filipino, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese and Japanese markets, bakeries and restaurants are part of everyday life, alongside neighborhood festivals. The city runs several public libraries, a history museum in its original library building, a recreation department with classes and youth sports for all ages, and the Cow Palace arena on its northern edge.
AHMC Seton Medical Center is the city's hospital, with clinics and medical offices along Hickey Boulevard and Mission Street. City Hall, the police and fire departments and the recreation department are all centrally located, and the city runs youth sports, senior services, classes and community events throughout the year.
Buyers look to Daly City for the same reasons they always have: San Francisco next door, BART and freeways at hand, a cool coastal climate, and a housing stock of single-family homes on real lots. It sits at the gateway to the Peninsula — and it works like it.
"Daly City's scenic seven-mile coast is accessible to the public."— City of Daly City
At a glance
This page provides general city information only. It is not an advertisement or solicitation for any specific property, it contains no MLS data, and it makes no representation about the characteristics of current or future residents. Equal Housing Opportunity.
Next step
Every neighborhood here behaves differently — elevation, fog, freeway noise, lot size, school assignment. Rebecca White works this market daily and is happy to walk you through the differences, including what is coming to market at 102 Lycett Circle.
San Francisco and Peninsula residential specialist, representing the owner of 102 Lycett Circle.
