One of Daly City's greatest assets is its affordably priced and conveniently located quality housing. Many homes have spectacular views of the Pacific Ocean, the San Francisco Bay or some of the most picturesque golf courses in the country--the Olympic Club-Lakeside, the San Francisco Golf Club and Lake Merced Golf and Country Club.

Daly City has approximately 31,600 residential housing units according to the California Department of Finance. Of these units, slightly over 50% are single-family detached homes.  according to the California Association of Realtors, the median home sale price in Daly City has averaged approximately $585,000 over the last six months of 2004.  This is competitively lower than the median sales prices of $660,000 and $677,300 reported for San Mateo And San Francisco counties respectively over the same period.

According to public records, Daly City has approximately 6,900 apartment units that are studios, one-bedroom or two-bedrooms.  The estimated total stock of Daly City apartment units is less than 8,000, including units that are three-plus bedrooms.  Over the last six months in 2004, asking rents have generally ranged from $850 to $1,250 per month for one-bedroom units and from $1,100 to $1,700 per month for most two-bedroom units.

Daly City has also been nationally recognized for promoting the safety of its existing housing supply through its award winning Project Homesafe and its progressive second-unit/bonus housing ordinance. The ordinance encourages the legalization of owner-occupied homes with in-law/secondary units. Over 2,000 Project Homesafe permits have been issued since the beginning of the program.

The City also sponsors a housing rehabilitation loan program through its Department of Economic & Community Development. Since 1983, 430 loans/grants averaging $10,000 have been granted for home repairs and modifications.

• Air Travel: The San Francisco International Airport (SFO) is located about 9 miles to the south or a 15-minute ride from the Daly City BART station. SFO has 58 passenger carriers. The Oakland International Airport (OAK) is located about 26 miles to the east and has 12 passenger carriers. OAK is about 34 minutes from Daly City by motor vehicle (non-commute hours) or about 60 minutes by BART and BART Shuttle.

• Motor Vehicle Travel: Two major freeways serving Daly City are U.S. Highway 101 and Interstate 280. Interstate 280 essentially bisects Daly City geographically as well as in terms of the areas with the highest commercial and residential density.  Interstate 280 is less congested than U.S. 101 and therefore offers a preferred route into San Francisco (and locations further north and east) as well as southern peninsula locations. 

• Public Transportation:  As stated for “air travel”, Daly City is served by the Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART) system, which provides access throughout the East Bay, San Francisco and the San Francisco International Airport.  BART also has an intermodal station at Millbrae that allows BART riders to access Cal Train that offers connections with San Jose and beyond.  Daly City has two BART stations. The San Francisco Municipal Railway (MUNI) and the San Mateo County Transit District (samTrans) also serve Daly City.  Bus service is provided throughout the City and converges at the Daly City BART stations and at the top of Mission Street (“Top-of-the-Hill”) at John Daly Boulevard.

Daly City offers a wide variety of recreational activities. Daly City's scenic seven-mile coast is accessible to the public. San Bruno Mountain, with 2,063 acres of diverse park land, offers spectacular views of the entire Bay Area and the Pacific Ocean. Lake Merced Golf and Country Club is located within Daly City and the Olympic Club-Lakeside and the San Francisco Golf Club are adjacent to Daly City's northern boundary. The City's Parks and Recreation Department offers more than 2,000 classes in activities that include ballroom dancing, quilting, first aid, and various intramural sports. Over 15,000 adults participate in these classes and more than 260 teams compete in the youth sport leagues. Daly City's Public schools fall within certain districts that have local district administrators and elected school boards.

There are three elementary (grades K-8) school districts serving Daly City: Brisbane, Bayshore, and Jefferson Elementary. Jefferson Union High School District, the largest school district, serves most of Daly City's grade 9-12 students, as well as Brisbane, Bayshore, Colma, and portions of San Bruno and the City of Pacifica. The South San Francisco Unified School District also serves residents in the Serramonte area of Daly City.

There are also several private and parochial schools accessible and convenient to Daly City residents beginning with preschool through graduate school.

Six colleges or universities are located within a ten mile radius of Daly City and an additional twelve colleges or universities are located within a fifty mile radius, including U.C. Berkeley, Stanford, San Francisco State University, and U.C. San Francisco.

• Pacific Plaza: A three-phase mixed-use development composed of approximately 663,000 s.f. office and retail space, a 20-screen (3,950 seat) cinema, and a hotel.  Located next to the Daly City BART station, this project is expected to generate over 3,000 new jobs when completed.  Currently, the first two phases of this award-winning mixed-use project have been completed.  Phase I features a 350,000 square foot, nine-story Class A, office building. Phase II features a twenty-screen Century Theatres cinema complex and about 23,000 square feet of street-level retail near the movie theatre complex.  This project has been a marketing success with rapid leasing of the office space and the movie theatre achieving among the highest grossing sales of Bay Area theaters.  Phase III is planned for development of 270,000 s.f. of Class A office space and Phase IV is planned for a ten-story full-service hotel.

• Landmark: This is a two-phase office, retail and residential development.  The first phase will consist of approximately 17,000 s.f. of retail space along Mission Street and 95 residential condominiums.  At least 15% of the residential units will be provided as affordable housing units.  The first phase will also include 395 off-street parking spaces to serve employees, customers, residents, and visitors of the War Memorial Community Center.  A portion of the parking spaces will be available for the second phase of the project.  The second phase is proposed for approximately 76,000 s.f. of office and retail space when supported by the market.  The Landmark project is anticipated to commence construction in the spring of 2005.

• Serramonte Corporate Center: Located at Hickey Boulevard and Interstate 280, this 130,000 s.f. medical building is the new home of Kaiser Permanente.  The building was completed in the fall of 2003 and has medical office and clinics.

• Westlake and Serramonte Shopping Centers: Both of these regional shopping centers undertook major renovation/expansion programs.  Westlake, undergoing a major redesign and refurbishment program, is negotiating with several national tenants with the focus on expanding the market attraction and neighborhood services.  Serramonte Shopping Center has undergone a face-lift with attractive interior improvements.