Why San Franciscans Should Appreciate Daly City

Image of a map highlighting Daly City

San Franciscans have made a habit of shitting on Daly City that I’ve never quite understood. Our arguably foggier neighbor to the south is indistinguishable from many of the residential neighborhoods in San Francisco. So, why all the hate for Fog Town?

Daly City is fucking safe. Like hella safe. Daly City is so fuckin’ safe that it has ranked in the top 100 safest places in California.

While Daly City lacks the fame that San Francisco rightly garners, it is without question a more livable city in terms of quality of life. When you go to a grocery store in Daly City, you’re not greeted by an armed guard or inconvenienced by anti-theft glass that requires you to stand around for 10 minutes before you’re finally able to get a single stick of fucking deodorant. This is a luxury I wasn’t aware was a luxury until moving to San Francisco. While Oakland had armed guards at some of the corporate chain stores, they weren’t at every single one. I saw an armed guard at Jamba Juice in San Francisco. No one likes smoothies that fucking much. Calm down.

Daly City is fucking gorgeous, and there are multiple areas in Daly City where you can enjoy views of the San Francisco Skyline, the Golden Gate Bridge, and the Pacific Ocean. Why does no one talk about that?

In Daly City, you can enjoy shitty smoothies without being reminded that because you live in America you’re always at risk of an impending shoot out that you didn’t sign up for with anything but your birth certificate and a bout of bad luck. Daly City is fucking safe. Like hella safe. Daly City is so fuckin’ safe that it has ranked in the top 100 safest places in California. I know some people are going to be mad about that and tell me that East Daly City has gangs (we’re not in the fucking nineties anymore) or that they once saw a fistfight at the Jack In the Box on Mission Street. It doesn’t change the fact that Daly City is among California’s safest areas. Which is a good thing.

Another thing I never hear when people discuss Daly City is beauty. Daly City is fucking gorgeous, and there are multiple areas in Daly City where you can enjoy views of the San Francisco Skyline, the Golden Gate Bridge, and the Pacific Ocean. Why does no one talk about that? A lot of people in San Francisco will praise neighborhoods like the Richmond or Sunset because of their quiet, quasi-suburban nature, but then turn around and shit on Daly City. Daly City is basically if the Richmond and Sunset banded together and got their own fucking mall. That mall, like all malls, is a giant piece of shit, but you know what I mean. Most people have a distaste for Daly City simply because it’s technically not SF.

And this isn’t just about beauty or its crime rate relative to San Francisco, Daly City has things that are unique and help make it a charming place to be. Like the Boulevard Cafe. There’s something nice about its big windows and its combination of upscale restaurant and old school diner feel. Everyone there feels like they know each other and the staff is nice. I know things like that seem boring or typical, but life for the past couple years have been anything but typical. And despite what you may think. restaurants, especially ones that aren’t corporate, are dying. Being able to enjoy a meal and wash it down with a cup of coffee while watching cars zip in and out of the ever-present fog is genuinely comforting.

I could go on and on praising Daly City, but it still doesn’t answer my question of why is it so disliked among the urbanites to the north?

Guess we’ll never know, but maybe it’s a good thing. San Francisco is great, but a break from the chaos is nice every once in awhile, and Daly City is a break from the chaos without being a break from the beauty.

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