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daly city neighborhood guide · property nerds® at compass
Westlake Palisades & the Skyline Coast, Daly City Homes for sale, recent sales and a Property Nerd’s guide
About 2,000 single-family homes on the bluff-top terraces west of Skyline Boulevard, from Thornton State Beach to Mussel Rock, built mostly in the 1950s and early 1960s inside the state Coastal Zone.
Westlake Palisades & the Skyline Coast by the numbers
westlake palisades & the skyline coast by the numbers · live from the mls
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Calculated in your browser from MLS data for Westlake Palisades & the Skyline Coast (approximate outline traced from the boundary streets). Sales are single-family homes, townhomes and condos.
homes in westlake palisades & the skyline coast · live from the mls
Homes for sale, for rent and recently sold in Westlake Palisades & the Skyline Coast
Every active listing, rental and closed sale in Westlake Palisades & the Skyline Coast from the MLS, updated automatically, with a map of the neighborhood outline.
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Listings come from MLSListings and other MLSs through IDX and show their listing brokerage; confirm details with the listing agent. The map outline is the neighborhood boundary used by our listing search (Westlake Palisades & the Skyline Coast (approximate outline traced from the boundary streets)); it may not match every local definition.
the story
How Westlake Palisades & the Skyline Coast came to be
This is the part of Daly City that sits on the sea cliffs. The city's planning maps call it the Skyline area: every block west of Skyline Boulevard, from the Olympic Club south to the Pacifica line. Listing records call the Palisades Drive blocks Westlake Palisades, and the MLS files the whole strip under Westlake. The city's 1984 Local Coastal Program credits Henry Doelger with building on the former dunes and ranch land here after World War II and describes the coastal terraces as 'predominantly single-family homes built in the 1950's and early 1960's'. Census estimates for the tract that matches the area agree: about 59% of homes from the 1950s and about 32% from the 1960s.
The same coastal program traces the routes that once ran below the bluffs: a carriage tunnel through Mussel Rock in 1874, the Ocean Shore Railway (built 1905 to 1907, abandoned 1920) and a coastal stretch of State Highway 1 that opened in 1936 and was abandoned in 1957. It also notes that the San Andreas fault trace runs from the city's southwest corner and that the March 22, 1957 earthquake was centered at Mussel Rock. Today the state's Alquist-Priolo fault zone covers the south end of the neighborhood.
The bluffs move, and the record is public. The 1984 coastal program counts 12 homes removed along Westline Drive and four on Lynvale Court after landsliding, and in 2000 another 21 Westline Drive homes were declared unsuitable for occupancy and later removed (city General Plan; a 2025 local news report says the city has no plans to remove more). USGS documented landslides on the bluff west of Northridge Drive, just south of Avalon Canyon, on December 20, 2003 and January 1, 2007, with debris reaching the ocean. Nine parcels on Westline Drive and several dozen other bluff parcels now carry the city's Open Space (Resource Protection) zoning.
streets and homes
The streets and the houses
County parcel records count about 2,020 single-family parcels here and no condominium or apartment parcels, so nearly every sale is a detached house. Lots match Westlake's: measured from the parcel map, the median is about 3,400 square feet and the middle half fall between about 3,300 and 3,730. About 65 parcels are recorded as vacant land, many of them on the bluff edge.
Skyline Drive is the long one, about 700 houses on a frontage street that runs beside Skyline Boulevard for most of the strip. North of Westmoor Avenue, Palisades Drive loops along the bluff with short streets between it and Skyline Drive (Westridge, Seacliff, Crestview, Fernwood and Montclair Avenues, plus Roslyn and Hillview Courts), and Avalon and Morningside Drives run south to Westmoor Avenue. South of Westmoor come Northridge Drive, Carmel, Highland, Eaton and Menlo Avenues, Wavecrest and Oceanside Drives. The south end, near Mussel Rock, is Longview, Montebello and Clearview Drives, Rockford and Belcrest Avenues and Westline Drive. North of John Daly Boulevard there are no houses, just Olympic Way and the road down to Thornton State Beach.
Most lots are zoned R1, but about 375 parcels on the bluff side (on Skyline Dr, Palisades Dr, Westmoor Ave, Oceanside Dr, Northridge Dr, Longview Dr, Westline Dr, Seaview Dr, Menlo Ave and Wavecrest Dr) carry R1-RP, the city's single-family zoning with a Resource Protection overlay. The whole strip is in the state Coastal Zone; the 1984 coastal program gave the city permit authority there once the Coastal Commission approved it, and its policies barred rebuilding on lots where homes were removed for land failure unless engineering, soils and geology data support it.
streets in westlake palisades & the skyline coast
- Skyline Dr
- Palisades Dr
- Avalon Dr
- Morningside Dr
- Westmoor Ave
- Westridge Ave
- Seacliff Ave
- Crestview Ave
- Fernwood Ave
- Montclair Ave
- Northridge Dr
- Carmel Ave
- Highland Ave
- Eaton Ave
- Menlo Ave
- Wavecrest Dr
- Oceanside Dr
- Seaview Dr
- Upland Ave
- Longview Dr
- Montebello Dr
- Clearview Dr
- Rockford Ave
- Belcrest Ave
- Westline Dr
- Seacrest Ct
- Beachside Ct
- Roslyn Ct
- Hillview Ct
- Lynvale Ct
- Olympic Way
- Thornton Beach Rd
parks and places
Parks, shops and landmarks near Westlake Palisades & the Skyline Coast
- landmark
Thornton State Beach
State land below the north end of the bluffs, reached by Thornton Beach Road from John Daly Boulevard across Skyline. When checked in October 2026, State Parks said the beach is not available to the general public and there is no beach access, with a viewing platform just west of the parking lot.
- park
Mussel Rock Park
The city's open-space park on the bluffs at the south end; public maps show it as a long strip along the cliff edge, about 0.4 mile straight-line from the middle of the neighborhood.
- park
Palisades, Northridge and Longview parks
Small city parks on Palisades Drive near Westridge Avenue, on Northridge Drive, and on Longview Drive at the south end (public maps).
- shopping
St. Francis Square, Serramonte Center and Westlake Shopping Center
St. Francis Square is about 0.8 mile straight-line east of the middle across Skyline Boulevard, Serramonte Center about 1.3 miles and Westlake Shopping Center about 1.5 miles (about 0.9 mile from the Palisades blocks).
- landmark
Mussel Rock
The headland at the south end. The city's 1984 coastal program says the San Andreas fault trace runs from the city's southwest corner here and that the March 22, 1957 earthquake was centered at Mussel Rock.
schools and commute
School districts and getting around
School districts
Census school-district maps put the Skyline coast in the Jefferson Elementary School District and the Jefferson Union High School District. Franklin Delano Roosevelt Elementary (1200 Skyline Dr, K-8) is inside the area at the south end. Just across Skyline Boulevard are Westmoor High (131 Westmoor Ave), Fernando Rivera Intermediate (1255 Southgate Ave) and Thomas Edison Elementary (1267 Southgate Ave), and Marjorie H. Tobias Elementary (725 Southgate Ave) is on the Westlake side near Westridge Avenue. Attendance boundaries change, so check the exact address with each district.
Getting around
- Public transit maps show SamTrans 110 (Daly City BART - Linda Mar) running along John Daly Boulevard, Skyline Boulevard, Skyline Drive, Westridge Avenue, Longview Drive and Belcrest Avenue, and SamTrans 112 (Colma BART - Linda Mar) serving the south end on Skyline Drive, Gateway Drive and Crenshaw Drive. Check SamTrans for current routes.
- Daly City BART is about 2.3 miles straight-line from the middle and about 1.8 miles from the Palisades blocks; Colma BART is about 1.5 miles from the middle.
- Skyline Boulevard (SR 35) runs the full length of the east edge, north into San Francisco; Highway 1 (Cabrillo Highway) leaves from the south end toward Pacifica. I-280 is about 1.2 miles straight-line east of the middle.
- State Parks lists a Bay Area Ridge Trail segment starting near Skyline Boulevard and John Daly Boulevard. The 1984 coastal program's policies bar access to the cliff faces except on developed trails.
nerd notes
Buying or selling in Westlake Palisades & the Skyline Coast: what we check
Buying here
- Check the fault zone. About 390 single-family addresses at the south end (Skyline Dr south of Oceanside Dr, Longview Dr, Montebello Dr, Clearview Dr, Rockford Ave, Belcrest Ave and Westline Dr) are inside the state's Alquist-Priolo Earthquake Fault Zone for the San Andreas fault. Sellers must disclose it, and new structures for human occupancy need a geologic investigation by a licensed geologist and can't sit over a fault trace (generally a 50-foot setback). Check the parcel.
- Check the landslide zone and the bluff history. About 320 single-family addresses (mainly Skyline Dr, Longview Dr, Belcrest Ave, Rockford Ave, Montebello Dr, Clearview Dr, Westline Dr, Seacrest Ct, Beachside Ct, Westmoor Ave and Lynvale Ct) are in a mapped earthquake-induced landslide zone. Ask for any geotechnical reports, retaining-wall and drainage permits, and the city's file on the street.
- Plan for coastal review. Every block is in the state Coastal Zone, about 375 bluff-side parcels carry R1-RP zoning, and a county map layer puts many bluff-side lots in the Coastal Commission's appeal area. Additions, decks, retaining walls, grading and drainage changes can need a coastal development permit and extra review, so talk to Daly City Planning before you design.
- Buying a vacant bluff lot is its own project: the 1984 coastal program barred rebuilding where homes were removed for land failure unless engineering, soils and geology data support it, and some of those lots are now zoned Open Space (Resource Protection). Confirm buildability with the city first.
- CAL FIRE's 2025 local map puts most of the area (about 1,240 of roughly 2,010 single-family addresses) in a Moderate fire hazard severity zone, with no High or Very High zones. No home is in a FEMA flood zone; the coastal wave zone is on the beach below. Check the address.
Selling here
- Order the natural hazard disclosure first. Buyers here ask about the fault zone, the landslide zone, the Coastal Zone and the fire zone, and a clear answer up front keeps escrow calm.
- Gather the paperwork that matters on a bluff: geotechnical reports, drainage and retaining-wall permits, and any city correspondence about the slope.
- Show what the lot actually faces with photos and a site plan rather than adjectives; outlooks vary a lot from the Skyline Drive frontage to the bluff edge.
- Note the SamTrans 110 and 112 stops and the distance to Skyline Boulevard and Highway 1; for many buyers the commute is the question.
nerd noteCommissions are always negotiable, and we offer bundled services, so ask us what's included.
faq
Westlake Palisades & the Skyline Coast questions, answered
Is Westlake Palisades part of Westlake?
In the MLS, yes: the strip is filed under the Westlake area. The city treats it as its own Skyline planning area, and listing records use Westlake Palisades for the Palisades Drive blocks. This guide covers everything west of Skyline Boulevard and Highway 1.
Is the San Andreas fault really under the neighborhood?
Its zone covers the south end. The state's Alquist-Priolo fault zone includes about 390 houses around Longview Dr, Montebello Dr, Clearview Dr, Rockford Ave, Belcrest Ave and Westline Dr, and the city's 1984 coastal program says the fault trace runs from the city's southwest corner at Mussel Rock.
Can you get down to Thornton State Beach?
Not as of October 2026. State Parks says the beach is not available to the general public and there is no beach access; there is a viewing platform by the parking lot at the end of Thornton Beach Road.
Does a remodel need a coastal permit?
Possibly. The whole area is in the Coastal Zone, and the city issues coastal development permits under its coastal program; the answer depends on the project and how close it is to the bluff edge. Ask the city's Planning Division early.
Which MLS area matches this guide?
The MLS area 'Westlake', which it shares with our Westlake guide east of Skyline Boulevard, and the small area 'Westridge' if it refers to Westridge Avenue here.
talk to a property nerd
Thinking about Westlake Palisades & the Skyline Coast? Let's run your numbers.
Eric, Janelle and the Boyenga Team have sold more than 2,520 Silicon Valley homes, $2.6+ billion in all, since 1996. Get a value, a plan, or a straight answer about a street.
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