Daly City city feature
About this landmark
One of America's earliest shopping malls opened in 1951
Westlake Shopping Center is located in Daly City, San Mateo County, bounded by John Daly Boulevard (north), Park Plaza Drive (east), Southgate Avenue (south), and Lake Merced Boulevard (west), at coordinates 37°41′52″N 122°28′56″W. The center occupies 40 acres with 613,006 square feet of floor area. It is described as one of America's earliest shopping malls and the first community shopping center in Bay Area.
From sand dunes to suburban hub
Developer Henry Doelger purchased 600 acres of sand dunes and cabbage patches after World War II, land that was annexed to Daly City in 1948. Over the following decade, Doelger doubled his land purchases and, with other builders, constructed thousands of new homes in the Westlake and St. Francis Heights subdivisions. Westlake was conceived as a planned residential community—a "city within a city"—with the shopping center as its central commercial hub, anchoring the entire residential development.
Westlake Shopping Center broke ground in 1948, held a formal groundbreaking ceremony in March 1949, and opened April 20, 1951. It was originally named the Westlake Town and Country Center; its first operating store, the Town & Country Food Market, opened April 26, 1951. The center occupied 40 acres with 613,006 square feet of floor area. After Doelger sold the center in 1965, it was purchased by Westlake Development Company in 1972 and acquired by Kimco Realty Corporation on October 22, 2002, its current owner.
A retail and community gathering place
The center is currently operating with 98 stores and 1,800 parking spaces. Anchor tenants include Burlington Coat Factory, Home Depot, Ross Stores, Safeway, Target, and Walgreens. The shopping center continues to serve the Westlake residential neighborhood and surrounding communities as a regional commercial anchor. When it opened in 1951, the center represented an innovative suburban retail model designed entirely around automobile access and ample parking, reflecting the planning ideals and consumer expectations of the mid-twentieth century.
The Westlake neighborhood carries distinctive planning history. Daly City's 2030 General Plan notes that the tract-built character currently carries no side-yard setback requirement under zoning, and calls for amendments to better reflect "the predominant neighborhood character established when the neighborhood was constructed." Early Westlake homes sat on lots of approximately 2,500 square feet. The monostylistic architecture of the original tract became cultural shorthand; whether it inspired the 1962 folk song "Little Boxes" remains disputed among sources.
Insurance connection: Auto insurance requirements
California law sets minimum liability limits of $30,000 for death or injury of one person and $15,000 for property damage. Insurers must offer uninsured motorist bodily injury coverage to all drivers, though a driver may decline by signing a waiver. Once issued, an auto policy can be canceled or non-renewed only for fraud, non-payment of premium, or a substantial increase in the hazard insured. Eligibility and coverage limits depend on the individual policy. The issued policy controls.
Primary sources: Wikipedia's Westlake Shopping Center article and the Westlake community history blog.
Insurance context is general information only. The issued policy and its endorsements settle coverage.