Westlake Shopping Center

Westlake Shopping Center is a large outdoor shopping complex in Daly City with dozens of stores spread across an open-air layout. The center combines everyday retailers, discount chains, home improvement stores, and grocery options in one location.

The center opened in 1951 as part of a large residential development project that started in the 1940s. It was one of the early shopping centers in the Bay Area and helped establish how suburban communities organized their commercial spaces.

The shopping center serves as a gathering place for neighbors through outdoor concerts, art shows, and seasonal markets that happen throughout the year. These events shape how people in the area come together and use the shopping district as a social hub beyond just buying things.

The center provides plenty of parking and modern amenities like electric vehicle charging stations and wireless internet throughout the grounds. As an outdoor space, it is accessible all day, though individual store hours vary, so checking ahead is helpful for specific stores you want to visit.

The uniform design of this neighborhood and its shopping center inspired a famous 1962 song that critiqued suburban sameness. The song remains a cultural touchstone for how people viewed the rapid, repetitive development of postwar communities.