update: this region is actually Westlake (6/17/08)

The actual Realtor neighborhood names for the area I describe below is Westlake Palisades or Westlake Knolls. I call it “Skyline” because the houses surround Highway 35 (Skyline road).

Skyline region

I would consider the Skyline area of Daly City to be West of skyline blvd, between John Daly Blvd and Hwy 1. I do not know what the “true” boundary is according to Daly City natives. Fog and wind are primary characteristics of this area with excellent access to San Francisco via 19th Ave, the 280 freeway, and Skyline Blvd to Ocean Beach and Golden Gate park.

what you get for < $500,000 around Skyline

In today’s 2008 housing crash prices, there are a number homes West of Skyline listing within my price range of $450-$500k for a 2-3 bedroom single family home. Houses closer to the ocean have fantastic views and somewhat surprisingly many are cheaper than comparably sized houses 1-2 blocks inland. The price discrepancy is because most of the houses West of Skyline Blvd are (a) on a big cliff, (b) it is super windy, (c) super foggy, and (d) they look like trailer homes. More on (d) later.

Most Skyline homes were built in the 1950’s. It will have 3 bedrooms and 1 bath or in a rare case, 2 baths. From my own observation, I would say about 70-80% of homes listed for under $500,000 will have 2-3 bedrooms but only 1 bathroom. This single bathroom trend extends from Daly City down through South San Francisco and San Bruno all the way to San Mateo. There are no houses < $500,000 in the other cities in between (i.e. Millbrae and Burlingame). Many homes will have un-warranted extra baths and/or bedrooms but I’m slightly leery of un-permitted stuff primarily because I’m a first-time buyer. I don’t know how to deal with that stuff.

Back to (d) above. Most of the homes in my under $500,000 price range are basically rectangles on a very narrow lot and a small yard at the end. Most will have a 2-car tandem garage. High possibly that 1 of the garage spaces has been converted into either a laundry room or an extra bedroom + bathroom.

Essential Businesses and Points of interest

• Ranch 99 grocery store and several cheap/fast/good restaurants in a strip mall. This strip mall gets crowded during the weekends. Parking can be difficult.
• < 5 minute drive to Fort Funston which is a huge dog-friendly park,

• < 10 minutes drive to the San Francisco Zoo (Sloat and Great Highway) and Ocean Beach.

verdict on Skyline area

I stopped looking in this area for 2 reasons. First, because I think the architecture looks like garbage. Second, it is frequently foggy in this area especially in the summer. In the winter it is blustery and rainy. If I wanted windy, rainy, cold, foggy weather I could get all that in cheaper parts of the country.

A few years ago in 2005 I hated driving behind hybrid drivers because they drove slow as cold molasses. At the time the Prius was still not but super popular but definitely gaining traction. Back then most of the hybrid owners were probably “hypermiler” fanatics like the forum members you will find at CleanMPG.com.

Hypermilers figure out driving methods to maximize fuel economy and, judging from their extensive use of acronyms, word economy. Much of their driving involves reaching a speed, coasting, and occasionally pushing the gas to stay within a velocity band (i.e. 30-40 MPH). They boast mind-boggling 105 miles per gallon (mpg) for their FE (fuel economy). They drive their Honda Civic Hybrids (HCH) or Priuses (or Prii) using methods like Pulse & Glide (P&G) or Warp Stealth to achieve their ends. What is the optimal utilization of your ICE (internal combustion engine)?

Well back in ’05 I suspect I was driving behind novice hypermilers because hybrid drivers basically sucked. Nowadays the layman such as myself is driving the Prius like a regular car so now there are more normal drivers than hypermilers. Thank goodness!

However, with a vocabulary including “Pulse & Glide” and “Warp Stealth” who doesn’t want to drive like a jerk? I know I’m going to try these methods on my way to work tomorrow.

OK!

Half of my warranty shack purchase has arrived. My 7 year / 100,000 mile warranty arrived in the mail from Toyota Financial so everything is cool. I’m just waiting on my Pre-paid maintenance vouchers to arrive then I won’t have to worry about anything for my car for the next 4 years. Hellz yeah.