Westlake, Daly City, California

Located just south of San Francisco, Westlake in its early years had frequently been compared to Levittown, New York,[2] [3] the first major large-scale postwar middle-class white-only housing development in the U.S. After World War II moderate-cost housing began in Daly City as well as in most other Bay Area communities.

A San Francisco builder, Henry Doelger, purchased some 600 acres of sand dunes and cabbage patches that occupied much of the land between the original Daly City's westerly edge to the ocean.

He built a community called Westlake, which was annexed to Daly City in 1948.

For this reason, Westlake has become an icon for architectural blandness, exemplified by its endless rows of boxy houses, which were the inspiration for Malvina Reynolds’ folk song "Little Boxes," an anti-conformity anthem in the 1960s.

In 2003, the New York Times ran an article about Henry Doelger and his impact on history, citing Westlake as one of his most iconic neighborhoods.