Need a tattoo? You're in the right place. Stroll around, check out the funky shops, beautiful Victorians, psychedelic murals, and rock 'n roll houses.and stop for a beer and a burger at Magnolia brewery! The best way to experience the Haight Ashbury neighborhood? Scott McKenzie at the Monterey Pop Festival, June 1967 Scott McKenzie's invitation hit the airwaves in May of 1967, and still captures the feeling of that era better than any other. Here's the song that inspired thousands to descend on San Francisco in the summer of 1967. And the neighborhood has become a popular one for its shops and restaurants. Now, they're a major attraction, definitely worth seeing. This trend has continued, and those old buildings have come full circle as desirable residential properties (for those who can afford them). The with property values rising in the 80's, people started buying the Victorians and fixing them up. "The Song" alone inspired many to head for San Francisco.Īfter that summer, and into the 70's, the Haight became seedy, a hangout for drug addicts and muggers, and San Francisco residents mostly avoided it. Drug dealers took advantage, and many ended up sleeping on the streets because the sheer numbers overwhelmed the ability of the city to supply places to stay. Their romantic visions of utopia often didn't turn out that way. Over 100,000 young people, many under 20 years old, headed for San Francisco that summer, looking for love, drugs and rock and roll. The counterculture reached its peak with the Summer of Love in 1967. That was the main reason the Haight became very popular with the beatniks of the 50's and later the hippies of the 60's. Houses tended to be run down, and the Victorians weren't looking all that great. During these years, the Haight Ashbury was a low-rent neighborhood. In the 1930's, many of the Victorians stood empty up, or were converted into boarding houses to supplement income.ĭuring the World War II housing shortage, the large houses were often chopped up into flats to house the workers moving here.ġ950's and 1960's. The economic woes affected the Haight Ashbury, as it did other areas. Most of them are still here, having survived the 1906 earthquake the terrible fire didn't reach this area, so this is one of the best areas of the city to see numerous, splendid examples of Victorian architecture. A wilderness of sand dunes soon turned into a recreation area for the city dwellers after Golden Gate Park was created in 1837.Ī cable car line ran out to the edge of the park which made it easy for residents to come out to the "country" for picnics, and an amusement park was built here as well.īy the late 1800's, Victorian houses were being built out here for members of the more affluent middle class. This neighborhood was the boonies when San Francisco was young. The history of the Haight Ashbury neighborhood (or "the Haight", as the locals call it) starts after the Gold Rush.
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