Haight-Ashbury

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The corner of Haight and Ashbury in 2001

The Haight-Ashbury is a district of San Francisco, California, named after the intersection of Haight Street and Ashbury Street, commonly known as The Haight or, in recent years, The Upper Haight. The district is famous for its role as an epicenter of the 1960s hippie movement, a post-runner and closely associated offshoot of the Beat generation who swarmed San Francisco's "in" North Beach neighborhood 2-8 years before the "Summer of Love".

Before the completion of the Haight Street Cable Railroad in 1883, what is now the Haight-Ashbury was a collection of isolated farms and acres of sand dunes, most of which was not graded or developed in any way. The new cable car line, completed in 1883, connected the west end of Golden Gate Park with Market Street and downtown San Francisco. Shortly afterward, in the 1890s and early part of the 20th century, the Haight-Ashbury was developed as a middle-class residential district. It was one of the fortunate districts spared in the disastrous fires that followed the catastrophic San Francisco Earthquake of 1906.

The Haight was hit hard by the Depression, as was much of the rest of the city. Residents with enough money to spare left the declining and “crowded” neighborhood for greener pastures such as Forest Hills and St. Francis Wood. During the housing shortage of World War II, the large single-family Victorians were divided into apartments to house war workers; others were converted into boarding houses. By the 1950s, the Haight was a neighborhood in decline. Deferred maintenance took its toll and the exodus of middle-class residents to newer suburbs to the south and west continued.

The Haight-Ashbury's elaborately detailed 19th-century multi-story wooden houses became a haven for hippies during the 1960s due to the availability of cheap Victorian properties for rent in the district and the bohemian subculture that briefly fluorished there.

It gained a reputation as a center of illegal drug culture, especially with the use of marijuana. The area was thus sometimes known as The Hashbury, but, ca. 1967, its fame chiefly rested on the fact that it became the neighborhood of choice for a number of important psychedelic rock performers and groups of the mid-1960s. Acts like the Jefferson Airplane, The Grateful Dead and Janis Joplin, who all lived a short distance from the famous intersection, not only immortalized the scene in song, but knew many within the community as friends and family. Its mystique was further enhanced by the 1967 Scott MacKenzie hit San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Flowers In Your Hair), written by The Mamas & the Papas member John Phillips. Some said the song was a blatantly commercial pop song that climbed the charts much to locals' chagrin.

Street signs at the corner of Haight and Ashbury

Today the district has lost little of its status as a center of such alternative lifestyles, though much has changed. The area still maintains a lot of its bohemian atmosphere, it has become a major tourist attraction and has suffered the effects of gentrification to some extent. Perhaps the best illustration of the district's unwanted slide into the mainstream is the presence of a Gap store, a major international retailer that (happily) started in San Fransisco in the late 60's, now fell to mixed reviews by the city's trendy inhabitants. Though the Gap and Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream are now located at the famous Haight-Ashbury intersection, the neighborhood remains, however, a thriving center of independent local business (keep in mind that nothing that loved or "authentic" ever inhabited the commercial space at the four points of the intersection from the start). It is home to a number of independent restaurants and bars, as well as clothing, smoke, and record shops, including Amoeba Music: San Francisco's largest new and used record store.

Because of its past and present reputation and its location between Buena Vista Park and Golden Gate Park, the district draws the homeless and teen runaways. To some extent, the main commercial area's blend of diverse street life engulfs them in the carnivalesque and liberal surroundings. Recent police and community efforts help maintain park curfews and "no camping policies" as well.

Both commercial and residential property in the district are in high demand today, a testament to the area's long history and many charms.

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