San Francisco Relocation Guide - Antevia
San Francisco Relocation Guide - Antevia
San Francisco Relocation Guide - Antevia
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The Haight-Ashbury's elaborately detailed 19th-century multi-story wooden houses<br />
became a haven for hippies during the 1960s, due to the availability of cheap Victorian<br />
properties for rent in the district and the bohemian subculture that subsequently<br />
flourished there.<br />
It gained a reputation as a center of illegal drug culture, especially with the use of<br />
marijuana. The area was thus sometimes known as The Hashbury, but, ca. 1967, its<br />
fame chiefly rested on the fact that it became the neighborhood of choice for a number of<br />
important psychedelic rock performers and groups of the mid-1960s. Acts like the<br />
Jefferson Airplane, The Grateful Dead and Janis Joplin, who all lived a short distance<br />
from the famous intersection, not only immortalized the scene in song, but knew many<br />
within the community as friends and family. Its mystique was further enhanced by the<br />
1967 Scott MacKenzie hit "<strong>San</strong> <strong>Francisco</strong> (Be Sure To Wear Some Flowers In Your<br />
Hair)," written by The Mamas & the Papas member John Phillips. Some said the song<br />
was a blatantly commercial pop song that climbed the charts much to locals' chagrin.<br />
Finally the fallout from hard drugs and irreverence to social norms took its toll. By the<br />
mid 70's, thirty percent of the 20 some square blocks of housing in the neighborhood<br />
were condemned, and nearly a third of the storefront property stayed vacant into the early<br />
eighties.<br />
Present-day Haight-Ashbury<br />
Haight street near the district, feb '06<br />
Today the district has lost little of its status as a center of alternative lifestyles, though<br />
much has changed. The area still maintains a lot of its bohemian atmosphere, it has<br />
become a major tourist attraction and has experienced the effects of gentrification to<br />
some degree. Perhaps the best illustration of the district's slide into the mainstream is the<br />
presence of a Gap store, a major international retailer that (ironically) started in <strong>San</strong><br />
<strong>Francisco</strong> in the late 60's, now fell to mixed reviews by the city's trendy inhabitants.<br />
Though the Gap and Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream are now located at the famous Haight-<br />
Ashbury intersection, the neighborhood remains a thriving center of independent local<br />
business. It is home to a number of independent restaurants and bars, as well as clothing,<br />
smoke, and record shops, including Amoeba Music: <strong>San</strong> <strong>Francisco</strong>'s largest new and used