San Francisco Relocation Guide - Antevia

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 subsequently
flourished 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 Some 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.
Finally the fallout from hard drugs and irreverence to social norms took its toll. By the
mid 70's, thirty percent of the 20 some square blocks of housing in the neighborhood
were condemned, and nearly a third of the storefront property stayed vacant into the early
eighties.
Present-day Haight-Ashbury
Haight street near the district, feb '06
Today the district has lost little of its status as a center of 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 experienced the effects of gentrification to
some degree. Perhaps the best illustration of the district's slide into the mainstream is the
presence of a Gap store, a major international retailer that (ironically) started in San
Francisco 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 a thriving center of independent local
business. 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