Haight-Ashbury aka: Upper Haight, The Haight

I was a freshman in medical school in the fall of 1984, and every morning I would ride my bike to school, bordering on the Western fringe of the Haight-Ashbury district.

Maybe it was the massive amounts of people or the fog.. but I didn’t care for Haight Asbury. I liked Hayes Valley, Sunset, and Mission a lot more. ( and there were less rude French tourists at the above destinations)

The Haight is like a mini LSD trip iteslf. Although many of the buildings and people are grimy and dangerous, the place has kind of a grungy beauty. And the shops are absolutely bursting with glittery funky obscure shit – Tibetan jewelry, Indonesian imports, consignment shops, upscale hipster junk, novelty shops, hippie memorabilia… And, of course, the famous Ben and Jerry’s.

buy a bong

I used to live one block northwest of the Haight-Ashbury intersection, and can say that for all the kitschy tourist crapola-by far the least exciting part of the area-the neighborhood was always interesting.

Beyond the monuments to the events of 40 years ago, the sometimes hilarious, sometimes snarly streetpunk/walking wounded population that in many respects considers itself the heirs to that period’s legacy, and especially beyond the souvenir shops, junk stores, and gawking tourists, the neighborhood is also home to the city’s best record store, three independent bookstores (one an anarchist collective) a lot of good vintage clothing shopping, a couple of tasty low-end restaurants, some good cafes, a nice branch of the SF Public Library, and the entrance to Golden Gate Park, among other good things.

It’s also almost in the exact geographical center of San Francisco, which in theory makes it convenient to a range of neighborhoods.

Haight Street itself can be too crowded with amblers to be much fun to walk along, particularly on weekends, and yes, parking is thoroughly nightmarish, but along with a tourist trap, the Haight is a very active, vital neighborhood that has a lot to offer. Insider tip: The streets that aren’t Haight are substantially less grungy—I lived on Page and never had a problem with the street being dirty.