Back in the mid-1960s, the corner of Haight and Ashbury was perhaps the most famous intersection in the world, a place where young people came to from all over the world in search of love and peace.  1967's Summer of Love changed the fabric of this area as Psychedelic rock music entered the mainstream and major media interest in the hippie subculture exposed the Haight-Ashbury district to enormous national attention and popularized the movement across the country and around the world.

The hippie movement grew from the Beat Generation--an underground, anti-conformist youth collection of writers protesting the establishment, war, politics, and almost any value held by their parents.  Followers were Beatniks, reciting poetry, drinking coffee, and smoking marijuana in smoky clubs.  Music soon followed setting the Beat beliefs to music most notably by The Beatles.  The music was far more colorful than the writings and so were their followers.  Tie-dye in bright colors replaced the all black of the Beatniks as the Hippies moved onto the scene.

During the height of Haight-Ashbury, 15,000 hippies moved into the area living side by side with the bands making the music that defined their lives.  The Charlatans, Jefferson Airplane, Big Brother and the Holding Company, and the Grateful Dead all lived there during this period. Many of the early hippies were drop outs from nearby San Francisco State College where they once diligently studied the writings of Beat authors Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, and William S. Burroughs.  Leaving school, they embraced the freedom of drugs, sex, and music that defined much of the hippie movement.

Today, the area is simply called The Haight and is divided into Upper Haight and Lower Haight.  Upper Haight is the more moneyed shopping zone, though it deteriorates a bit where it stretches toward Golden Gate Park. Meanwhile, the Lower Haight, roughly Divisidero to Webster, is a more diverse neighborhood with a grittier feel.  The Lower Haight has become a main draw among DJs and ravers with the proliferation of dance-music record shops and clubs.  To a great degree, the main commercial area's blend of diverse street life engulfs all types in the carnivalesque and liberal surroundings, just as it had in the sixties.

Return with us to capture a bit of that flower child, tie-dyed, all you need is love ambiance.   Tuck a flower behind your ear, turn up the tunes, and let the good times roll on.  Peace, dude..