Hi, I'm from the UK and I have visited the US once so far, I stayed in Massachusetts. I have seen quite a few photos of San Francisco's Haight/Ashbury district, I was wondering what the area is like now, are there still as many hippie shops. Isn't there also a Hippie Hill in the park, which I think is called Golden Gate Park? I hope to visit the US again once I have more money and when the situation returns to normal, whenever that may be. San Francisco looks a beautiful city from the images I have seen.
The haight as it was called is still there but not like in the 60's/70's. There are still a few shops that sell hemp/cannabis products. City Lights bookstore is famous. Yes there is Golden Gate park. (I was in SF back in 2017).
I knew people that were living their during its legendary peak . That Hippie paradise, according to them, ended in 1967-68 .
Haight Street has become a tourist trap. Fun to visit but it's no Summer of Love anymore. Golden Gate park is still very hippie-friendly, sitting on Hippie Hill smoking a bowl is practically a tradition.
Golden Gate Park was very important place for the Goapo / Pomo Indian since who knows when .... the Spirit of that hill is still going good and strong !!!!
Here are some of my San Francisco memories... I live in the Haight from 1981 to 1984, in a Victorian on the corner of Masonic and Oak, right across the street from the Panhandle. They called it "the Panhandle" because if you look at Golden Gate Park on a map or from a satellite view, the park narrows down to a panhandle-shaped strip of park land stretching several blocks between Oak Street and Fell Street. Part of the panhandle was also along Stanyon Street. The Haight still had some of it's good-vibes feeling when I lived there. When I first moved to San Francisco in 1977, they were still holding the summer street fair on Haight, with free concert stages near Masonic Avenue and Stanyon Street. The locals along Haight St would site on their rooftops and window ledges and watch the street fill up. The whole scene brough back memories of Woodstock, which I attended in 1969 at the tender young age of 13! Amoeba Records shop on the corner of Haight & Masonic was a favorite hangout back then. Some of the smaller shops with the good vibes feel were still there in the Haight in 1977, including the White Rabbit Head Shop, which I believe was on Page Street in the Haight. Today I think the White Rabbit is a bar in the Fillmore District. Waiting for the MUNI one day in 1977, I met a 1-legged beggar who claimed that he was Ron McKernan's (aka Pigpen) long lost brother collecting spare change to give to Ron, even though Pigpen dies in 1973. I used to love getting up early in the morning, walking across the street to the Panhandle and play my guitar as the sun came up. Then jump on MUNI and go down to Fisherman's Wharf and play my songs on a corner, collecting tips from tourists walking by. That was fun. I moved to San Francisco because it was rich in culture and history. I could usually be found in North Beach at City Lights book shopping or at the Tower Records store on Columbus and Chestnut and then at the San Francisco Art Institute on Chestnut, further up the hill. I was a regular at the Art Institute's theater, where the students showed their completed film projects at The Cinematheque, or SFCinematheque as it is called today. When I was hanging out at the Art Institute, the Cinematheque had open viewing nights, it was either Tuesday or Thursday, where anyone could come in and have their film watch by an audience. The Cinematheque showed rare independent films and experimental films by Stan Brakhage, Kenneth Anger, the Maysles Brothers and others. On the roof of the Institute was a little gathering area for students taking a break from their projects. I used to hang out on the step, playing my acoustic songs and trying to write my own songs. Now it is 40 years later. Hey, can I borrow someone's time machine?
