San Francisco Neighborhoods: The Haight
There are several different areas of San Francisco which you can be referring to if you say that you’re heading up to The Haight. There’s the residential Haight just outside of the Golden Gate Park area. There’s the lower Haight which is still residences with some shopping but which also has more local flavor to it than the upper Haight, which is the area you’re likely to be talking about if you’re a tourist. In other words, if you’re a traveler looking for the Haight, it’s the Haight Ashbury area that you’re going to point your internal GPS system towards.
Haight Ashbury became famous as a result of the activity taking place there during the so-called Summer of Love. It was the haunt of the hippies. And today, it’s got this interesting combination of retro hippie flavor and modern corporate influence. Head to the corner of Haight and Ashbury today and what you’ll find there is a GAP store and a Ben and Jerry’s, but if you walk just a block in either direction, you’ll find some of the best thrift stores and boutiques ever.
The thriftshopping is my favorite activity in The Haight. Wasteland is a top pick, with its ever-changing selection of absolutely hip clothes, but there are stores ranging from the chains (Crossroads and Buffalo Exchange) to the unique places which offer a second home to fashions from other centuries. Other stores in The Haight which have my heart include the drag queen store (which doesn’t need a name - it’s Piedmont - because it’s recognizable for the bigger-than-life-size heeled legs coming out of the upstairs window), the expensive shoe shops, and Amoeba record store.
Shopping always makes me hungry so I’ve explored the ins and outs of the Haight restaurants. Coffee to the People, located just off of Haight, is my personal favorite of the several good places to get some coffee. The coffee’s good, but the atmosphere is better – with board games to play, people to talk with and lots of info on indie activities happening around the area. In terms of food, there’s El Balazo which is one of the better places in San Francisco for Mexican food if you’re not looking in The Mission. There’s a few good Thai places. And there’s unique treats at Magnolia. But the thing to get in The Haight is pizza. There are multiple pizza choices and they’re all good ones.
When the sun sets, Haight Street offers up numerous nightlife options. There are dive bars. There are swanky lounges. There’s not-to-miss sangria at Cha Cha Cha and wall-to-wall grinding-on-each-other dancing at MILK. If drinking isn’t your thing, there’s always The Red Vic which offers the best in local, independent and second-run movies and often features Q&A sessions with the filmmakers.
Of course, like with the rest of San Francisco, it is the people that make the area what it is. Aging hippies fill the streets here, sharing space with the trendiest of thrift shop twentysomethings, the most anarchic of post-punk kids and the most touristy of travelers. The panhandlers here have been more aggressive towards me than anyone else, but the street performers have also provided me with some of the more interesting of spontaneous shows. It’s not a place I go to all of the time, but I’ve never had a bad time in The Haight.