Visitors guide to Haight-Ashbury

 

The Summer of Love ended, but funky chic Haight-Ashbury remains. The Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin and Jefferson Airplane have gone, and now there are more high-end boutiques than head shops in The Haight.

 

The action is almost all on Haight Street, particularly where it intersects with Ashbury Street. 

 

Hot tip: In a city known for its Victorian architecture, you can find plenty well-cared-for examples in The Haight. 

 

Good eats: Cha Cha Cha for fried plantains and ice cream.

 

Beware: The Haight streets have plenty of modern-day hippies; they’re young people who hang out and do drugs and ask passers-by for money. Some of them can be off-putting. The Haight is best visited during the daytime. Especially the end of Haight near Golden Gate Park. If you’re looking to score some pot brownies, take your chances in the park just across the street from Haight Street at the infamous Hippie Hill.

 

Oddly: Actor-comedian Robin Williams had three homes in the San Francisco area, one in The Haight. His career began in The Haight, at a former comedy club at 100 Carl Street, as did the careers of Whoopi Goldberg and Dana Carvey.

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Nearby: At the end of Haight Street, just before you get to Golden Gate Park, you will find Amoeba Music occupying the site of a former bowling alley. Here you can indulge in one of the world’s largest collections of new and used CDs.