Haight Ashbury in San Francisco became known as the center of the
Hippie movement, particularly after the Summer of Love in 1967. Thousands of
young people filled the streets dressed in their bell-bottoms, tie-dyed shirts,
and love beads. In its heyday, people in the community shared freely their
music, food, soft drugs, and "pads" (lodging). Many Counterculture musical
groups got their start here, such as members of The Grateful Dead. The first
free medical clinic in the United States opened here. Today, "the Haight" as the
yuppies call it, has maintained some of its colorful appearance in its
many boutiques, galleries, hotels, and eating establishments, if
not in its counterculture behaviors. Housing costs were low when the hippies
"invaded" this ethnic neighborhoods from Beatnik communities of North Beach
(large concentration of Italian cafes and restaurants here today), but the
current high costs for houses and apartments are beyond the few remaining
hippies. Click on a photo to see a larger version.