San Francisco - Alison Bing [87]
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6 32 Delmar St Turning right off Masonic Ave onto Waller St, you’ll notice a narrow lane leading uphill. Number 32 was the site of the 1978 Sid Vicious overdose that finally broke up the Sex Pistols. Under new ownership, this building betrays no trace of its rock ’n’ roll past – as Johnny Rotten said at the band’s last-ever gig in San Francisco, ‘Ever get the feeling you’ve been cheated?’
7 Grateful Dead House Pay your respects to the former flophouse of Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir and Pigpen, plus sundry Deadheads at 710 Ashbury St. In October 1967, antidrug cops raided the house and arrested everyone in it (Garcia wasn’t home).
8 635 Ashbury St Down the block from the Dead, this is one of many known San Francisco addresses for Janis Joplin, who had a hard time hanging onto leases in the 1960s – but, as she sang, ‘Freedom’s just another word for nothin’ left to lose.’
9 4:20 Clock At the corner of Haight and Ashbury, you’ll notice that the clock overhead always reads 4:20, better known in ‘Hashbury’ as International Bong Hit Time.
10 Haight Ashbury Food Program Back on Waller St, swing by the nonprofit that serves up hot meals and fresh starts to anyone in need. With helping hand or modest donation, visitors can help the Food Program keep the spirit of the Summer of Love alive.
11 635 Cole St Another innocuous-looking building with a dark past, this apartment building once housed Charles Manson, the cult leader behind the ‘Helter Skelter’ murder of Sharon Tate – but on the corner, a rainbow mural serves to lighten the mood.
12 Red Vic Movie House Check out the schedule of this worker-owned collective movie house, which regularly screens cult classics, surf documentaries and premieres by local filmmakers.
13 Hippie Hill in Golden Gate Park Follow the erratic beat of the drum circle to ‘Hippie Hill,’ where free spirits have gathered since the ’60s to tune in, turn on, and attempt to hit a workable groove.
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HAYES VALLEY
Drinking; Eating; Shopping; Sleeping
Beyond the concrete solemnity of Civic Center lies funky Hayes Valley, where old Victorian storefronts are anachronistic showcases for cutting-edge local designers and upstart chefs. This is the neighborhood that’s been waiting to happen for decades. For years the pace of urban renewal here was as slow as local traffic, stuck under the remnants of a freeway ramp that fell in the 1989 earthquake. But now that Octavia Blvd has provided a pleasant thoroughfare through the neighborhood, under-the-radar local boutiques with killer sales racks and worthy upstart restaurants like Bar Jules and next-door Suppenküche are getting some dedicated foot traffic, and landmark California bistro Jardinièr Click here stays busy before, during and after symphony performances. Whether so many hopeful young entrepreneurs can keep pace with rents is anyone’s guess, and sporadic gang-related violence at the projects up the hill between Webster and Fillmore Sts is another looming concern. But the neighborhood seems determined to take a cue from the saffron-robed residents at the Zen Center (below) and transcend its current circumstances.
Small yet high-maintenance Hayes Valley is securely tucked between the Lower Haight and Civic Center like a prized Chihuahua. It has just two distinguishing landmarks, the Zen Center and Octavia Blvd. But in general, you’ll know you’ve been in Hayes Valley when you find yourself holding a receipt that’s much more than you expected for something you never knew you needed, like sculpted-heel Chie Mihara boots at Gimme Shoes, French passionfruit macaroons from Paulette Macarons, or hair pomade that smells good enough to eat from Nancy Boy. The boundaries are roughly Franklin St to the east, Laguna St to the west and Market St on the south, and you could easily trawl all five square blocks of it before a performance at the symphony Click here or a visit to the nearby Asian Art Museum.
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top picks
HAYES VALLEY
Zen Center (left)
Cav Wine Bar
Polanco
Gimme Shoes