San Francisco — By Katrina Verweel on January 13, 2010 at 3:03 pm

The Haight

To experience a bit of hippie culture, the Haight is where it’s at. This part of San Francisco is great for people watching, thrift store shopping, and used CD and record hunting. There are also stores where you can find tie-dye shirts and shops that sell plenty of smoking paraphernalia along with peace and love vibrations. During the day, to fit in around here, the freshly rolled out of bed look is in style. This time of day is when people laze around in one of the many café’s or bookstores in the area, and on weekends it becomes rather busy with locals and tourists alike on a mission to find a good cheap breakfast joint. Nighttime in the Haight has a very different feel to it as many nightclubs open their doors to lovers of house music who are off to see live DJ’s spin techno music to the wee hours of the morning.

Puff Puff Pass Smoke Shop on Haight St.

This part of town is quite unique because after hearing about it, the Haight is grimier than many people imagine it to be. However, it depends what part of the Haight you are in. The Upper Haight, between Stanyan St. and Masonic Ave. is where the more upper-class shopping zone is, including high-end vintage-clothing shops. The Lower Haight between Divisidero St. and Webster St. is more diverse and not as pretty. This is the grimy part of the Haight where it is common to see panhandlers. However, this is where you will find the hub of nightclubs.

The Hip-Hop section inside the Amoeba Music store on Haight St.

There are three parks in close vicinity of the Haight; Buena Vista Park, The Panhandle, and Golden Gate Park. Buena Vista Park is 36 acres of forested parkland with winding trails that are good for rollerblading and biking on, and is also one of San Francisco’s oldest parks. The Panhandle is named this way because it forms a panhandle with Golden Gate Park. The Haight is just south of The Panhandle. For tourists, tackling the Haight and the Golden Gate Park in one day would be a great San Francisco experience.