Page and Central

April 12, 2025

In February 2021, I signed my first lease in San Francisco. I was no stranger to SF, having visited many times growing up on The Peninsula. I had even spent a few months in corporate housing in downtown SF. Despite this, my studio apartment in Haight Ashbury was the first time I felt like I was really living in San Francisco.

For those out of the know, Haight Ashbury’s reputation these days is strongly tied to the counter-culture movement. It was the epicenter of the 1967 Summer of Love and the once-home-base of the Grateful Dead. Haight Ashbury is nestled between Golden Gate Park (GGP), the Panhandle, and Buena Vista Park. It sits up a large hill, hence why some call it 'Upper' Haight.

March 2025 was my final month living in my Haight Ashbury apartment. My partner and I have moved in together into a new place in a different SF neighborhood. I’ve learned many lessons from my time living in the Haight. The Haight introduced me to many friends, supported me both in times of personal joys and laughter, and also in harder moments. Perhaps most importantly, the Haight taught me that I take myself too seriously sometimes, and that I need to pause to notice and enjoy the little moments.

A lot has been written about the neighborhood's history. This is not that, but instead a reflection of my memories, serendipitous moments, and recurring themes of my time living in Haight Ashbury between 2021 and 2025.

The Apartment

While technically a studio, my apartment had a separate kitchen and dining area and a walk in closet. This made it relatively large for a studio, but still cozy. Like every place, it had its pluses and minuses. The radiator was hard to control and made a lot of noise, but it got the job done. The 4 flights of stairs up kept me in shape. Heading back up after long days, I would sometimes think that I had another flight to go when I was actually at my floor, and sometimes I would think I was at my floor but had another flight to go.

Being on the top floor wasn’t without perks: I had a nice view of the panhandle from my kitchen and of the tallest buildings downtown from the corner of my bedroom. I also didn’t have to listen to any footsteps from upstairs neighbors. The biggest downside by far was having to carry my laundry down four flights of outdoor stairs to the laundry room.

The unit faced north, so sunlight was missing in the winter. But the summer afternoons had plenty of sun through my two westerly facing windows in the bedroom. This became the home for my house plants.

JFK Promenade

On my first evening in Haight Ashbury, a friend biked over to celebrate my new home with me. He wanted to show me a light sculpture garden in GGP, so we walked down The Panhandle to see them. I didn't know it at the time, but that walk was the first of very many. Even though it was dark, many people were also on walks, and I overheard conversations talking about how cool these lights were. We made it to Stanyan and I crossed onto JFK for the first time.

Moving to SF in February 2021 meant many COVID-19 era changes were still in place, including JFK being closed to cars. I immediately fell deeply in love with JFK Promenade. I have walked, cycled, skateboarded, and ran down it an uncountable number of times over the past four years. Without fail, there are thousands of people there on any given weekend day, and without fail, seeing so many people enjoying the park puts a smile on my face.

Over the course of my time in the Haight, there were repeated fights to keep JFK car-free and open to the people. I tried to find my voice, and called and posted in support of keeping JFK free from cars. Thanks to the courage and persistence of many fellow park-lovers we won each challenge and secured the future of JFK Promenade for years to come. I am thankful I had the privilege of enjoying car-free JFK the entire time I lived in the neighborhood.

I loved watching JFK evolve from a street with temporarily construction signs closing it, to the current state with concrete bollards protecting the entrances and many art installations along the way. My favorite installation on JFK during my time in the Haight was the huge mesmerizing light-up tree on the easternmost end of JFK during the winter of 2023-2024.

I believe more should be done to improve the park and JFK. I hope that with the proposed changes around Oak Street and Page Street, the entrance to car-free JFK will be made safer and more vibrant. Likewise, I hope the connection to the new Sunset Dunes park will allow for a city-spanning safe bike corridor from the wiggle to the zoo.

Free Gold Watch

Living in my apartment, I quickly found that the most painful chore would be laundry. Not only was it down four flights of stairs, but it was strictly coin-operated. The fee was not particularly expensive, but acquiring so many quarters was more difficult than I expected.

Luckily for me, Free Gold Watch on Waller operates a huge collection of pinball machines and a coin machine to convert your cash to coins. I’m guilty of visiting for the purpose of collecting coins for laundry, but I never left before pausing to enjoy a few rounds of pinball. It's also a fun pit stop while on a walk in the neighborhood and I've had the joy of bringing many friends there over the years.

Walking to the Ocean

By May 2021, I was vaccinated and eager to make friends in my new city. I arranged to go on a walk with a new mutual on Twitter. Our plan was to meet up at the William McKinley statue at the Eastern most end of the Panhandle. As it was a beautiful sunny day, I wore flip flops. Big mistake.

Little did I know that we would find our conversation so engaging for so long that our walk would take us all the way to Ocean Beach and back. We stopped only to rest and eat fruit under the windmill by the beach. By the time we walked back to the Panhandle, we had each made a new friend, and my feet and legs were absolutely exhausted. From that point on, I resolved to not wear flip flops on walks, lest I want to continue walking.

The statue became the go-to meeting place for taking friends on many such walks in the park.

I later became fond of running and biking to the beach and down the great highway. In the Fall as the days grew shorter I would sometimes race on bike down JFK to catch the sunset after work.

Page Slow Street

Second only to JFK is Page Street. I didn’t know about Page Slow Street when I moved next to it, but living next to Page Slow Street was an absolute blessing. Similarly to JFK, Page Slow Street was created as a response to COVID-19, to allow more room for people to enjoy their city. Temporary barriers were placed to slow and divert traffic, allowing peace, quiet, and safety for people on foot, bike, or skateboard to travel.

A consequence of living next to Page was developing a love for baywheels, SF’s bike sharing program. baywheels empowered me to live a care-free car-free lifestyle in the Haight. Biking became my primary mode of transportation. In 2024, I was able to get my desk moved to my company’s downtown SF office, and I had the privilege of enjoying Page Slow Street on bike each day.

On Page between Central and Masonic, there is a beautiful Brugmansia, a fragrant flowering plant. Each time I walked to or from the grocery store or park or baywheels station, I would try to stop and smell it closely.

Page Slow Street is an artery for many people today, and similarly to JFK, I found myself calling, emailing, and even weighing in on SFMTA meetings to advocate for its continued existence and improvement.

Dahlias

When I moved to the Haight, I didn’t have a favorite flower. I could only name a few flowers from their apperance: orchids, roses, tulips.

For four summers while living in the Haight, I had the joy of evening walks to the Dahlia patch outside of the Conservatory of Flowers. I love how many different forms and colors they take. I love the intricate patterns their petals make. I love the endless disbelief that one type of flower can have so much variation.

In 2024, I finally made it to the Dahlia festival held in the building next to the Botanical Garden. Suffice to say, I now have a favorite flower.

The Thinking Bench

As a chronic over-thinker, I find myself searching for and returning to favorite quiet neighborhood spots to sit and think in any place I live. Living in the Haight Ashbury was no exception. My primary thinking bench over the past few years (if forced to pick just one) is one of several in the Fuchsia Dell. This bench provides front row seating to a few Coastal Redwoods, and is tucked away from busy JFK. I am not moving too far, so I will likely return to this spot on occasion, but I will cherish the serenity the bench and the dell shared with me over the past four years.

Sutro, Hippie Hill, and the Drum Circle

By far, Sutro Tower is the dominant structure in the Haight Ashbury skyline. I adore Sutro, and have probably hundreds of photos of it on my phone. One of the best views of Sutro is from Hippie Hill. Grabbing a sandwich or burrito, and walking to Hippie Hill to eat it while gazing at Sutro and listening to the drum circle is classic weekend afternoon activity. I loved picking one drum sound, focusing on it, listening to how the drummer varied their individual patterns over time in response to the group’s overall rhythms, as if following single a fish in a school. If you pay attention while sitting on Hippie Hill, you might even see a red tailed hawk nesting in a tree high above the Robin Williams Meadow.

Glimpses of the Bridge

One easter egg of daily life I came to appreciate while in the Haight is that there are many places you can catch a glimpse of the Golden Gate Bridge from, often unexpectedly. Obviously, heading to the top of Buena Vista will offer a view, but there are many other hills and vistas around. On a walk, if I ever reached a small summit I would look to the north to see if I could spot The Bridge.

The Bar of Gold

On one stroll through Golden Gate Park in 2022, I paused and looked down. To my great surprise, there was a bar of gold on the ground. I picked it up and immediately went home. I recall anxiously looking over my shoulder and walking fast, lest I be caught by someone who was expecting to collect it. I learned it would be worth several thousand dollars if real. After some research, I deemed it to most likely be a fake. I held on to it just in case, and still have it to this day.

The First Date

Dating is really hard, and I spent my first two years in the Haight single. By the end, I had the first date down to a science: go to one of the local coffeeshops (Ritual, Sightglass, Flywheel). After a while, if it’s going well, go for a walk. If it’s still going well, keep going. Because we would end up in Golden Gate Park, there were unlimited possibilities to extend the date: “Have you ever been to the Botanical Garden?” Similarly, if it wasn’t going well, there were natural ways to wrap it up, or even excuse myself right after coffee.

This first date is also a great barometer for relationship compatibility, as going on long walks with my partner is essentially what I want (well, one thing I want) out of a relationship anyway.

In 2022 I had the pleasure of taking my now-boyfriend on such a date. We made it from a coffeeshop on Divis to the Conservatory and back. We’ve since gone on many more long walks in the Haight. The Haight’s parks, neighborhood restaurants, bars, and shops made this an ideal neighborhood to get to know someone in.

Gus’s and Ritual Coffee

I’m a coffee lover and Ritual coffee was a frequent first stop on my walks, especially on weekend mornings. Ritual was the first place where the staff started to recognize me, but eventually with my return to office and staff turnover this was no longer the case.

Living alone, and eating many meals in the office presents a challenge for grocery shopping. Buy too much and it’ll go bad, buy too little and you won’t have enough to eat. Luckily, I lived only a few blocks from Gus’s. While some of their items are on the pricier side, their produce quality was top notch for and convenient. I grew to love Gus’s and their friendly staff, which eventually came to recognize me. Thanks to the Gus’s team for keeping me fed for four years :)

Characters

Over time, I met a lot of characters around the neighborhood.

There was a German waitress at the diner who would ask bluntly “Are you happy?” shortly after we got our food each time. At first I made fun of it, but then I adopted it. “Are you happy?” cuts to the root of the issue.

There was corner-store clerk who would scan credit cards through a literal red apple, calling it “apple” Pay.

The Tie-dye store employees would annoy me each time with their over-the-top enthusiasm when the tour buses drove past.

I once overheard a vendor at the annual street fair reassuring a police officer they only sold “non-magical mushrooms”.

Of course, there were countless more characters, of which I was one. Haight Ashbury is a great place to be a character.

Buena Vista

I also loved living next to Buena Vista park.

On one hike up to the summit, I took some pictures of the bridge and Marin headlands. A few other groups were at the summit. One person, upon seeing me take a photo from the top told her friend "People love taking photos up here. But after a while of living here, you kind of get used to the view." From that moment on I resolved to never take the view for granted, and to always take pictures of it if I felt so compelled.

Sometimes people on grindr would ask me if I was in the park. To their disappointment, I would simply tell them I just lived nearby.

Finally Going for a Paddle

For years, each time I walked or ran past the boathouse at Stow Blue Heron Lake there was a line of people waiting to go on a boat. Each time, I told myself that if there was ever no line on a nice day, and I had time, I would seize the opportunity. In the last month of living in the Haight, it finally happened and my partner and I at long last went for a paddle around the lake.

Conclusion

The best part about living in Haight Ashbury was serendipity. Each time I walked outside the door, if I was paying attention, I saw someone doing something new, had a chance encounter with urban wildlife, or ran into a friend. Walking around the neighborhood and park after four years, it feels as if I have a memory of some event or conversation that occurred at any given street or spot in the neighborhood or parks. I'd be out and about in the neighborhood, and a random tidbit of a memory of a random conversation I had at that exact spot 3 years prior would bubble up into my mind.

I treasure each of these moments for keeping me sane and grounded the past 4 years. On my farewell walk through the Panhandle, Golden Gate Park, and Page Slow Street, I had such a moment. I was in the WW1 memorial redwood grove and heard an owl hoot. I hooted back instinctively, and then looked up. I saw an owl just waking up for the night. I lingered for a minute as I’d never seen an owl up close in person outside of a zoo before. Some bikers passed through, but despite noticing me looking up, didn’t slow to look up for themselves.

To all my former neighbors: I hope you continue to enjoy and celebrate your neighborhood to the fullest. To everyone I had the privilege of joining on adventures in and around Haight Ashbury and Golden Gate Park: I hope you know that I loved every minute of it.

So don’t let the rumors fool you: there is still plenty of love to be found in Haight Ashbury, if only you are willing to pause and love it back. I'll miss you Haight Ashbury, and I’ll see you soon. ❤️