Our pal Daisy, longtime proponent of the Upper Haight, has finally had enough:
You know how you can talk crap about your family, but if someone else does, it’s totally not okay? That’s kind of how I feel about everything I’m about to say. See… I’ve lived in the Upper Haight since 2006. And I’ve been going to Haight St since I was a teenager. And sure, maybe that’s not nearly as long as a bunch of other people who live in the ‘hood, but it’s long enough for me to know that where I was once enamored with the street, I now pretty much can’t stand it.
Don’t get me wrong — there are a lot of great things about the Upper Haight: Magnolia, Alembic, Amoeba Records, Aub Zam Zam, Murio’s Trophy Room, Hobson’s Choice, Best of Thai Noodle, Off the Grid, The Booksmith, Second Act… I love all of those spots and wish I could regularly patronize them. Unfortunately, in order to get to any of them, I have to actually set foot on Haight St. Which, I’ve recently realized, is just not something I want to do anymore.
Read on for a whole heap of specific reasons Daisy doesn’t want to set foot on Haight.
(How long do you reckon it’ll be before I’m writing a listicle about being done with the Mission?)
I guarantee if you took a list of people’s complaints about Haight Street in the 90′s, it would match up almost perfectly to this list.
Actually, since the mid-60s.
PMS
Upper Haight is a special kind of terrible
Walk one street to your left or right of haight. Turn onto the block of your destination(s). Solves a large portion of her grievances.
The Whole Foods and Mcdonalds barely count seeing as they’re basically at stanyan and are only a pain if you frequent them.
The recent street-wear trend on haight is pretty silly. A handful of glassdoor stores have opened in the last year that are the size of 4 zam zams but only offer 8 different neon t shirts and hats…all have live DJs. Basement-dweller heaven.
Since 2006? LOL.
Trashing the Haight St Market? Gus and Bobby (and their fam) are some of the most genuine folks in the that hood. Bobby even hand delivered groceries to a sick friend several blocks away for months….no delivery charge.
Seriously. I also live in the haight and while many of the things on her list annoy me as well, I 1. won’t complain about them because they were all there well before I moved there (in 2007), and 2. the haight st market is awesome, with super nice owners, and the produce is affordable – unlike whole foods.
Also, this girl needs to get a grip and walk on page st. Pretty and quiet.
Haight St. died when NightBreak and Sushi Sundays ended.
I’m pretty sure, because HISTORY (I wasn’t around there then), that Haight Street died shortly after the hippies moved in. When it died for her is between her and her big whatever in the sky (or lack thereof).
It was pretty fun in the mid 80s while the Pall-Mall and it’s hamburger-hole were still creaking toward the void. Hell even the I-Beam had some good shows and don’t sleep on Concrete Jungle.
Death Angel at the Night Break
so, she hates everything about what the Upper Haight has been going back at least 20 years? NOW DO AIRLINE FOOD
good comment
pop a wheelie, nigga
She was probably one of those annoying gentrifiers all her neighbors were complaining about when she moved in.
Has Upper Haight changed that much? I don’t end up there much anymore now that the Red Vic is gone, but when I do go to Amoeba or whatever, it seems pretty similar to how its been for at least the past 20 years or so.
remember when going to hippie hill on the weekends instead of dolores was a popular thing to do for some people?
If this girl is truly a pal of mission mission, she’s probably also bummed milk bar didn’t become upper haight’s make-out room. No soul dance parties frequented by people who don’t listen to soul on haight st
The recent street-wear trend on haight is pretty silly.
There’s a whole profitable industry dedicated to “how San Francisco sucks now.” I don’t totally disagree with her. But, that’s the Haight. It’s always been kind of sucky. With the exception of Whole Foods, she doesn’t say anything that wasn’t said in 2005, 2000, 1995 and earlier.
Haight died when Jerry did.