Upper Haight

A new law took effect January 1 allowing streets with dining and retail to lower their speed limits, and San Francisco wasted no time implementing this on seven retail-heavy streets.

The Mad Dog is chasing a liquor license for their apparent newfound home, after the popular sports bar closed its old location just before the pandemic shutdowns.

Plans to build affordable housing at the troubled ex-McDonald’s are still on, though much delayed, but the city just scrapped plans to put a homeless drop-in center there during the interim.

While initial reports described “no reported injuries” in a shooting that also hit Ritual Roasters and several cars, SFPD announced Sunday that one victim has been shot and suffered “life-threatening injuries.”

San Francisco artist Optimist Williams says he grew up decorating his Trapper Keepers with paper Muni transfers, and using the now defunct tickets to record little memories, like scraps in a diary.

A new "Welcome Center and Counterculture Museum Shop for the Haight” brings a breath of fresh air, and bouquets of fresh flowers, as boutique shop Haight & Ashbury celebrates the neighborhood's rich history.

The new old-school, must-have garment is a limited edition Derby jacket with Muni-inspired illustrations by celebrated artist Jeremy Fish.

After several years of planning, legacy bookstore The Booksmith is moving to its third home later this spring. The new location is just down the block on Haight Street in a building the business already leased for an event-focused space called The Bindery.

Private investigator Jack Palladino, who worked on high-profile cases including celebrity and political scandals involving Bill Clinton and Kurt Cobain, among others, has died after suffering from a violent attack and attempted robbery in the Haight-Ashbury.

For the 91st holiday season in a row, the gigantic Monterey cypress tree at Stanyan and Fell Streets still dazzles as San Francisco‘s ‘official’ Christmas tree.

A man who made international headlines after allegedly attempting to board a Delta flight out of Salt Lake City while refusing to put on a face mask turns out to be the owner of Upper Haight smoke shop Pipe Dreams (1376 Haight St.), which advertises itself as the oldest smoke shop in San Francisco.

After 43 years in business, the family-owned Upper Haight mainstay Haight Ashbury T-Shirts is closing permanently at the end of the year, citing the economic pressures of a pandemic that's killed virtually all tourist traffic to the neighborhood.

Wade Joffrion and Greg Price's Corona Heights "storybook house," the 1917 brick-clad cottage at 45 Upper Terrace, is regularly the most-decorated house in the neighborhood and a seasonal highlight for passersby at Christmas, Valentine's Day, Easter, and Halloween — and this year's display is worth a detour.

Tonight from 6 to 8 p.m., developers of the 100% affordable housing project slated for construction at 730 Stanyan Street will host a third community meeting for area residents, to answer questions, reveal further information about potential site design, and solicit feedback.

The city's Office of Cannabis this week approved the application filed earlier this summer for FGW Haight to operate a cannabis dispensary at 768 Stanyan Street, currently a residential garage on a quiet block near Kezar Pub and facing Golden Gate Park.

Two people were hospitalized earlier this morning after being found unconscious in a car on Haight Street.

The program, administered by the SF District Attorney's office, will reimburse merchants up to $1,000 for replacing broken windows.

This week's business brief is full of causes for celebration, including some reopenings, added service and an expansion.

With improvements and plantings complete, Rec & Park reopened the Stanyan entrance to Golden Gate Park to the public this month.

A new survey from the site's development team seeks input on potential uses for its ground floor space.

The signs protecting the city's new network of car-free streets have been repeatedly vandalized, graffitied and hit by cars.

The ongoing fire is burning in the light well of the building, which contains seven apartments on three floors.

The new round of work, fixing a problem discovered during the last excavation of Haight Street, should take about three months to complete.

Some bright spots in this edition of Upper Haight business briefs: one expansion, one reopening, and more good news from the neighborhood.

Currently a safe sleeping site for the unhoused, the lot will eventually have over 100 housing units for low-income residents.