Known from the 'Summer of Love,' the area still maintains its bohemian ambiance, though the effects of gentrification are also apparent and continually changing. The neighborhood remains a thriving center of independent local businesses. It is home to a number of independent restaurants and bars, as well as clothing boutiques, booksellers, head shops and record stores including Amoeba Music. The cohabitation between throw-backs to the Fifties lounge scene, organic and spiritual New Age ambiance of the Sixties, punk-rock politics and computer culture is one of the neighborhood's most interesting and endearing aspects socially and artistically.
The Red Victorian hotel is also a popular attraction. An independent theater of the same name operated about a block away from the hotel from 1980 to 2011. The neighborhood is home to many restored Victorian houses. Painted Lady Victorians are a common sight throughout the neighborhood.
The Haight-Ashbury Street Fair is held on the second Sunday of June each year, during which Haight Street is closed between Stanyan and Masonic, with one sound stage at each end.