Researcher ORCID Identifier

0009-0006-7745-319X

Graduation Year

2025

Date of Submission

4-2025

Document Type

Campus Only Senior Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

History

Reader 1

Lily Geismer

Reader 2

Michael J. Fortner

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Terms of Use for work posted in Scholarship@Claremont.

Rights Information

© 2025 Finn T. Jáuregui

Abstract

This thesis explores the social and economic factors that contributed to the rise and decline of Haight-Ashbury's counterculture between 1950 and 1970, arguing that its collapse stemmed from a failure to define and control the meaning of its own rebellion. As mass media redefined Haight-Ashbury into a spectacle, affluent youth who increasingly sought entertainment and performance flooded the neighborhood. These newcomers overwhelmed Haight’s fragile infrastructure and accelerated its decline. The transformation of the Haight from a haven of grassroots experimentation into a commodified entertainment zone mirrors its earlier history as the site for entertainment—suggesting that a culture unable to innovate will inevitably repeat its own collapse. In the aftermath, San Francisco adopted restrictive zoning policies to stabilize property values. These policies helped lift Haight-Ashbury out of its economic slump by making it newly investable—but in doing so, the city discovered it could also control the culture of neighborhoods. Although the Haight had already brought itself to its knees, rising property values signified a definitive end to the conditions that had once allowed the counterculture to flourish. Ultimately, the Haight-Ashbury taught San Francisco that restricting new development could uplift declining areas while also serving as a powerful tool for shaping community identity.

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