Be sure to wear flowers in your hair - San Lorenzo during the '60s
You may have heard the old pop song:
"If you're going to San Francisco, be sure to wear some flowers in your hair"
This update isn't about San Francisco, but a different city north of it.
Here's a new playlist for San Lorenzo's oldies station to put you in the mood.
In the 1960s, San Lorenzo was just like any west coast city. In the year 1965, one of the city's newest monuments was built, called the World Peace square. (Ironically during the controversial Vietnam War)
As you can see, not very many modern glass buildings quite yet. And also some older buildings that were replaced with glass towers in the '80s and '90s.
Jackson Square pretty much looked the same as it does today, without some of the more modern buildings around.
Much of the city's more trendy and cosmopolitan underground was burgeoning in some of the more run-down neighborhoods. One of them, Rockford, is an area near the freeway and was originally known for being a hub for homeless people.
The Fremont District was culturally diverse like it still is, although the Vietnamese & Southeast Asian community that now exists here did not come yet. It would become one of the many neighborhoods to become infested, according to locals, by so-called "flower children."
The city's victorian neighborhoods were attractive to artistic people.
Next thing you know, some of the neighborhoods became filled with colorful shop signs and banners. The most vivacious was the area around Collins Street, which at the height of the counterculture movement became filled with colorful vans and colorful people.
Outside the city & suburbs one could find hippie communities... that is, as long as you knew people who knew other people who knew where to look.
However, after the explosion of Hippie culture into the public conciousness in the area, a couple of the spiritual getaways became more well-known. One such place, run by Guru Abhayasinha (real name Hank Thompson), became infamous when he was arrested by the IRS for fraud.
More pics:
As a bonus, here's a totally trippy picture I made for San Lorenzo university.
Thanks for reading! This update is sponsored by:
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