Why the 1970s in San Francisco were way better than you might think

The birth of roller disco in Golden Gate Park

Disco roller skating in the park is still a thing every Sunday, but it all started in the late '70s. According to the Chronicle, Golden Gate Park went from having zero roller skate vendors in 1977 to having 11 of them in 1979.

"Motorists beware. Bicyclists, move over," the Chronicle reported in 1978. "Something’s happening in Golden Gate Park and even the birds and the bees and the flowers and the trees — not to mention that species called pedestrians — are trying to stay out of the way of what one man calls the 'roller phenomenon.'"

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Disco roller skating in the park is still a thing every Sunday, but it all started in the late '70s. According to the Chronicle, Golden Gate Park went from ... more Photo: Vici MacDonald, The Chronicle Photo: Vici MacDonald, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 29 Caption Close Why the 1970s in San Francisco were way better than you might think 1 / 29 Back to Gallery

Like any city, San Francisco has evolved over the years, but what decade has been the city's best? Well it's subjective and SFGATE has been taking readers back, making arguments in this series for the '60s and '80s.

As we churn through the years, perhaps no decade has a harder case to make than the 1970s, but we’re going to try. Click through our gallery for a wide array of reasons, from cultural experiences to engineering milestones to a cleaner BART.

The '70s saw a distortion of the previous decade's Summer of Love idealism into something darker, and nowhere was this more apparent than in San Francisco.

How bad did it get? Two of the most horrific moments in the city’s history – the Jonestown Massacre involving the SF-based People’s Temple and Harvey Milk’s assassination – happened nine days apart in November 1978.

See also: Why the 1980s was the best decade for San Francisco

But the '70s did hold a special significance. The Haight-Ashbury was blighted and crime-ridden after the Summer of Love, but it grew up and evolved. The Castro became the Castro. And the earliest versions of the devices you’re looking at right now were first presented in San Francisco this decade.

This was the last decade before anyone had heard of a yuppie, when neighborhoods were open to a wider range of incomes. Until this decade, if you wanted to watch a championship Warriors team, you had to live in the 70s.

We also got Journey.