The big winner is Silver Lake in L.A. I was there, taking pictures, in 2008:We assessed each area’s walkability according to Walkscore.com; the number of neighborhood coffee shops per capita...; the assortment of local food trucks (and their ranking according to Zagat’s); the number and frequency of farmers markets; the selection of locally owned bars and restaurants; and the percentage of residents who work in artistic occupations. We also factored in Nextdoor’s Neighborhood “Hipness” Index, which is based on how often words associated with hipness (for example art, gallery, designer, musician) appeared on each Nextdoor neighborhood’s site pages, and Nextdoor conducted a survey in which members sounded off on their communities.
Anyway and obviously, the neighborhoods that get identified this way are targeted to be taken over by the middle-aged professional types who like arty ambiance and coffee and booze too. I mean, this list is in Forbes.
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Any neighborhood listed in Forbes as hipster is too current..
Steve Sailer has dubbed these places "Whitopias."
For "White Utopias."
Portland, OR and Woodstock, NY are both Whitopias.
The criteria seems to be:
1. The populace is 90% or more white
2. SWPL tastes dominate the market
3. Everybody in town bitches about the terrible racist white people who don't live in a Whitopia
Woodstock satisfies all these criteria!
Three of the cities (Washington, Chicago, and Mpls) are among the highest crime rates in the nation.
Fun, but dangerous.
Apparently Wicker Park has more theft and burglary but less assault, Robbery, and vandalism than the rest of Chicago.
AOL wrote in 2010, "Areas to Avoid in Chicago
3. If you're new to Chicago, beware of apartment ads for places in "West Wicker Park." Locals know that West Wicker Park is code for Humboldt Park. Located on the West Side, Humboldt is a huge neighborhood with many areas that are green, tree-lined, and quiet. But Humboldt also has its seedier areas, and the distinction between safe places and areas to avoid in Chicago can quickly shift and blur depending on the block. So to stay safe, simply avoid it altogether. As a general rule, when south of Lincoln Park, be wary of anything west of Western Avenue. And remember not to fall for the West Wicker Park bit.
That is just a few blocks from Wicker Park.
But shut up because hipsters!
Weird. Link broken: here.
One of my favorite blogs, Die Hipster, chronicles the disintegration of Williamsburg in Brooklyn into a hipster neighborhood infested with 35 year olds still locked in their extended adolescence.
$10 hand crafted artisanal chocolate bars! Chocolate hand selected in South America and shipped to Brooklyn in a wooden square rigger!
I've been to the Pearl District in Portland several times. It's nothing, but women paying high prices for material gratification, and a few men interested in men.
There are some hetero men with women, but they are only there to open their wallets for the ladies. They know that all women are buy-sexual.
I think it's more of a Women-topia.
Ahead of the curve!
No mention of PBR?
Just don't go to Berlin Germany with your hipsteriness. You are no longer welcomed there, according to some residents. For some reason, germans are not inclined to really appreciate the OWS crowd. At least foreign OWS crowds. Their own, are no doubt, "special".
Is there an adjective missing after "somewhat?" I guess it's a judgement call, but I'm putting my money on the missing word being "odd."
The criterion used by these various surveys is often laughable. Just prior to Katrina the Utne Reader hailed the "Lower Garden District" in New Orleans as the "Hippest Neighborhood in America." Be it known that The Warehouse Dist mentioned in the Forbes art. begins just a hop, step & a jump from the Lower Garden Dist on the other side of the Interstate Miss River Bridge (the "Crescent City Connection") approach which bisects the two. Not all that much has changed in the intervening years, yet each is somehow totally off the radar screen of one survey or the other.
And I loved the way the article casually described Silver Lake as being "nestled" between Echo Park and Los Feliez. Makes it sound as if each neighborhood is but a short stroll from each other or a bike-ride at best. LOL laughable! For those not familiar with the area remember, we're talkin' LA here, sportsfans! Each of those "neighborhoods" are in the equivalent of separate galaxies, lol!
Using somewhat... criteria? What?
PS: Although, I must admit, on reflection, by LA standards I guess the "neighborhoods"
ARE "close." lol.
The big winner is Silver Lake in L.A. I was there, taking pictures, in 2008.
So you're saying you knew about this Hipster community before it went mainstream? How very hipster of you; did you get a PBR while you were there....you know, ironically?
One additional "hipster" comment: The LA Band Silver-Sun Pick-ups (just now gaining maj prominence nation-wide and whose maj hit is "Panic Switch" [2009]) live in Silver Lake.
Best hipster neighborhoods
Where no regular guy can be found,
Where you're out of luck if you hang around
For "We're all in it together" nods.
Think about this para from the article, Want to roll out of bed and pick up a cup of single-origin java from a coffee shop on your corner? Or grab a gourmet grilled cheese sandwich from a food truck parked down the street? Does a dream weekend include foraging for organic veggies at a farmers market, and realize you've just described Barry Ozero's dream community, complete with snob whitebread taste.
I take it dingy bars are "hip"?
Didn't Baby Boomers set up their own enclaves back in their day?
There were far fewer Gen Xers so the impact of their enclaves were not so pronounced.
Now the Boomer kids are out there being adolescent adults and since there are alot of them compared to Gen X, their enclaves will naturally have more of an impact.
Most of these kids will marry, get career jobs, have kids, move to the suburbs and then roll their eyes in shame when their kids laugh at pictures of their stupid clothes and haircuts.
Enclaves of insufferable prigs.
Do remember, like most Boomers weren't hippies, most Boomer kids are not hipsters.
I also suspect (due to social fragmentation) that in their older years they won't, or be able to, romanticize themselves or falsely elevate their sense of selves as much as the hippie boomers.
"Virgil Xenophon said....Silver Lake as being "nestled" between Echo Park and Los Feliez(sic). ..... Each of those "neighborhoods" are in the equivalent of separate galaxies, lol!"
As I'm sitting in my home in SILVERLAKE (NOTE: ONE word NOT two) which has an Echo Park zip code where I can look West to VERY NEARBY Los Feliz (you got the spelling wrong on that one as well!) whose zip code covers that other end of Silverlake I know whereof I speak.
These are some of the oldest communities in Los Angeles which have an amazing significance in arts, politics, film, etc.
And since Sunset Blvd. runs through all three, we can easily walk, bike, drive or take a bus from neighborhood to the other.
"Using somewhat... criteria? What?"
Sorry. I word got dropped out in the editing. Fixed.
Stuff White People Like or rather, the resurgence of yuppies.
I love that the picture of the Hipster San Diego neighborhood features a nice prominent Starbucks. Can't get more Hipster than that!
As the boomers move on to "Retirement Village of the Damned"
By the way, Wicker Park was home for many years to both Mike Royko and Nelson Algren. Royko succomed to second-wife-itis and moved to Lake Shore Drive. Algren declared the area and town to be post hip and departed to New Jersey.
Pfft. Silver lake has been artsy trendy for *decades*. I don't think it's the most hipster. It's just always been very gay and not quite as expensive as something near the coast, so it gets influxes of younger blood.
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