If you are a resident of Silver Lake in Los Angeles, then you are residing in the best hipster neighborhood in the U.S.
A Forbes survey showed that Silver Lake has some of the nation’s best food markets and boasts of an eclectic set of residents lending a multi-cultural feel to the neighborhood. It also has a flourishing art scene, which makes it an ideal hipster town.
“It is amazing how many artists, musicians and designers and more traditionally ‘hipster’ occupations live in Silver Lake,” Dabney Lawless, vice-president of Nextdoor.com, a private social network for neighbourhoods, told Forbes. “It just blows every other neighborhood away.”
San Francisco’s Mission District is next on Forbes’ list of 20 best hipster neighborhoods. According to the San Francisco Travel Association, the Mission has the highest concentration of street murals. These murals adorn buildings, fences and walls throughout the district. The Mission also has an arts centre totally dedicated to murals.
Other neighbourhood towns that made it to the list include Williamsburg, Brooklyn; Wicker Park, Chicago and Pearl District, Portland.
However, there are many who feel that the list does not do justice, as most of the top cities have not retained its bohemian character. “The fact that many of the neighborhoods have been gentrified for close to a decade, and now have million-dollar homes and finance-type denizens” is one of the most glaring issues, according to Curbed.com.
In some of these localities, rents are also high. For instance, a number of artists from Williamsburg, which came in third on the list, have moved to Bushwick, Greenpoint and Bedford-Stuyvesant to escape escalating rents, Curbed.com reported.
Los Angeles magazine deputy editor Nancy Miller, too, is not happy about the list. In a Los Angeles Magazine blog, she comments on Silver Lake being crowned the hippest hipster destination, “Silver Lake is actually the decoy hipster neighborhood to distract the mainstream from the real hipster neighbourhood."
So, how do you know you are in a cool hipster town? “Nobody uses the word hipster. Ever,” Miller points out.
Other Hipster Neighborhoods
Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Wicker Park, Chicago
Pearl District, Portland
H Street Corridor, Washington DC
East Austin, Austin
Capitol Hill, Seattle
The Uptown, Oakland
Warehouse District, New Orleans
Downtown Portland, Portland
North Loop, Minneapolis
North Park, San Diego
Northern Liberties, Philadelphia
Hampden, Baltimore
Little Five Points, Atlanta
LoHi, Denver
Allston-Brighton, Boston
Wynwood, Miami
Lower Westheimer, Houston
