I still can’t give the exact definition of the word 'hipsters' – something like people who are aware of all the trends before anyone else, right? – but I know I live in the middle of hipster-town.
Silver Lake, California, home of the intelligentsia coffee shop, the endless series of thrift shops and eclectic restaurants running along Sunset Boulevard, home of Red-Hot-Chili-Peppers’-Flea-owned conservatory of music, home of the Sunset Junction Fair (well, no more), home of the Elliott Smith’s memorial wall, home of all the most famous architectural houses (Richard Neutra even lived there!), home of the same-sex couples, home of the reservoir (the lake!), home of many artists, designers and indie musicians, from Lou Barlow to Jenny Lewis (even Beck and Tom Waits used to live there),… I know I am starting to sound like its chamber of commerce, but this place is the essence of cool and hip!
And this time it has been officially confirmed: according to BrooklynVegan, Forbes Magazine has made the list of the hippest hipper neighborhoods in the US, and Silver Lake is number one! We beat San Francisco, Brooklyn, Austin and even Portland!! I thought Portland would be number one to be honest…
This is what they had to say about my neighborhood:
‘Nestled between Echo Park and Los Feliz, the trendy community boasts some of the nation’s most lauded food trucks and farmers markets, a multicultural blend of residents with eclectic professions, and a booming arts scene. Even the buildings exude an avant garde aesthetic a hipster could love: Silver Lake is home to some of the most celebrated modernist architecture in the country, including Richard Neutra’s VDL Research House and John Lautner’s Silvertop.’
Yes, it’s an artsy bohemian neighborhood if you like to be ahead of the curve, and I know that I sound like a snob now.
But how did they determine this? They ‘took a quantitative approach’, ‘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’.
All right, I totally agree, the farmers markets are nice, these food trucks produce more fish tacos than hipsters can eat, and who ever said walking was a crime in LA?
They also looked at the ‘Hipness’ Index, based on how often words associated with hipness (art, gallery, designer, musician) appeared on each Nextdoor neighborhood’s site pages, and we won! Here are the other winners:
1. Silver Lake, Los Angeles
2. Mission District, San Francisco
3. Williamsburg, Brooklyn
4. Wicker Park, Chicago
5. Pearl District, Portland
6. H Street Corridor, Washington D.C.
7. East Austin, Austin
8. Capitol Hill, Seattle
9. The Uptown, Oakland
10. Warehouse District, New Orleans