Your city's funkiest hood (live, best, state, better)
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Alternative, hipster, not overrun by chain stores/restaurants, maybe not so "polished". Independent vintage clothing stores. Small bars featuring local indie bands, etc.
Location: Cleveland bound with MPLS in the rear-view
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Uptown, Minneapolis: hipsters, emos, goths, GLBT, yuppies, poor, rich, young, old, families, empty-nesters, etc. etc. etc. I've been to and seen weirder places, but for the somewhat conservative state (socially) of MN, it's pretty "funky".
I'm not just talking about the people though. I'm not even mainly talking about the people. What does Uptown have in terms of "funky" stores and restaurants. Are there lots of dive bars with local bands, tattoo parlours, little independent record shops still selling vinyl, independent Mexican burrito places, head shops, poster shops, and the like?
Location: Cleveland bound with MPLS in the rear-view
5,509 posts, read 11,886,010 times
Reputation: 2501
Quote:
Originally Posted by Urban_Hipster
I'm not just talking about the people though. I'm not even mainly talking about the people. What does Uptown have in terms of "funky" stores and restaurants. Are there lots of dive bars with local bands, tattoo parlours, little independent record shops still selling vinyl, independent Mexican burrito places, head shops, poster shops, and the like?
Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes and Yes. Although it's gotten less and less eclectic since the 1970's I hear.
Alternative, hipster, not overrun by chain stores/restaurants, maybe not so "polished". Independent vintage clothing stores. Small bars featuring local indie bands, etc.
Ex:
Kensington Market, Toronto
Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Post pics if you got'em
The Mission District.
Long a working-class hispanic neighborhood, it's had a sizeable influx of hipsters in the last few years. For the most part, you don't see many chain stores - save for Walgreen's and a Safeway further up. There are tons of taquerias, clothing stores, head shops, and an increasing number of hip/gourmet-ghetto places popping up, as well as new clubs and bars. Street vendors sell churros and tacos and kebabs, meaning that the streets smell like searing meat half the time. Sickening to me as a vegetarian, but hey.
I have my issues with the place. The smell of frying fat aside, the streets and sidewalks are absolutely filthy, and it seems like some shops are endless competition to outdo one another in volume. Walking down the street during the day means you have reggaeton and banda pounding from all angles... I hate reggaeton... and the hipsters. Vacant-looking 18-28 year olds wearing absurdly large bifocals and clothing strategically made to look like it was pulled from the bottom of a box at your grandparents' place stumble about and clog up the sidewalk. Unsupervised teenagers spray paint everything, and everything they don't spray paint, some hipster will come along and whimsically do his "tag," which is just a bunch of swirly motions loosely resembling something like letters.
But, a couple of my favorite taquerias (El Farolito and Can-Cun) are there. There are some really good bars on or just off Valencia - Amnesia comes to mind (no pun).
Hard to say with Seattle. Each neighborhood has its own unique funk to it. It's a unique city to begin with, and since most shops are small mom and pop places, it's adding to the uniqueness.
U district has multiple ethnic food places, across the rainbow: from cheap teriyaki and thai noodle places to better places, a few interesting bars, including a microbrew run by students exclusively, and has been quite successful. There's a number of coffeehouses that cater to people from emo to prep, some smoke shops, indian imports, japanese and pan-asian imports, etc. Independent tattoo places next to established barber shop that is straitlaced (LOL). Very eclectic.
Wallingford has a French bakery or two, some tasty pizza places, a few historic movie theaters (like, built in the 20s or around there). There's a few greasy spoons, chocolatiers, indian (Kashmir region, not your run-of-the-mill punjabi or gujarati place), moroccan, and a couple Japanese places. They are all excellent. Throw in a sex themed bakery at the beginning of the main street (45th), it's quite good. There's over a hundred shops in this neighborhood, so I'm sure I'm forgetting quite a few.
Fremont is the historic artsy area but has turned hipster, sadly. Doesn't mean it isn't unique though. Multiple art displays in public show it is. There's also the annual naked bike parade (aka the Fremont Solstice festival), the floats are all designed privately, no corporate money involved. And it's the best damn parade ever. Families with kids come to see as well, it's just a festive atmosphere.
Georgetown is a mixed light industrial and independent artist haven. Awesome pizza, japanese, microbrew beer, bakeries, all set against the backdrop of industrial workings and a growing hispanic presence makes it a unique area. Wouldn't live there. But I enjoy going.
I could go on, but I'd just say Seattle as a whole is unique. I didn't even start with Capitol Hill, Rainier Valley, downtown, Green Lake (awesome for people watching or pickup soccer, exercising), or Queen Anne. Seattle's a left curveball. You either strike out(hate it and can't understand it) or you hit a home run (love it). Luckily I ended up enjoying it.
Hard to say with Seattle. Each neighborhood has its own unique funk to it. It's a unique city to begin with, and since most shops are small mom and pop places, it's adding to the uniqueness.
U district has multiple ethnic food places, across the rainbow: from cheap teriyaki and thai noodle places to better places, a few interesting bars, including a microbrew run by students exclusively, and has been quite successful. There's a number of coffeehouses that cater to people from emo to prep, some smoke shops, indian imports, japanese and pan-asian imports, etc. Independent tattoo places next to established barber shop that is straitlaced (LOL). Very eclectic.
Wallingford has a French bakery or two, some tasty pizza places, a few historic movie theaters (like, built in the 20s or around there). There's a few greasy spoons, chocolatiers, indian (Kashmir region, not your run-of-the-mill punjabi or gujarati place), moroccan, and a couple Japanese places. They are all excellent. Throw in a sex themed bakery at the beginning of the main street (45th), it's quite good. There's over a hundred shops in this neighborhood, so I'm sure I'm forgetting quite a few.
Fremont is the historic artsy area but has turned hipster, sadly. Doesn't mean it isn't unique though. Multiple art displays in public show it is. There's also the annual naked bike parade (aka the Fremont Solstice festival), the floats are all designed privately, no corporate money involved. And it's the best damn parade ever. Families with kids come to see as well, it's just a festive atmosphere.
Georgetown is a mixed light industrial and independent artist haven. Awesome pizza, japanese, microbrew beer, bakeries, all set against the backdrop of industrial workings and a growing hispanic presence makes it a unique area. Wouldn't live there. But I enjoy going.
I could go on, but I'd just say Seattle as a whole is unique. I didn't even start with Capitol Hill, Rainier Valley, downtown, Green Lake (awesome for people watching or pickup soccer, exercising), or Queen Anne. Seattle's a left curveball. You either strike out(hate it and can't understand it) or you hit a home run (love it). Luckily I ended up enjoying it.
Capitol Hill seemed like a pretty major hipster hub to me. I mean, there's an American Apparel and a strip of clubs, and it's close to Seattle U.
..lots of dive bars with local bands, tattoo parlours, little independent record shops still selling vinyl, independent Mexican burrito places, head shops, poster shops, and the like?
East Hollywood, Los Feliz, Silver Lake, Echo Park, Highland Park, Eagle Rock.
Lincoln Heights, Boyle Heights, and West Adams are starting.
I expect Pico Union to do it soon.
Parts of Long Beach definitely qualify.
Venice Beach used to qualify, maybe sort of still does.
Parts of Downtown almost qualify (spring, main).
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