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In terms of media overexposure, floods of transplants moving there, and quickly rising rent/cost of living, and encroaching gentrification, which city has it worse for having the reputation of being an "it" city? Which one has unhappier locals?
And which will be the next up-and-coming city to receive the same treatment as the two?
Oh, I probably should have mentioned Asheville as an example of another city which, while not approaching Austin/Portland levels of hype, does have its fair share of transplants moving in and upsetting local residents.
Is Portland even an "It" city anymore? Austin is for sure, but I feel like Portland's hype has stabilized. It seems like Nashville and Austin are the new "It" cities at the moment
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Originally Posted by Conrad Gray
How about Minneapolis? And how come that city doesn't have the same hype of Austin/Portland? It's the weather, isn't it
I think that once a city get's to a certain point, the hype doesn't seem as big. Cities like Austin, Portland, and Nashville are hyped up as being the next go to place because they're just starting to make strides and people start to see them as trendy places to move to. The Twin cities are past that point and have already made it to major city status.
Austin and Portland are what Minneapolis was in the 80s, Prince and punk rock made it the cool second tier city until the cycle moved on to Seattle. Styles have moved on but in terms of underlying muse Minneapolis is similar to the city it was then - just larger and more cosmopolitan. As someone who was a young person here back then, and engaged in creative pursuits I would say that being the cool city du jour was good for Minneapolis because it helped build up a lot of indie cultural institutions and a critical mass in the creative community, but it was also good when that period ended because it has allowed to become a more complete city rather than just a monoculture of cool kids.
One of the things that happens when a city becomes the cool city du jour is that a lot posers and hangers on move in who don't add much to a cities creative output. They are just interested in being cooler than everybody else like it is some sort of competition. They dress like the artists and musicians, and hang out and party in the same places but ultimately they are consumers of culture rather than producers. In the 80s version of Minneapolis those people eventually destroyed the culture surrounding the music scene by making life a competition to see who could be the most punk rock and do the hardest drugs. The creative types who made the scene in the first place all pulled back from it a bit and you were left with the hangers on. Eventually the hangers on all moved to the new spots (Seattle and Brooklyn) and the creative community here could begin to heal (which it has). I feel like this is the basic life cycle of all "cool cities". Austin and Portland are almost certainly going to be more interesting places in the future for what they are experiencing now, but they will be better places to live and more fully fleshed out as cities once this particular stage is over.
The thing is, Portland hasn't really had the jobs to justify its appeal. But as the show says Portlandia, Portland's where 20 somethings go to retire and work at a coffee shop and play their guitar and sing on the streets.
Austin' economic prowess has grown and matched its appeal. When I went to TAMU, virtually everyone, yes even in Aggieland, wanted to live in Austin.
I certainly think so...that is why I moved there...twice!
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