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What city in the US has the most hippies/freaks/goths/punks/artist/beatniks?
Where in the US is the uncoventional, conventional? Where is obscure music and art the biggest?
Where in America can one still see guys with goatees and berets playing bongoes while sipping a cappucino at a sidewalk cafe getting ready for a poetry reading?
I have heard allot of people say Portland Oregon has that title, and that if you throw a rock there, you'll hit some skater/punk kid or a hippy.
Others claim that Austin holds the crown while for "bohemia, USA" still others say San Fransisco was and always will be tops. What say ya'll?
Ohh, and spare me, SPARE ME the mention of Williamsburg, Brooklyn. I live close to NYC and go there allot, and I can tell you Williamsburg's idea of an "artist" is a graphic designer for the GAP who listens to Fall Out Boy and thinks he is being edgy by wearing white after labor day. Also, there are only maybe three places there to hear a band and if there is a band playing, you can bet it's some pop"punk" Emo crap.
Thanks to Chairman Rudy, NYC is for yuppies and "Sex and the City" wannabess only.
I'd have to say San Francisco. But its strange, its more of a professional eclectic crowd. You cuold definately find those scenes in NYC, Chicago, LA, Philly, Seattle, Portland...
I'd have to say San Francisco. But its strange, its more of a professional eclectic crowd. You cuold definately find those scenes in NYC, Chicago, LA, Philly, Seattle, Portland...
haha, San Francisco is a smaller, more yuppified version of NYC. That whole REAL hippie/bohemian scene in SF is long gone. You might some pockets of it but generally SF is very yuppie.
I'd go with Portland, a relatively low cost of living is needed for this type of scene as opposed to some faux scene like the OP describes of Brooklyn. Parts of LA are like that but you'll be mixed in with hollywood wannabes too.
Sorry my friend but you missed the bus ! To find what you're looking for you need a time machine ! You may find a few folks trying to keep that scene alive in a few large cities but for the most part that scene is gone daddy o !
Speaking of hippies (not goths/punks/beatniks), Asheville, NC is smaller but has a much higher concentration of grassroots granola bohemians than Portland, Seattle or Austin. These larger cites mostly house poseurs. Other places that have this scene are New Paltz, NY, Northampton, MA, Brattleboro, VT and Garberville, CA.
The scene is still there. Your best bet is to head into the woods of Northern California, the Pacific Northwest or Northern New England. These people haven't populated the big cities for about 40 years.
As for crusty punks, anarchists and itinerant freaks, West Philadelphia is the big city neighborhood that fits the bill the most. There is even a small but solid neo-hippie community there and lots of academic and alternative thought.
Last edited by brattpowered; 07-02-2008 at 08:28 AM..
I just have to jump in hear! someone mentioned Northern California, Pacific Northwest, and North New England as bohemian/hippie enclaves and they would be absolutely correct. However, your major cities in these regions i.e. Seattle and San Francisco have more of a mixed crowd and the culture isn't totally bohemian. My recommendation as far as cities are concerned is to check out Olympia, Wa, Eugene, Oregon, Burlington Vermont, and Berkley California. The only major city in these regions which seems to have completely embraced the bohemian/hippie culture as a whole is Portland Oregon.
Lots of Bohemians in and around Chicago, the first mayor of the current Chicago political machine was a Bohemian, Anton Cermak, The Machine started as an alliance between the city's Irish and Bohemian politicians.
Many Bohemians were on the Southwest side and as they grew more prosperous moved to southwest suburbs like Berwyn, Riverside, Lyons, Westchester.
The Old Prague on Cermak was my favorite Bohemian restaurant.
Today's hippies and yesterday's beatniks are more different than similar to each other. About the only things they have in common is pot smoking and bad BO !
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