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New York used to do grit the best, but the city is getting glossier and glossier every year.
This is going to come out very East Coast biased, but I prefer gritty cities, but somehow, LA's grit just depressed me. Maybe it's because it's so different from the fantasy Los Angeles I'd imagined all those years.
yes. and yet San Francisco still manages to do grit very well. God save the Tenderloin!
For example, I certainly could have included Los Angeles in my list, but I look at LA as a city that came of age in the 20th century; LA obviously comes up at the top of the list when one thinks of noir, and noir and grit are related, but as far as "true grit", LA, IMHO, doesn't come across as being part of the grit era (others will disagree) and even its climate tends to negate the gritty qualities.
NYC still has a lot of grit, even in some of the super gentrified neighborhoods
I love NYC because it has a chic grit element, something I don't see in other cities. Soho for example is now a trendy fashion mecca and outrageously expensive, but it still has that gritty nature with the walkups and fire escapes.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cpomp
I love NYC because it has a chic grit element, something I don't see in other cities. Soho for example is now a trendy fashion mecca and outrageously expensive, but it still has that gritty nature with the walkups and fire escapes.
If you're saying what I think you are, Philadelphia has that "chic grit" element in places like Northern Liberties and Fishtown, as do other cities with gentrified neighborhoods in previously industrial or dilapidated areas. Basically, chic grit is any gentrified area that has newer or rehabbed buildings in a formerly older, run-down place which still contains some less desirable buildings. A reconverted factory into apartments, for example. Maybe I'm misinterpreting what you mean by chic grit?
If you're saying what I think you are, Philadelphia has that "chic grit" element in places like Northern Liberties and Fishtown, as do other cities with gentrified neighborhoods in previously industrial or dilapidated areas. Basically, chic grit is any gentrified area that has newer or rehabbed buildings in a formerly older, run-down place which still contains some less desirable buildings. A reconverted factory into apartments, for example. Maybe I'm misinterpreting what you mean by chic grit?
Yes, but not to the scale of NYC. Yes many cities have industrial gentrified areas like Fishtown, but the refined element is much more prominent in Manhattan neighborhoods than anywhere else I have seen. If that makes sense.
NYC still has a lot of grit, even in some of the super gentrified neighborhoods
I was gonna say this^^^. LES, EV, Chelsea, SoHo, Williamsburg, Greenpoint and Bushwick come to mind.
Quote:
Originally Posted by qworldorder
If you're saying what I think you are, Philadelphia has that "chic grit" element in places like Northern Liberties and Fishtown, as do other cities with gentrified neighborhoods in previously industrial or dilapidated areas. Basically, chic grit is any gentrified area that has newer or rehabbed buildings in a formerly older, run-down place which still contains some less desirable buildings. A reconverted factory into apartments, for example. Maybe I'm misinterpreting what you mean by chic grit?
What you're thinking of is gentrified hipster industrial grit. The NYC equivalent of this would be Williamsburg and Bushwick. This is actually my favorite kind of grit, but very different from the upscale, chic, SoHo grit.
SoHo is not like that at all. I really think that SoHo is one of the most unique + distinct urban neighborhoods in the world and I don't think Philly has an equivalent.
I think the closest thing Philly has to something like SoHo would be Walnut St/Rittenhouse area because of rich people and upscale shopping, but the architecture is nothing alike. SoHo has very distinct architecture. Also, Rittenhouse didn't really seem that gritty to me at all.
As someone familiar with both Philly and NYC areas, I guess I would describe SoHo in Philly terms as if you took King of Prussia and turned it into a Manhattan neighborhood, with the upscale shopping and insanely rich people and all, but also added an element of grittiness and streetart to it.
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