What is the most eclectic city or town in your state? (transplants, live)
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Location: northern Vermont - previously NM, WA, & MA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NMnative
Truth or Consequences, New Mexico without a doubt! "Eclectic" was invented when this township came into being in the late 1800's. The town boasts cowboys, rodeos, and fiddler contests on the one hand; descendants of Apaches, Spanish settlers, and dust bowl survivors on the other. T-or-C is home to a Tibetan monk and is also a hippy haven. It has a spiritual name--and if you don't believe me, spend a week in Truth or Consequences and "feel" it. The restaurants are varied and fabulous. A drive-in with green chile cheeseburgers, gourmet Italian cuisine, down home western BBQ, delicious vegetarian fare, and two health food stores are all found in downtown T-or-C. You can order Texas-style grilled steaks uptown, and homegrown New Mexico chile everywhere. The weather is fabulous: "chilly today and hot tamale" ;-). The largest hot springs aquifer in the US is right underfoot. For a capper (if water is the lifeblood of the west, and it is)--T-or-C is the heart of New Mexico with Caballo Lake to the south and Elephant Butte Lake to the north, with fishin', swimmin', and sandy beaches galore. Is that eclectic, or what?
I like T or C. My partner & stopped there to go to one of the hot springs resorts and spas (Sierra Grande). I was surprised to see it was such a cool town but not overrun with tourists liek Santa Fe. Chatting with some NM locals they were telling me the people in T or C are so laid back because of the lithia content in the water (validating the "must be something in the water cliche"). I read up on the history of the place, apparently Geronamo use to soak in the hot springs there after battle to restore his spirit and stamina. I'll be visiting there again on return trips for sure once I get settled in New Mexico.
I'm a little confused on eclectic here...I thought the definition was:
"Deriving ideas, style, or taste from a broad and diverse range of sources."
It sounds like you're asking what the weirdest/quirkiest cities or towns in the state are, though? Eccentric, maybe? I'm not sure.
If you're talking the official definition of eclectic, in Texas Houston probably wins. If you're talking quirkiness then yes, Austin overall wins by a long shot, far more than Galveston which I don't think is particularly "quirky". There are probably small towns that are that way too though, perhaps Marfa? Montrose is that way too, but I wouldn't say it's quirky. It has lots of character, perhaps more than South Austin, and is definitely classier, but IMO that doesn't mean quirky or weird or eccentric.
By neighborhood, South Austin, particularly the 78704 zip code is where this effect exists the most. Here are some examples:
south austin museum of popular culture | Flickr - Photo Sharing! (http://www.flickr.com/photos/venturist/3386705011/ - broken link)
South Austin Museum of Popular Culture | Flickr - Photo Sharing! (http://www.flickr.com/photos/8293436@N04/2444965975/ - broken link)
South Austin Museum of Popular Culture | Flickr - Photo Sharing! (http://www.flickr.com/photos/fciron/2515536704/ - broken link)
This dude just passed away and you would have thought the Pope died.
RIP Leslie Cochran | Flickr - Photo Sharing! (http://www.flickr.com/photos/markr82/6818332094/ - broken link)
Leslie Cochran on Sixth | Flickr - Photo Sharing! (http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnengler/429992505/ - broken link)
You also have Hippie Hollow (can't link photos to that ), The Cathedral of Junk (recently dismantled), G'raj Mahal, Chicken Sh*t Bingo at the Little Longhorn Saloon (very fun), etc. etc.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kar54
Boulder (Pearl Street Mall). Runner up: Manitou (most all of Manitou). Enough said.
No wayy, Manitou is WAY weirder than Boulder...Boulder is like Austin in the sense that people buy into the weirdness a little too much, whereas in Manitou it just...happens I used to live in Old Colorado City and I've seen some STRANGE stuff in Manitou, lol.
Location: northern Vermont - previously NM, WA, & MA
10,676 posts, read 23,093,336 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MtnLion512
I'm a little confused on eclectic here...I thought the definition was:
"Deriving ideas, style, or taste from a broad and diverse range of sources."
Nitpicking notwithstanding, sure we can have wierd, quircky, eclectic, unusual, unconventional ect. I think I elaborated all that in the OP.
Diversity and eclectic environments can be synonymis with all that, basically the opposite of the usual vanilla cookie cutter homogenized environments such as this...
Florida 2008 - 06232008 - 084 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dozerbones/2673635841/ - broken link) by Robert Blackie (http://www.flickr.com/people/dozerbones/ - broken link), on Flickr
Quote:
Originally Posted by MtnLion512
This dude just passed away and you would have thought the Pope died.
RIP Leslie Cochran | Flickr - Photo Sharing! (http://www.flickr.com/photos/markr82/6818332094/ - broken link)
Leslie Cochran on Sixth | Flickr - Photo Sharing! (http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnengler/429992505/ - broken link)
I've seen this guy on TV and heard about him. Considering all the T-Shirts "Keep Austin wierd" I saw for sale on 6th street, I can see how the community would mourn such a loss. I heard he ran for mayor and actually garnered a good number of votes.
Last edited by Champ le monstre du lac; 03-28-2012 at 03:00 PM..
Truth or Consequences, New Mexico without a doubt! "Eclectic" was invented when this township came into being in the late 1800's. The town boasts cowboys, rodeos, and fiddler contests on the one hand; descendants of Apaches, Spanish settlers, and dust bowl survivors on the other. T-or-C is home to a Tibetan monk and is also a hippy haven. It has a spiritual name--and if you don't believe me, spend a week in Truth or Consequences and "feel" it. The restaurants are varied and fabulous. A drive-in with green chile cheeseburgers, gourmet Italian cuisine, down home western BBQ, delicious vegetarian fare, and two health food stores are all found in downtown T-or-C. You can order Texas-style grilled steaks uptown, and homegrown New Mexico chile everywhere. The weather is fabulous: "chilly today and hot tamale" ;-). The largest hot springs aquifer in the US is right underfoot. For a capper (if water is the lifeblood of the west, and it is)--T-or-C is the heart of New Mexico with Caballo Lake to the south and Elephant Butte Lake to the north, with fishin', swimmin', and sandy beaches galore. Is that eclectic, or what?
I saw Truth Or Consequence on a map one time and was VERY interested in looking up that place.
In New Hampshire I would say Keene. It is a very eclectic town with a lot of interesting types of people. It is home to Keene State College and the Free State Movement. It tends to have artsy, anti-establishment, and libertarian components.
This is a hard one for Tennessee. For the OP's definition I think East Nashville comes closest. Which , to me should be called north Nashville, but anyway it is the neighborhood just over the river.
Quote:
"Deriving ideas, style, or taste from a broad and diverse range of sources."
Knoxville might have a shot at this because the University and ORNL draw people in from a wide variety of nationalities and cultures. There's a quirky component, too, but it's not as concentrated.
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), The Cathedral of Junk (recently dismantled), G'raj Mahal, Chicken Sh*t Bingo at the Little Longhorn Saloon (very fun), etc. etc.
I used to live in Old Colorado City and I've seen some STRANGE stuff in Manitou, lol.
Ever heard of Marfa, Texas?
