Where do the hipsters hang?

[BPLive]

Hawthorne << you mention... are there many of these 'hipsters' here? or what is here? any hippies? inbetweens?

[hml1976]

Well, Williamsburg is mostly full of lawyers and entertainment executives who used to be or think they are hipsters, people who can afford 5K a month for a tiny loft. So if you want something like that, the Pearl would be right. If you want Boreum Hill or Fort Greene, then Hawthorne. For true hipster "I'm broke but creative and spend 90% of my money on clothes but live in a dump" I have absolutely no idea

[Metlakatla]

Stumptown Coffee, Kenny and Zukes, Clyde Commons, those types of places are good.

[opticcurve]

I agree with the person who mentioned the Williams/Vancouver corridor. I also think the areas around Mississippi Ave and Alberta St. are much more what you're looking for than the Hawthorne area. Plus, they will be less expensive. Lots of artist and musician types in those neighborhoods.

[jag216]

The districts that will interest you are:

Belmont - more hippie than hipster, but viable.
Hawthorne - very hippie IMO.
Sellwood - more established artistic community - especially if into alternative health, etc.
Sunnyside
E Burnside between 10th and 28th
Mississippi Ave as stated above, Alberta, Albina and Killingsworth - do note that these are areas still undergoing renewal - and that experiment extends north along the MAX corridor (Interstate Ave) and at times west toward St. Johns.

The Pearl does not strike me as hipster enough to call home.
NW 18th-25th between Glisan and Quimby may also be of interest

[sarella]

Dude, the guy who told you to roam around the Pearl obviously doesn't know what a genuine PDX hipster is. A true hipster hates the Pearl- too full of "yuppies".

Hipsters tend to rent rooms in old houses through North Portland. Lots of the ****ers have moved to my neck of the woods, which borders on the Kenton neighborhood. A true hipster now loathes what is being called the Alberta Arts District (NE Portland) these days (though they will frequent bars over and don't forget, Last Thursday). Don't worry though, you can safely rent a room in NE Portland and still feel safe and comfy amidst a sea of educated kids who try to look poor (not too far out, meaning don't go past 50th street or so).

But yeah, these days hipsters are all about North Portland. Mississippi Avenue area, any neighborhood around Peninsula Park, neighborhoods off of North Interstate. That's the place to look. It's cheaper over here but it's gonna get spendier as more rich white kids who try to be poor keep moving in.

[heatherinaustin]

Mikeisnottoast,

holy crap, laughed so hard I nearly peed my past. your honesty is refreshing. you'll fit in in PDX just fine from what I saw when I visited last month. If it helps (and again, I don't living PDX yet but equally hipster Austin), we ran into the black frame glasses, skinny jeans, book reading crowd at Pine State Bisquits on Belmont. Awesome food btw.

[Yhbv24]

When I lived there (moved around a year or so ago), some places were Hawthorne and 34th-40th area, Belmont 30th-40th area and the Mississippi area. Also Alberta St.

There are plenty of bars, coffee shops, secondhand clothing shops, and just funky shops in general.

Some actual places you should maybe visit: Aalto Lounge, Stumptown (any of them), Coffeehouse NW, Pied Cow, Powell's, Roadside Attraction, some McMenamins bars, Kenny & Zukes, Tube, Yes & No and Ground Kontrol. There are heaps more, but that should be good. At least, those were popular when I was there.

Take this from a guy who rode a brakeless fixie, was a barista, wore skinny jeans, and moved to the hipster capital of New Zealand =p.

Portland is too small to have its own Williamsburg, it's more like a large Williamsburg itself.

EDIT: Also, the food carts (at night) on Hawthorne and 12th-ish, especially Potato Champion.

[UrbanAdventurer]

Originally Posted by Mikeisnottoast

I'm sure this will get lots of resentful replies, but long story short, I'm a college student who's transferring to Portland State in the fall. I've seen a lot of people, for fear of damaging their egos dance around being overt about this, but I'm gonna be too the point since vague questions get vague answers. I'm one of those annoying kids with the skinny jeans, black frame glasses, tattoos, and ironic t-shirts. Which neighborhood, since every town I've lived in or visited has had a specific one, is the one where people similarly conformed in their self-righteous and pretentious concept of counter culture congregate in as their main base of operations. In effect, what is to Portland as Williamsburg is to Brooklyn?

inner SE Portland is going to have a pretty Williamsburg'ish feel to it, but there are hipster pockets and hangouts all over the city, even on the downtown side.

[UrbanAdventurer]

Originally Posted by eightiesfan

Whatever neighborhood has the largest corporate owned generic shopping mall. Just look for this place.

This is suburban mall rat stuff, which is rather different. Your classic hipster would not be a big fan of any of this. Quite the opposite.

Originally Posted by sarella

Dude, the guy who told you to roam around the Pearl obviously doesn't know what a genuine PDX hipster is. A true hipster hates the Pearl- too full of "yuppies".

Yeah, Pearl is a yuppie enclave all the way. If there's any hipsters there, they traded in their skinny jeans and chuck taylors in for designer jeans and manolos a long time ago.