Why so many hipsters in Austin? (Houston, Dallas: best city, crime, home)

[earthisle]

Because it's a hip city with enough population for a hipster subculture to thrive

[Gunion Powder]

Hipster =/= hip

[radiolibre99]

Austin doesn't have real hipsters they have scenesters and yipsters (yuppie-hipsters) or techies. Austin hasn't had real deal dumpster diving, Le Tigre listening, Goodwill shopping, hipsters for a long time. The only place I know of where I've seen real deal old school hipsters is Portland, OR. The slacker variety of the old hipster looking Austin is all but replaced by the gentrified techie Austin.

[cBach]

Originally Posted by TheOverdog

Ft Worth doesn't have dry heat. It's insanely humid there in the summer. El Paso does, as it's basically in the high desert.

AUstin is more hipster because it has a huge university (50,000 college-aged kids) and most of which are relatively wealthy and as such can concentrate on 'hipster' things. Ft Worth's local university is much smaller (15,000 at most) and as such has a smaller 'gravitational pull' on the city.

Only small areas of Austin are actually 'hipster', most the city is generic suburbs you'd find anywhere in the US. Most of Ft Worth is the same suburbia though it's downtown and stockyards areas are pretty cool.

El Paso's university is much poorer and much more hispanic, and generally nobody refers to hispanic people as 'hipster' even if they like the same things as whites. It's a cultural thing.

Neither El Paso or Ft Worth have super great job markets. Ft Worth is absolutely dominated by the east side of the Dallas/Ft Worth metroplex. But job prospects really depend on what your job is, so either one may be great for your specific industry.

Portland, Seattle, Boston, NYC, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington DC, and Minneapolis MN are all way more 'hipster' than Austin is - it's actually way overrated in that department due to the big college and music and movie festivals.

Ft. Worth is drier than Austin and even Dallas. Remember, as you head west, each mile it gets progressively drier. The western suburbs of Ft. Worth are actually quite dry.

[earthisle]

Originally Posted by Gunion Powder

Hipster =/= hip

I guess it depends on what your definition of hip is... But if hipsters aren't hip then I have no idea what your definition would be

[Westerner92]

Hipsters are middle and upper class people who adopt bohemian and hippie aesthetics without adopting the lifestyle.

[KathrynAragon]

OP, check out Fort Worth for yourself. Personally, it's my favorite Texas city. Fort Worth has a unique culture that is a mixture of cowboy and cosmopolitan.

[Clever nickname here]

Originally Posted by Bradpaisley94

Not being from Texas, or even from the US, can someone tell me why Austin repeatedly is referred to as the No.1 (or atleast top 5) hipster city in the US while I also read that other cities in Texas such as El Paso, Fort Worth, San Antonio and more often are listed as 'least hipster cities' in the US?

I mean sure, Austin is a big city but so is San Antonio and Houston, and sure Austin is democrat voting, but so is El Paso, what is it about Austin?

I am asking because I am thinking about moving away from (mega-hipster liberal) Sweden to Texas and I am looking for a city with low hipster population and lot of country music culture (as I love country music, as well as dry heat, solid job market and low crime). So maybe El Paso is the one?

Do you like Tejano music? El Paso is over 80% hispanic and Mexico's drug wars spill over the border at times.

[Clever nickname here]

Originally Posted by KathrynAragon

OP, check out Fort Worth for yourself. Personally, it's my favorite Texas city. Fort Worth has a unique culture that is a mixture of cowboy and cosmopolitan.

And the DFW hipsters love it!

[KathrynAragon]

Originally Posted by Clever nickname here

And the DFW hipsters love it!

Well, I'm not a hipster and don't have any hipster friends, so I wouldn't know about that. But I personally love Fort Worth's culture. I love that you can spend the morning in the Arts District touring world class art exhibits, have a great meal at the Fort Worth Food Park, and then catch a rodeo at the stockyards later that evening.