Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

The San Diego hipster constantly threatens to move to Portland but doesn’t

The Portland hipster keeps threatening to move to Detroit/Baltimore/Tallahassee.

The Portland hipster thinks Willamette Valley pinot noir is better than burgundy.
The Portland hipster thinks Willamette Valley pinot noir is better than burgundy.

Dear Hipster: I think you can probably guess where this is going, but, how about the difference, if any, between San Diego hipsters and Portland hipsters. — Janelle

Sponsored
Sponsored

Portland hipsters have acquired some legendary statues these days on account of the exaggerations of that one TV show, but they actually aren’t so different from our local hipsters. Understanding the difference between a San Diego hipster and a Portland hipster is like settling the conflict between metal and metalcore. Outside observers seldom see the differences, till they make the odious misstep of telling a true metalhead that Killswitch Engage or As I Lay Dying is a metal band — or so I’m told by the few Bolt Thrower fans I’ve known. Both classes of hipster love to DIY whatever, sniff craft beer, and consume copious volumes of medical marijuana for unspecified anxiety disorders; but the devil is in the details.

San Diego hipster received his first tattoo (something Japanese) at age 16, from a world-renowned tattoo artist...who later did a stint in prison for (allegedly) beating up a Minnesotan tourist who wanted a Vikings logo on his chest. The San Diego hipster constantly threatens to move to Portland but doesn’t. He is totally down with the Guadalupe Valley wine scene, even though he doesn’t know or care much about wine per se, but stuff from Mexico just seems legit. He rode his bike to work 259 out of the 261 working days in 2016, and he only missed those two because it had the audacity to rain, so he called in sick. He thinks you should come to visit San Diego, and he will show you around all the hot spots. He has friends who work at breweries!

The Portland hipster received her first tattoo (an earthen jar of sauerkraut and a single leaf of thyme discretely inked onto her left shoulder blade) at age 42, from a friend who bought the tattoo gun as a means of self-expression during a period of personal turmoil. The Portland hipster keeps threatening to move to Detroit/Baltimore/Tallahassee, or anywhere susceptible to an “unhip” designation, if one more silly California hipster relocates. She thinks Willamette Valley pinot noir is better than burgundy, and she isn’t afraid to tell you. She has to drive to work due to circumstances beyond her control, but it’s cool because (a) she has a Prius; (b) she drives the speed limit for maximum safety and efficiency; and (c) the time in the car lets her catch up on Audible biographies of famous women industrialists. She heard Seattle was nice for vacation this time of year.

Of course, maybe you meant “hipsters from Portland, Maine,” in which case the difference is much starker. All the hipsters in Maine smell faintly of lobster and don’t know how to say “chowder” without sounding like a bad character actor in an old made-for-TV version of a Stephen King novel. Far Portland — as opposed to Near Portland — might as well be The Shipping News as far as San Diego hipsters are concerned. Of course, it might be an undiscovered gem of dilapidated warehouse buildings ripe for repurposement as craft breweries/artisan chowderhouses, but nobody would let the secret out if that were the case, because that’s how you get a lot of hipster carpetbaggers

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Tigers In Cairo owes its existence to Craigslist

But it owes its name to a Cure tune and a tattoo
The Portland hipster thinks Willamette Valley pinot noir is better than burgundy.
The Portland hipster thinks Willamette Valley pinot noir is better than burgundy.

Dear Hipster: I think you can probably guess where this is going, but, how about the difference, if any, between San Diego hipsters and Portland hipsters. — Janelle

Sponsored
Sponsored

Portland hipsters have acquired some legendary statues these days on account of the exaggerations of that one TV show, but they actually aren’t so different from our local hipsters. Understanding the difference between a San Diego hipster and a Portland hipster is like settling the conflict between metal and metalcore. Outside observers seldom see the differences, till they make the odious misstep of telling a true metalhead that Killswitch Engage or As I Lay Dying is a metal band — or so I’m told by the few Bolt Thrower fans I’ve known. Both classes of hipster love to DIY whatever, sniff craft beer, and consume copious volumes of medical marijuana for unspecified anxiety disorders; but the devil is in the details.

San Diego hipster received his first tattoo (something Japanese) at age 16, from a world-renowned tattoo artist...who later did a stint in prison for (allegedly) beating up a Minnesotan tourist who wanted a Vikings logo on his chest. The San Diego hipster constantly threatens to move to Portland but doesn’t. He is totally down with the Guadalupe Valley wine scene, even though he doesn’t know or care much about wine per se, but stuff from Mexico just seems legit. He rode his bike to work 259 out of the 261 working days in 2016, and he only missed those two because it had the audacity to rain, so he called in sick. He thinks you should come to visit San Diego, and he will show you around all the hot spots. He has friends who work at breweries!

The Portland hipster received her first tattoo (an earthen jar of sauerkraut and a single leaf of thyme discretely inked onto her left shoulder blade) at age 42, from a friend who bought the tattoo gun as a means of self-expression during a period of personal turmoil. The Portland hipster keeps threatening to move to Detroit/Baltimore/Tallahassee, or anywhere susceptible to an “unhip” designation, if one more silly California hipster relocates. She thinks Willamette Valley pinot noir is better than burgundy, and she isn’t afraid to tell you. She has to drive to work due to circumstances beyond her control, but it’s cool because (a) she has a Prius; (b) she drives the speed limit for maximum safety and efficiency; and (c) the time in the car lets her catch up on Audible biographies of famous women industrialists. She heard Seattle was nice for vacation this time of year.

Of course, maybe you meant “hipsters from Portland, Maine,” in which case the difference is much starker. All the hipsters in Maine smell faintly of lobster and don’t know how to say “chowder” without sounding like a bad character actor in an old made-for-TV version of a Stephen King novel. Far Portland — as opposed to Near Portland — might as well be The Shipping News as far as San Diego hipsters are concerned. Of course, it might be an undiscovered gem of dilapidated warehouse buildings ripe for repurposement as craft breweries/artisan chowderhouses, but nobody would let the secret out if that were the case, because that’s how you get a lot of hipster carpetbaggers

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Second largest yellowfin tuna caught by rod and reel

Excel does it again
Next Article

Poway’s schools, faced with money squeeze, fined for voter mailing

$105 million bond required payback of nearly 10 times that amount
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader