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 next über-hip locus will be in the South or the North

Nature abhors a hipster vacuum

This isn't even my final form.
This isn't even my final form.

Dear Hipster:

I’ve been enjoying the hipster town comparisons to San Diego. Now I’m curious: if you didn’t live here, what hipsterville would you call home? Please don’t answer Austin, Brooklyn, or Portland.

Sponsored
Sponsored

— G. Galad

I will answer neither Austin nor Brooklyn nor Portland, because they are saturated with lesser hipsters and, unless offered a leadership position in the local hipster government, I would need to go somewhere with more of a hipster vacuum. Nature abhors a hipster vacuum, and whenever one occurs, hipsters rush in from far and wide to equalize the hipster pressure differential. Of course, because the average hipster carries an ironic momentum equal to the weight of his vintage vinyl collection (usually substantial) multiplied by the force of his detachment from contemporary consumer culture (usually greater than 14 megahips per flannel), Johnny Come Latelys to the hipster picnic can’t stop themselves before tumbling into the teeming hipster metropolis, already one-hipster-too-many for comfort. This creates a hipster glut, which sets up the next spillover into whatever hipster void should next open.

Predicting the arrival of the new scene is among the most valuable skills a hipster can possess; tantamount to being the first hillbilly to find oil in Texas or, if you’re feeling supercynical, the first vulture to spot the wildebeest carcass poaching on the open plains. Either way, it’s wide-open opportunity for the enterprising hipster who happens to be the first cool kid around.

But, as Mom, Dad, and most of my friends past and present always used to (and still) say, “DJ, enough with the obscure trivia. Answer the damn question!”

With a choice of anywhere in the U.S., it would be a toss-up between Fairbanks, Alaska, and Nashville, Tennessee.

I know, I know. That sounds super random, but it’s the result of extensive hipster studies, not mere conjecture. I strongly suspect the next über-hip locus will be in the South or the North. Hipsters, craving a more authentic hipster experience, will gravitate toward the woodsy, lumberjackish lifestyle of the Arctic Circle. In the alternative, they may seek to dabble in the carnivorous, barbecue belt zeitgeist; a more genteel version of which so many urban hipsters have adapted to coastal city life. In either case, it would be a kind of Saturn Return for the contemporary hipster, an inevitable evolution to the next form.

The latest copy of the Reader

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

3 Tips for Creating a Cozy and Inviting Living Room in San Diego

This isn't even my final form.
This isn't even my final form.

Dear Hipster:

I’ve been enjoying the hipster town comparisons to San Diego. Now I’m curious: if you didn’t live here, what hipsterville would you call home? Please don’t answer Austin, Brooklyn, or Portland.

Sponsored
Sponsored

— G. Galad

I will answer neither Austin nor Brooklyn nor Portland, because they are saturated with lesser hipsters and, unless offered a leadership position in the local hipster government, I would need to go somewhere with more of a hipster vacuum. Nature abhors a hipster vacuum, and whenever one occurs, hipsters rush in from far and wide to equalize the hipster pressure differential. Of course, because the average hipster carries an ironic momentum equal to the weight of his vintage vinyl collection (usually substantial) multiplied by the force of his detachment from contemporary consumer culture (usually greater than 14 megahips per flannel), Johnny Come Latelys to the hipster picnic can’t stop themselves before tumbling into the teeming hipster metropolis, already one-hipster-too-many for comfort. This creates a hipster glut, which sets up the next spillover into whatever hipster void should next open.

Predicting the arrival of the new scene is among the most valuable skills a hipster can possess; tantamount to being the first hillbilly to find oil in Texas or, if you’re feeling supercynical, the first vulture to spot the wildebeest carcass poaching on the open plains. Either way, it’s wide-open opportunity for the enterprising hipster who happens to be the first cool kid around.

But, as Mom, Dad, and most of my friends past and present always used to (and still) say, “DJ, enough with the obscure trivia. Answer the damn question!”

With a choice of anywhere in the U.S., it would be a toss-up between Fairbanks, Alaska, and Nashville, Tennessee.

I know, I know. That sounds super random, but it’s the result of extensive hipster studies, not mere conjecture. I strongly suspect the next über-hip locus will be in the South or the North. Hipsters, craving a more authentic hipster experience, will gravitate toward the woodsy, lumberjackish lifestyle of the Arctic Circle. In the alternative, they may seek to dabble in the carnivorous, barbecue belt zeitgeist; a more genteel version of which so many urban hipsters have adapted to coastal city life. In either case, it would be a kind of Saturn Return for the contemporary hipster, an inevitable evolution to the next form.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

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

Houston ex-mayor donates to Toni Atkins governor fund

LGBT fights in common
Next Article

Reader writer Chris Ahrens tells the story of Windansea

The shack is a landmark declaring, “The best break in the area is out there.”
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