Yelp's Toronto hipster map may paint Queen Street West as the city's corridor to canning, chic couture and cycling but how does it compare to places like San Francisco, London and New York?
For the most part, Toronto's hipsterdom is relegated just to a lane of between Landsdowne and Spadina Ave that's peppered with American Apparels, Urban Outfitters and boutique outlets offering organic everything. If anything, Toronto's hipster map is a mainstream-shunning snowflake that's unique to North America.
In New York City, the city's hipster culture is concentrated in two camps: Manhattan's SoHo district and in the Brooklyn neigbourhood of Williamsburg. Much like NYC, Austin and Chicago also feature hotspots pulsating with plaid and pretentiousness.
San Diego on the other hand features multiple areas of hipsterdom, though they all seem to be congregating around Balboa Park like actual hipsters would do around a free phone charging station at Cochella. Who knew posting hundreds of Instagram photos could kill your iPhone's battery so quickly?
For the uninitiated, Yelp's heat maps are generated using reviews based around popular keywords like brunch, cheap, and PBR and yes, even the term hipster. Just take a look at this review submitted by Adonis V., a Yelp User on his time at Dear Mom, a bar in San Francisco:
Dear Mom,
I'm wearing skinny jeans, skinny ties and thick rimmed glasses. I thought you would appreciate the vibe I'm bringing to your place cause I seem to fit here perfectly. I certainly like ample space you have in your house but I don't appreciate you charging me cash only when in this modern day and age, everyone carries plastic...Even me!
I really do appreciate your cooking and your falafel burger is very tasty. I threw a big event here with my snowboarding buddies with nearly 100 peeps showing up and you didn't mind the drinking and debauchery that ensued. You even gave me a special on the the Chimay and a whiskey shot...You are the coolest Mom in the world!
Sincerely,
Hipster guy
Yup. Sounds about right. To see how other cities to compare in terms of hipster hotspots, check out the gallery below.
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