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The 49 Coolest Neighbourhoods in the World

The Fabled Englishman

The Fabled Englishman

Member
Oct 28, 2017
1,865
Since Era likes a good "top X" list, how about a certain-to-not-be-controversial list of the top 49 "coolest" neighbourhoods in the world:

www.timeout.com

The 40 coolest neighbourhoods in the world

Did your area make this year’s list?
www.timeout.com www.timeout.com

Spoiler for top 10:

1. Nørrebro, Copenhagen
2. Andersonville, Chicago
3. Jongno 3-ga, Seoul
4. Leith, Edinburgh
5. Station District, Vilnius
6. Chelsea, New York
7. XI District, Budapest
8. Ngor, Dakar
9. Sai Kung, Hong Kong
10. Richmond, Melbourne

Leith, I can roll with as the coolest area of Edinburgh, although I still wouldn't list it on a top 10 globally. Richmond is highly, HIGHLY questionable as the "coolest" suburb in Melbourne. I dunno about XI District, Budapest either. Usually, the Pest side is thought of as the main entertainment district, particularly district VII/VIII, but it's also in the unfortunate position of being constantly overrun with Brits these days.
 
IDreamOfHime

IDreamOfHime

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Oct 27, 2017
14,903
Leith for the win!

youtu.be

Sunshine on Leith

Provided to YouTube by Parlophone UKSunshine on Leith · The ProclaimersSunshine on Leith℗ 1988 Parlophone Records Ltd, a Warner Music Group CompanyUnknown: B...
youtu.be youtu.be
 
Christor

Christor

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,600
I live in Andersonville, Chicago funny enough.

Theres definitely a high vibe and culture here, plus we love to do festivals very often. Restaurants, clubs, stores, cafes, etc.
plus, we're not far from Wrigleyville.
 

JDSN

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
5,129
This is some embarrasing hipster shit made by people that have "Wanderlust" tatooed on the back of their elbows.

No one wants to be on Chelsea or in Chamberri, what the fuck
 
Android

Android

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Oct 28, 2017
803
Vancouver
Looks like my hood made the list. Mt Pleasant Vancouver.. welp guess the rents will continue to skyrocket. Commercial drive is better anyways.
 
infinitebento

infinitebento

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Oct 25, 2017
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chicago
andersonville is ass tho lmaooo

literally a bunch of over priced vintage resellers + white gay mens galore. outside of the few poc owned businesses over here, this place is a solid 6/10 at best.
 

Deleted member 17388

User requested account closure
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Oct 27, 2017
12,994
Mmm, Medellín's downtown has some great food and all... But honestly I wouldn't recommend people to come to Colombia when after the current government's (Under the constant regime of genocidal narco-dictator Uribe Vélez & co.) poverty is at all-time high. Probably too dangerous for foreigners, and honestly there isn't anything you won't see in other places and most likely better done... Maybe food, but let's be honest you aren't missing much by not eating our typical food high in carbs. And the cool fruits are exported anyway.
 
DazzlerIE

DazzlerIE

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Oct 25, 2017
3,806
Dublin 8 is an interesting choice for Dublin. Firstly, dubs don't really classify our neighbourhoods like that at all. It's just a postal code really.

secondly, Dublin 8 has four/five distinct neighbourhoods, each with their own vibe. Some are unpleasant (I grew up in one of them)
 
pechorin

pechorin

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Apr 13, 2020
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Chicago being so high up is definitely gonna trigger a lot of conservatives, so I like this list already.
 
Gangster Gastino

Gangster Gastino

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Mar 21, 2018
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Surrey Hills?! Out of all the places to choose in Sydney, Surrey?!! I mean, the food is good and I would go to Single O for coffee when I was going into the office but maaaaaan, there are better choices.
 
rudeboyoslo

rudeboyoslo

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Jan 5, 2018
1,078
Sagene, Oslo (number 21 on the list) is actually where I live! Can confirm it's really nice. I see that some other neighborhoods on the list are being questioned, but as far Oslo is concerened, Sagene is not the most hipster place at all, but definitely one of the most pleasant areas of the city. Good choice! It's killing me that I have to move soon.
 
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OP
The Fabled Englishman

The Fabled Englishman

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Oct 28, 2017
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Tokyo_Funk said:
Agreed, I'd rather go to Fitzy or Prahan anyday over Richmond. Only thing I like about Richmond is the abundance of good Vietnamese/Chinese food.
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I like Richmond a lot and the Swan St restaurant scene has improved dramatically over the last few years. But yeah, it still doesn't really hold a candle to Fitzroy, Prahran, or even Collingwood/Abbotsford in some respects.

This is probably mildly controversial and kind of NIMBY-ish, but the drugs have definitely done a number on the the Viet food scene on Victoria St. I support public injection rooms but it's kind of sad nonetheless.
 
Tokyo_Funk

Tokyo_Funk

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Dec 10, 2018
10,053
The Fabled Englishman said:
This is probably mildly controversial and kind of NIMBY-ish, but the drugs have definitely done a number on the the Viet food scene on Victoria St. I support public injection rooms but it's kind of sad nonetheless.
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No, you're absolutely right. It is a shame. People want to run their restaurants and cafes without anything to drive people away. Especially in this current Covid climate.
 
Glasgow Mega-Snake

Glasgow Mega-Snake

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Oct 28, 2017
2,996
The Fabled Englishman said:
I dunno about XI District, Budapest either. Usually, the Pest side is thought of as the main entertainment district, particularly district VII/VIII, but it's also in the unfortunate position of being constantly overrun with Brits these days.
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Definitely seems like a weird choice, last time I was in BP there were some bars there, but definitely a lot less than in Pest. Nobody's going to Buda for culture or a night out, it's mostly pretty sleepy.
But the article claims it's a recent development? And places like Király utca were definitely really touristy even year ago, also I've heard some ruin pubs there have closed because Pest is getting too expensive. So maybe it's true? Haven't been there in a while

Man with Knife said:
Neukölln lol
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Seems pretty accurate to me actually. I know most of Germany still thinks "Problembezirk", crime and terrible schools when they hear Neukölln. But a lot of nightlife has shifted there, seems like there's new places popping up constantly, while the alternative places are disappearing from Kreuzberg. Tempelhofer Feld being open to the public also has done a lot for Neukölln.
East of Tempelhofer Feld is definitely hipster central in Berlin right now (together with the east of Kreuzberg/south of Friedrichshain)
 
Lulu

Lulu

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Oct 25, 2017
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Chelsea isn't cool, this list is trash
 
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The Fabled Englishman

The Fabled Englishman

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Oct 28, 2017
1,865
Glasgow Mega-Snake said:
Definitely seems like a weird choice, last time I was in BP there were some bars there, but definitely a lot less than in Pest. Nobody's going to Buda for culture or a night out, it's mostly pretty sleepy.
But the article claims it's a recent development? And places like Király utca were definitely really touristy even year ago, also I've heard some ruin pubs there have closed because Pest is getting too expensive. So maybe it's true? Haven't been there in a while
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I was there in 2019. Buda still seemed pretty sleepy to me although I am definitely not a local. Again, though, parts of VII were almost unbearable because of loud British tourists. Every tourist show ever shows off the ruin bars as the main attraction in Pest but the reality is that Szimpla kert and its equivalents have entry lines five million miles long, even during the off-season, and just arent worth the trouble.
 
subpar spatula

subpar spatula

Refuses to Wash his Ass
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Oct 26, 2017
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Mount Pleasant within the top 50, IMO, invalidates this entire thing. It's hipster boomer gen x paradise full of nimbys.
 
Unknownlight

Unknownlight

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Nov 2, 2017
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Android said:
Looks like my hood made the list. Mt Pleasant Vancouver.. welp guess the rents will continue to skyrocket. Commercial drive is better anyways.
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I saw Mount Pleasant on the list and thought "Really? Bullshit." It does have some amazing views though.

mount-pleasant.png
 

Deleted member 14518

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Oct 27, 2017
3,731
DazzlerIE said:
Dublin 8 is an interesting choice for Dublin. Firstly, dubs don't really classify our neighbourhoods like that at all. It's just a postal code really.

secondly, Dublin 8 has four/five distinct neighbourhoods, each with their own vibe. Some are unpleasant (I grew up in one of them)
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Yeah it was a bit weird and the photo is phibsborgh which I'd consider D6 or on the border anyway.

All of them; Kilmainham, Inchicore, Rialto, Islandbridge, and not so much James's Street have got that kind of hipster vibe now - James' can be dog rough still. Coffee shops everywhere. All the butchers are now Masters of their craft etc..

In the last few years Inchicore has turn into a busy little village, there are six trendy coffee shops there now, bananas. I grew up in Inchicore and went to school in James' in the 80s. It nice though if you like coffee. but weird when I think back to the old days.

There's still anti-social elements, scramblers now, nearly killed a woman at the Black Horse. All around Ballyfermot, weaving in and out of the traffic and the guards wont chase them because that causes mayhem. I've rung the ballyer stations and its like "we'll sent out the car". yeah...

I can see the good and the bad with all the development. For the record I do like coffee, then there this:

www.irishtimes.com

Dublin is the second-most ‘coffee-obsessed’ capital in the world

There are 181 coffee shops per 100,000 people in Dublin, but the quality is lower than many cities
www.irishtimes.com www.irishtimes.com

Check out City Edge for what they're planning to do out ballyfermot/ballymount way.
 

kristmen

Member
Sep 22, 2020
270
rudeboyoslo said:
Sagene, Oslo (number 21 on the list) is actually where I live! Can confirm it's really nice. I see that some other neighborhoods on the list are being questioned, but as far Oslo is concerened, Sagene is not the most hipster place at all, but definitely one of the most pleasant areas of the city. Good choice! It's killing me that I have to move soon.
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But is it cool, though?
I don't know that there are any cool neighborhoods in Oslo, it's a pretty boring city.

And the coolest neighborhood in Melbourne is clearly Box Hill.
 
Rehynn

Rehynn

Banned
Feb 14, 2018
737
Yeah, Budapest XI seems like it was included out of pity (I live a minute from there and go there often). I'm sure Bartók Béla út and it's bars and coffee houses is the only reason it's there, plus maybe some nicer parts of the Buda hills, but the district doesn't even feel like one neighborhood at all.
 

bawjaws

Member
Oct 28, 2017
3,650
Leith? I mean it's alright, I guess, but fourth coolest neighborhood in the world? Aye right.
 
subpar spatula

subpar spatula

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Oct 26, 2017
22,290
These lists need to take in median income of residents and net worth. A lot would seem like shit if you saw what it costs. it wouldn't be cool. It'd be dreadful. especially for renters who think living there is awesome.
 
rudeboyoslo

rudeboyoslo

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Jan 5, 2018
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kristmen said:
But is it cool, though?
I don't know that there are any cool neighborhoods in Oslo, it's a pretty boring city.
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Really? There's tons of fun to be had in Oslo. If you consider all of it boring, I don't know what to tell you. I wouldn't live anywhere else personally.
I'd expect a list like this to mention places like Tøyen (which is the cool spot at the moment I guess) or Grunerløkka (which is so played out it's not even funny). Yeah Sagene might not be hipster cool but it's one of the nicest places to actually live.
 
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