Call them hip codes.
Brooklyn could also be shorthand for ‘cool’ on every continent except Antarctica by now, however the actual Brooklyn fell far short on a recent list of the most well liked blocks on the Third Rock, with only one puzzling pick from the Borough of Churches making the grade.
The arbiters of taste at Timeout, which has just released an inventory of the 38 coolest neighborhoods on the earth, seem like mostly over the USA, as a matter of fact — one lone district within the Land of The Free, way out on the West Coast, was allowed into the Top 10 this 12 months.
To actually get in with the in-crowd lately, you’ve got to move to France’s second city — the artsy area of Notre-Dame du Mont in Marseille took first prize within the chic-stakes for its “rebellious spirit” and “jovial, laid-back feel of a neighborhood market,” the list editors wrote.
“Named after a church, this decidedly unholy area is made up of colourful cul-de-sacs, graffiti-covered alleyways, streets lined with plane trees and twisting staircases that lead down from Cours Julien,” the experts explained.
Recent arrivals from Paris, which discovered the underdog city’s charms en masse in the course of the pandemic, could be found “mingling with a various crowd of punks and their dogs, women in colourful robes, and salty old sailors sipping 8.6 beer,” the writers assured.
Naturally, “cool” is a subjective term — does one place more weight on bars, street art or scene-y cafes? Nevertheless, Timeout defined hip neighborhoods as areas that reflect “the absolute best of their cities – its culture, community spirit, nightlife, food and drinks — all condensed in a single vibey, walkable district.”
To compile this Mount Rushmore of radical urban sectors, the approach to life publication had their global network of editors and writers supply their decisions, before vetting them against the world’s “one-of-a-kind local flavor,” amongst other criteria.
They then compiled them into an inventory of 38 places which are allegedly cooler than the opposite side of the pillow.
“This 12 months’s list is an actual mix of unusual, neglected districts which have only just reached their moment and historically “cool” neighborhoods experiencing a renaissance,” Grace Beard, travel editor at Time Out, told CNN Travel.
Clocking in second was Mers Sultan, in Casablanca, Morocco, which apparently is a paragon of hipness because, well, it’s not attempting to be.
“It’s still real, with nary a stylish coffee shop (or trendy anything, really) in sight,” the publication stated, hailing Mers Sultan because the “preferred place to live for Casablanca’s young artists and culture-sector staff.”
Rounding out the highest five coolest enclaves were Pererenan in Bali, Indonesia, Seongsu-dong in Seoul, South Korea — billed as “Seoul’s answer to Brooklyn” — and Kerns in Portland, Oregon.
Timeout said they liked the latter for its small-town vibes.
But while Kerns was the one US neighborhood in the highest ten, it’s still a step up from last 12 months’s rankings, which gave the Home of The Brave a good colder shoulder last 12 months, frosting the country out completely.
Roughly halfway down the list of zaniest zones, behind the likes of Warsaw, Poland and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, NYC is represented at No. 17 by Flatbush, called NYC’s “coolest neighborhood” for its mixture of Caribbean cultures.
“You see this community thriving in spots like Peppa’s Jerk Chicken, Lips Cafe and Bodega Lounge and, in fact, on the annual West Indian Day Parade that dances up Eastern Parkway every Labor Day weekend,” author Shaye Weaver wrote.
Other domestic spots on the list included Little River, Miami (No. 12), East Hollywood, Los Angeles (No. 26) Mount Nice, Washington D.C. (No. 29) Brewerytown, Philadelphia (No. 32), Logan Square, Chicago (No. 34) and Union Square in Somerville, Mass. (No. 38).
The Top 10 Coolest Neighborhoods within the World in 2024
1. Notre-Dame du Mont, Marseille, France
2. Mers Sultan, Casablanca, Morocco
3. Pererenan, Bali, Indonesia
4. Seongsu-dong, Seoul, South Korea
5. Kerns, Portland, USA
6. Stokes Croft & St Paul’s, Bristol, UK
7. Chippendale, Sydney, Australia
8. Principe Real, Lisbon, Portugal
9. Glória, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
10. Windsor, Melbourne, Australia
Call them hip codes.
Brooklyn could also be shorthand for ‘cool’ on every continent except Antarctica by now, however the actual Brooklyn fell far short on a recent list of the most well liked blocks on the Third Rock, with only one puzzling pick from the Borough of Churches making the grade.
The arbiters of taste at Timeout, which has just released an inventory of the 38 coolest neighborhoods on the earth, seem like mostly over the USA, as a matter of fact — one lone district within the Land of The Free, way out on the West Coast, was allowed into the Top 10 this 12 months.
To actually get in with the in-crowd lately, you’ve got to move to France’s second city — the artsy area of Notre-Dame du Mont in Marseille took first prize within the chic-stakes for its “rebellious spirit” and “jovial, laid-back feel of a neighborhood market,” the list editors wrote.
“Named after a church, this decidedly unholy area is made up of colourful cul-de-sacs, graffiti-covered alleyways, streets lined with plane trees and twisting staircases that lead down from Cours Julien,” the experts explained.
Recent arrivals from Paris, which discovered the underdog city’s charms en masse in the course of the pandemic, could be found “mingling with a various crowd of punks and their dogs, women in colourful robes, and salty old sailors sipping 8.6 beer,” the writers assured.
Naturally, “cool” is a subjective term — does one place more weight on bars, street art or scene-y cafes? Nevertheless, Timeout defined hip neighborhoods as areas that reflect “the absolute best of their cities – its culture, community spirit, nightlife, food and drinks — all condensed in a single vibey, walkable district.”
To compile this Mount Rushmore of radical urban sectors, the approach to life publication had their global network of editors and writers supply their decisions, before vetting them against the world’s “one-of-a-kind local flavor,” amongst other criteria.
They then compiled them into an inventory of 38 places which are allegedly cooler than the opposite side of the pillow.
“This 12 months’s list is an actual mix of unusual, neglected districts which have only just reached their moment and historically “cool” neighborhoods experiencing a renaissance,” Grace Beard, travel editor at Time Out, told CNN Travel.
Clocking in second was Mers Sultan, in Casablanca, Morocco, which apparently is a paragon of hipness because, well, it’s not attempting to be.
“It’s still real, with nary a stylish coffee shop (or trendy anything, really) in sight,” the publication stated, hailing Mers Sultan because the “preferred place to live for Casablanca’s young artists and culture-sector staff.”
Rounding out the highest five coolest enclaves were Pererenan in Bali, Indonesia, Seongsu-dong in Seoul, South Korea — billed as “Seoul’s answer to Brooklyn” — and Kerns in Portland, Oregon.
Timeout said they liked the latter for its small-town vibes.
But while Kerns was the one US neighborhood in the highest ten, it’s still a step up from last 12 months’s rankings, which gave the Home of The Brave a good colder shoulder last 12 months, frosting the country out completely.
Roughly halfway down the list of zaniest zones, behind the likes of Warsaw, Poland and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, NYC is represented at No. 17 by Flatbush, called NYC’s “coolest neighborhood” for its mixture of Caribbean cultures.
“You see this community thriving in spots like Peppa’s Jerk Chicken, Lips Cafe and Bodega Lounge and, in fact, on the annual West Indian Day Parade that dances up Eastern Parkway every Labor Day weekend,” author Shaye Weaver wrote.
Other domestic spots on the list included Little River, Miami (No. 12), East Hollywood, Los Angeles (No. 26) Mount Nice, Washington D.C. (No. 29) Brewerytown, Philadelphia (No. 32), Logan Square, Chicago (No. 34) and Union Square in Somerville, Mass. (No. 38).
The Top 10 Coolest Neighborhoods within the World in 2024
1. Notre-Dame du Mont, Marseille, France
2. Mers Sultan, Casablanca, Morocco
3. Pererenan, Bali, Indonesia
4. Seongsu-dong, Seoul, South Korea
5. Kerns, Portland, USA
6. Stokes Croft & St Paul’s, Bristol, UK
7. Chippendale, Sydney, Australia
8. Principe Real, Lisbon, Portugal
9. Glória, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
10. Windsor, Melbourne, Australia
