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When your location is, like, so retro

Flannel grafting the unsuspecting burgs

Pondering "unslumming"
Pondering "unslumming"

Hey Hipster:

The dictionary defines “slumming” as, “to visit slums, especially from curiosity...to visit or frequent a place, group, or amusement spot considered to be low in social status.” Technically, this is what moving to someplace uncool would be already. But, you know, that won’t do. So how about “unslumming” as the new term for moving someplace formerly seen as uncool? Also, makes it seem like hipsters are doing the place a favor, which admittedly may depend.

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— Mat Wahlstrom, from a very hip ZIP code

Among the suggestions coming in from readers, “unslumming” will work best if the destination city is one that the average, non-hipster citizen wouldn’t consider “edgy,” by which most people mean “dangerous.” As everyone knows, inhabiting urban centers formerly considered too rough-and-tumble for the nuclear family is a young hipster’s rite of passage. Appearances can be deceiving, however, since the unslummed Ohio burgs of Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Toledo all report higher rates of violent crime than NYC, at least according to the FBI.

“Hipstopher Columbus” (thanks, Grant) would be the prototypical hipster pioneer, but Columbusing is already somewhat popular as a way to castigate the so-called “discovery” by white people of things that non-white people enjoyed perfectly well and of their own accord — such as blues music, the word “bae,” and the vast majority of the Western Hemisphere. While they don’t tend toward political correctitude, few hipsters are likely to find the 15th-century mariner a brother-in-arms.

David suggests “flannel grafting” as the process by which hipsters insert themselves as cultural scions onto the mature rootstock of sleepier cities, bringing with them the desirable traits of craft-beer appreciation and ironic barbering.

Crafty reader John thinks that “retrocation” fits the bill. His clever portmanteau of “retro” and “location” just about perfectly captures it. Enjoy your hipster swag, John.

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Extended family dynamics

Many of our neighbors live in the house they grew up in
Pondering "unslumming"
Pondering "unslumming"

Hey Hipster:

The dictionary defines “slumming” as, “to visit slums, especially from curiosity...to visit or frequent a place, group, or amusement spot considered to be low in social status.” Technically, this is what moving to someplace uncool would be already. But, you know, that won’t do. So how about “unslumming” as the new term for moving someplace formerly seen as uncool? Also, makes it seem like hipsters are doing the place a favor, which admittedly may depend.

Sponsored
Sponsored

— Mat Wahlstrom, from a very hip ZIP code

Among the suggestions coming in from readers, “unslumming” will work best if the destination city is one that the average, non-hipster citizen wouldn’t consider “edgy,” by which most people mean “dangerous.” As everyone knows, inhabiting urban centers formerly considered too rough-and-tumble for the nuclear family is a young hipster’s rite of passage. Appearances can be deceiving, however, since the unslummed Ohio burgs of Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Toledo all report higher rates of violent crime than NYC, at least according to the FBI.

“Hipstopher Columbus” (thanks, Grant) would be the prototypical hipster pioneer, but Columbusing is already somewhat popular as a way to castigate the so-called “discovery” by white people of things that non-white people enjoyed perfectly well and of their own accord — such as blues music, the word “bae,” and the vast majority of the Western Hemisphere. While they don’t tend toward political correctitude, few hipsters are likely to find the 15th-century mariner a brother-in-arms.

David suggests “flannel grafting” as the process by which hipsters insert themselves as cultural scions onto the mature rootstock of sleepier cities, bringing with them the desirable traits of craft-beer appreciation and ironic barbering.

Crafty reader John thinks that “retrocation” fits the bill. His clever portmanteau of “retro” and “location” just about perfectly captures it. Enjoy your hipster swag, John.

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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.

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Jayson Napolitano’s Scarlet Moon releases third Halloween album

Latest effort has the most local vibe
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Temperature inversions bring smoggy weather, "ankle biters" still biting

Near-new moon will lead to a dark Halloween
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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
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