Perhaps it comes as no surprise that hipster culture continues to have its appeal. There’s just something about the vintage aesthetic that continues to attract those wishing to go against the crowd. As such, it’s understandable that this subculture would congregate in many cities across the country. Recently, LawnStarter ranked the best cities for hipsters in 2021 and out of the 150 selected, New Jersey’s own Jersey City ranked among the top five. Here’s why.
Anti-Mainstream Factors
For its survey of 150 cities, LawnStarter used four units of measurement to grade a city’s “hipster” score. These units were: Fashion, Lifestyle, Culture, and Food and Drink.
For each unit, a group of 23 anti-mainstream metrics were considered and weighted. For example, under “Fashion,” the survey looked at how many thrift stores a city had per 100,000 residents. Under “Lifestyle,” a city’s willingness to be biking-friendly and environmentally conscientious were factored into the results. Meanwhile, “Culture” examined “Antique Shops” and “Record Stores per 100,000 residents,” and “Food and Drink” took “Urban Gardening-Friendliness” into account.
Each city received an overall score out of 100 possible points based on these factors. They also received a numerical rank for each of the four units. From there, a city’s overall rank was determined, placing the most hipster city in the top rank and the least of the sample cities in the bottom spot.
Photo by Edward Mer
Where Jersey City Ranks In The Survey
One might expect, and would be correct in doing so, that cities like San Francisco, California and Portland, Oregon would rank highly on the list. Indeed, these two respectively ranked first and second overall. But what was surprising was how well Jersey City did in the survey.
Jersey City was considered the fifth most hipster-friendly city out of the entire set. It received an overall score of 59.34. The number one hipster-friendly city of San Francisco scored 63.64, while the least hipster-friendly city of Amarillo, Texas scored 7.4. Jersey City’s rankings for the four categories are just as notable.
Map Courtesy of LawnStarter
For “Fashion,” Jersey City achieved fifth rank. In comparison, San Francisco’s “Fashion” rank was 30. Jersey City’s “Culture” rank of eight bested the other Bay Area hipster-friendly city, Oakland, California, which came in at number nine. For “Food and Drink,” Jersey City also ranked in the eighth spot. Its lowest ranking was for “Lifestyle,” for which it earned the rank of 17.
LawnStarter also included a graphic breaking down some of the anti-mainstream metrics used in the survey. Under Culture’s “Art Events per 100,000 residents,” Jersey City placed second, just under Yonkers, New York, and just above Newark, NJ.
It’s clear that New Jersey has its fair share of members of the hipster crowd. And based on this survey, Jersey City might very well be their central location.
Have any thoughts about how Jersey City was ranked among best hipster cities? Let us know in the comments.
Feature photo Jonathan Roger
About the Author/s
Jared Berberabe is a senior at Ramapo College of New Jersey, majoring in English and Literary Studies and minoring in Spanish. When not writing, he enjoys practicing the piano.
