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Scratching the Surface: America’s Oddball Neighborhoods
Venice, Los Angeles, CA
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Jun 6, 2013 — American movies about high school use the cafeteria as a metaphor for teenage life. Jocks, preps, skaters, goths, and geeks all sit at different tables, only interacting with one another if they absolutely have to. Often, the film plot involves extenuating circumstances that force a popular kid to form an unlikely, but heartwarming bond with an outcast, leading to long-lasting friendship or romance.
U.S. cities are a lot like high school cafeterias, with a variety of neighborhoods standing in for the infamous, character-defining tables. Unfortunately, much like the movies, people are often too scared to leave their seat and venture to another side of the dining hall.
Jocks might initially be put off by the emo/goth vibe of New York City’s Bushwick area, but will be happy to find some of the Big Apple’s best breweries there. Similarly, Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles has the look of a tatted-up, alt-music enthusiast, yet houses mainstream, popular pubs and eateries like The Village Idiot and Blue Jam Café.
Washington, D.C., is home to the bohemian Adams Morgan region, chock-full of eccentric boutiques, outdoor markets, and vintage shops that open on their wacky owners’ whims. But cool kids would be remiss to skip this capital city locale as it also boasts exquisite eateries, lounges, and clubs.
If there’s anything Americans should take away from their high school movies, it’s that one shouldn’t feel bound to a specific cafeteria table. Likewise, grown-ups shouldn’t be afraid to try out a seemingly strange hood once in a while. It could be the start of a blockbuster friendship.
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Venice
Includes: Marina del Rey. A vibrant oceanfront neighborhood with maybe the slowest rate of gentrification around, Venice is known as a melting pot of artists, musicians, young professionals, multicultural residents, surfers, skaters, vagabonds, backpackers, and anyone else who shuns commercial, conservative society. A compelling mix of. . . more -
Melrose
The one-mile long stretch of Melrose Avenue between Fairfax and La Brea spent three decades as the center of the underground and alternative scene in Los Angeles. Although the area has lost a bit of its edge in recent years, it still maintains much of its funky, offbeat nature, marked by the graffiti that covers the walls and storefronts. . . more -
Chinatown / Nolita
A maze of busy thoroughfares and cobblestone pathways, Chinatown is a veritable explosion of food, culture, and people. By day the neighborhood swarms with tourists and locals from all over New York perusing the many specialty food shops, haggling over bootleg watches and knock-off handbags, and enjoying authentic dim sum and Peking duck at. . . more -
Bushwick
Bushwick might be quite a ways off the beaten path, but for those post-punks, indie kids, and headbangers looking for the gritty DIY bar and music scene that has been priced out of other areas, there’s nowhere better in New York to find it. The neighborhood is known to be a little dangerous at night, but those willing to go the extra mile. . . more -
The Haight
San Francisco’s Haight has come a long way since the flower-powered 60s, when it was the epicenter of the Summer of Love and overrun with free-spirited and freely fornicating hippies from all over the world. But just as it’s often said that those who can remember the 60s probably weren’t there, present-day Haight inhabitants probably weren’t. . . more -
Castro
Once a quiet suburb of row houses, the Castro is now synonymous with San Francisco’s gay culture, and home to a wealth of bars, restaurants, cafés, and trendy stores that cater to just about everyone, regardless of their bedroom proclivities. In the wake of a civil rights movement that first took hold a decade earlier, the 1970s saw the. . . more -
Adams Morgan
Packing more bars into a short stretch than anywhere else in DC – which makes the area both a surefire nighttime hotspot and a carmageddon parking nightmare – Adams Morgan has such a reputation for late-night rowdiness that residents call the main drag of 18th Street “The Liquoridor,” a moniker kept alive by the throngs of Friday-happy college. . . more
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What’s your favorite weird neighborhood in the U.S.?