Wicker Park Named Among Hottest Hipster 'Hoods

All hail the Wicker Park hipsters, because as of 2012, they’re living in the best hipster hangout in the Midwest.

According to a report by Forbes Magazine, Chicago’s very own Wicker Park neighborhood ranked fourth in United States in a race to be the hottest place for hipsters. With help from Nextdoor.com, the article pulled data from more than 250 neighborhoods in the biggest cities to calculate the winners.

“The Midwest Mecca of hipsterdom started attracting artists and young adults in the late 1980s,” the story says of Wicker Park. “Nestled around a park, this artists' community is known for its galleries, music venues, boutiques and food options. It's also home to a smattering of Victorian mansions built by wealthy 19th century merchants and beer brewers.”

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Wicker Park may have ranked fourth, but the top five only included one neighborhood in Portland, a surprising fact after IFC’s Portlandia hit the airwaves.

Here’s Forbes’ top five:

1. Silver Lake, Los Angeles, CA
2. Mission District, San Francisco, CA
3. Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York
4. Wicker Park, Chicago, IL
5. Pearl District, Portland, OR

The winners were determined based on a multitude of criteria, including the area’s walkability, number of coffee shops per capita, assortment of food trucks, frequency of farmers markets, amount of locally owned businesses and the percentage of residents working in the arts.

David Morely, a research associate with the American Planning Association and Wicker Park resident, told Forbes he loves the neighborhood’s public transportation, housing, variety of shopping and lively community.

“I love being able to do my shopping in the neighborhood and being able to see lots of people in the streets,” he told Forbes.

Want to read the full report? Check out the article on Forbes.com.