[la_mode]

Every big city has SWPL-elements, but it's starting to gain popularity in regional cities as well (opposed to liberal college towns which have always leaned SWPL). Dumb events like "Zombie Pride Parades" which SWPL's love are common now in cities like Omaha, Des Moines, or Boise. Places which don't immediately come to mind when someone thinks SWPL.

Another hallmark of SWPL is a town crier mentality. These people are convinced their city is the best place in the world for the most part and get extremely angry if you disagree.

The major southern cities of Dallas, Houston, or Atlanta have strong SWPL elements, but nowhere near on par with the strongholds. In the stronghold cities, the SWPL-faction literally defines the culture of the place.

[lycosidae]

Yeah, I agree... I think a little SWPL is fine (personally, I dig farmer's markets for better products) -- but it goes too far when the overall culture is changed.

(10-30-2014 01:33 PM)la_mode Wrote:  

Every big city has SWPL-elements, but it's starting to gain popularity in regional cities as well (opposed to liberal college towns which have always leaned SWPL). Dumb events like "Zombie Pride Parades" which SWPL's love are common now in cities like Omaha, Des Moines, or Boise. Places which don't immediately come to mind when someone thinks SWPL.

Another hallmark of SWPL is a town crier mentality. These people are convinced their city is the best place in the world for the most part and get extremely angry if you disagree.

The major southern cities of Dallas, Houston, or Atlanta have strong SWPL elements, but nowhere near on par with the strongholds. In the stronghold cities, the SWPL-faction literally defines the culture of the place.

[Sp5]

(10-30-2014 12:47 PM)Brian Shima Wrote:  

Sp5 I didnt get the impression it was at all when I was there. Cattle what part of Houston are you talking about? It gets conservative as soon as you leave the downtown and hip areas . It's definetly not SWPL as fuck like you said. To your comment about Texas not being conservative, I'm not sure if your serious. Have you been to the thousands of towns across that state?!

Any large city is not going to be 100% SWPL, because they're big. To get 100% SWPL you need a suburb or college town, like Brookline or Amherst.

But Beacon Hill, the South End, the Waterfront, Back Bay, Harvard Square (considering Cambridge as a part of Boston) are pretty close to iconic SWPL. The ancestral homeland of SWPL. After all, you have all these huge expensive universities pumping out SWPL grads. Except for MIT, of course.

Depending on the style of SWPL, you could throw in Center Street in Jamaica Plain, Central and Inman Squares in Cambridge and a lot of South Boston now.

(10-30-2014 12:27 PM)lycosidae Wrote:  

True dat...

I'm what you'd call a "conservative urbanite" -- Could never suburbanize my lifestyle.

This is why I like Dallas so much, it's got kind of the best of both worlds... DART has made some amazing progress in recent years at connecting the different neighborhoods and the cool public spaces downtown.

Austin is a weird case... I suppose that's why I listed it as an outlier...

You make Dallas sound pretty good, I'll give it a long look as a place to live if/when I go back to the USA.

[TigerMandingo]

Is SWPL culture peculiar to the US? Is this something that exists in the rest of the Anglosphere? Don't mean to derail the thread, just want to know if someone has any insights into this.

[DjembaDjemba]

(10-30-2014 01:49 PM)Cunnilinguist Wrote:  

Is SWPL culture peculiar to the US? Is this something that exists in the rest of the Anglosphere? Don't mean to derail the thread, just want to know if someone has any insights into this.

Very common in Canada without the racial element. Here it's just "hipsters" and they come in all shapes and sizes, and exist in all major cities.

[la_mode]

There's definitely some overlap with hipsters, but SWPL's tend to lean more towards "yipsters", the yuppie/hipster hybrid.

Hipsters for example think it's cool to drink PBR (at least they used to) or something cheap like that. Yipsters have got to have the latest local flavor of IPA.

[TonySandos]

(10-30-2014 11:59 AM)Sp5 Wrote:  

(10-30-2014 11:41 AM)Brian Shima Wrote:  

Did someone say Austin isn't SWPL!?

Did someone say Boston isn't? Only if you're in Roxbury, East Boston or Dorchester . . . even then.

I'm OK with SWPL, because I'm a WP.

Nothing wrong with walkable towns with good coffee in cafes, pubs with 20 craft beers on tap, bakeries, large bookstores, a variety of great restaurants, always including good Italian pizza, Thai, French and Viet noodle places.

Not going to prefer the strip mall and the windowless bar serving Bud Light only on tap.

We have this shit in Memphis, but it's spread all throughout the city. The swpl-hipster hybrids attempt to provide the same atmosphere in self designated neighborhoods. The only downsides to the swpls' is when young adults with poor work ethic and worse customer service represent some of these establishments.

It's notable to mention that Memphis is NOT a pedestrian friendly city. You may have bicycle Nazi's that play victim while basically harassing motorized traffic, but sidewalks and sufficient public transportation have rarely been the focus here. While the actual city of Memphis is commutable by foot or bus(no trains what so ever), the outer townships like Cordova, Germantown and Bartlett may have sidewalk on less than half of their streets. Bartlett police are xenophobic, poorly trained and assholes as well. Take what I said about Bartlett police and remember that about all Mississippi police, plus a ticket writing habit that rivals meth addiction. It's probably purposefully designed that way to keep lower income people confined to the inner city, but either way it's a pain in the ass.

[Brian Shima]

Haha SWPLs are always crazy about places being walkable. That's probably another indication of how SWPL a city is. They have driving around town with a vengeance. Every city I've been to has the stuff that sp5 listed but you have to drive.

[TonySandos]

Someone mentioned the biker decked out in lance Armstrong gear. Seeing some asshole blocking a high volume lane on his six speed around here is like a beacon for swpl' breeding grounds. Don't get me wrong, they still tend to be daytime warriors and driving nomads(using cars to get to more swpls dense areas and not partying in non-swpl areas).

I bet Cattle Rustler would mistake many areas here for swpl, but he would be wrong. You have to have an adept eye for it here.

and always remember to speed past bicyclists. Don't be the neighbor that let a pony league 'triathlete' into the community.

[RexImperator]

I'm kind of SWPL. I just don't share the politics.

[The_CEO]

Least?

I don't know...Stockton?

[speakeasy]

(10-30-2014 03:37 AM)la_mode Wrote:  

Everyone knows the main ones.

San Francisco, Portland, Seattle.

Should probably include Toronto if we're going to include Canadian cities. In the US, on the list would have to include Minneapolis, Boston, DC, Austin TX. The SWPL vibe probably isn't as strong in these cities, but most large American cities in the better "gentrified" parts seem very SWPL. Mid-sized cities like Madison are very SWPL as well.

For the least SWPL cities. My list:

LA - too many people trying to look good to be SWPL (no fat chicks allowed)
Vegas - Strippers, escorts, and gambling are not SWPL
Miami - Tony Montana wouldn't have stepped foot in a SWPL city

NYC & Chicago are somewhere in the middle. Both lean SWPL but don't have the overwhelming SWPL culture. Their mafia history makes it hard for them to be truly SWPL.

Vegas is the least SWPL city. Vegas is more a draw to the "bro" crowd. Plus there's nothing authentic there or any kind of charm or arts or music scene or microbrews or any natural beauty or walkable neighborhoods. It's SWPL hell.

Much of the south is SWPL hell as well. Obvious exceptions being Atlanta, Nashville, New Orleans, Charlotte, and a few smaller towns like Athens, Georgia

[speakeasy]

(10-30-2014 01:30 PM)Dr. Howard Wrote:  

(10-30-2014 01:07 PM)Cunnilinguist Wrote:  

(10-30-2014 12:52 PM)h3ltrsk3ltr Wrote:  

Lol, how did the south become the least SWPL?

Good question. But SWPL usually involves a certain level of faggotry that Southerners normally would not engage in. Some SWPL shit that Southerners tend NOT to do (from what I've witnessed):

- Jog/bike with gear on (spandex, lance armstrong bracelets, all decked out)
- Farmer's markets
- "Walk for Breast Cancer"-type rallies, Autism Awareness sprints, etc.
- Observe a gluten-free diet
- Listen to Dave Matthews Band

Surely there are exceptions, but I can safely say that you would rarely see Southerners doing any of these things.

Personal experience: 2 years in Lexington, KY

The core of Knoxville TN has all of things, as does all of Nashville now. The suburbs are still bibles and bbq. Memphis has a smaller element I think mostly because its a much rougher city..ie don't set foot outside of the lights of beale street or overton park. Its down to the sub 50k towns in Tennessee that are 'southern' in every sense.

Remember though, when I say "Nashville is SWPL" that describes the city, not the suburbs...which are yoga pants and cowboy boot meccas. However, here you will me more limited to day and online game.

This division has great stereotypes here in Knoxville where the mayor of the city proper is a new york born lesbian and the mayor of the county limits (suburbs) is a good ol boy with a thick drawl with a spit and a handshake ethos. They hate each other.

I would imagine this is the same way houston is.

....

[Biologist]

Zanesville, Ohio?

[TonySandos]

Nashville is ugly as hell to me for that reason. You have a lot of swpl types holed up in a country like city stuck in the hills. I don't fit in there at all, but my local friends like it a lot.

I think a lot of people failed to mention the boho amount of places compared to swpl count. Places like Atlanta seem really boho in the younger crowd as well as swpl. Ashville, North Carolina would fit that description aslo, even though it's a reasonably small city.

[Deluge]

Hipster and SWPL aren't synonymous. I live in a city which is a world hipster/SWPL capital and am surrounded by them, there's a few distinctions between the terms.

Your textbook hipster is an early 20's heavily tattooed, "starving" artist or musician supported by their parents, lives in a bustling hipster neighbourhood, does copious amounts of MDMA, smokes hand-rolled cigarettes or American Spirit and only drinks PBR / whatever the area's hipster beer is.

Your textbook SWPL however is older, late 20's to mid 30's, and has a job in something corporate like P.R or law which coupled with them usually being in a relationship with a fellow SWPL, means they have quite a bit disposable income. They live also live in the inner city, but in a quieter, kid friendly areas, without all the street art and dive bars unlike their hipster cousins. They don't smoke, do drugs (anymore) or drink shitty cheap beer. They are the people who invented "foodie" culture, and moan endlessly about the environment, you get the idea. In short SWPL's are the basically the upper-middle class liberal elite. The boundaries are porous, many SWPL's are also some subset of hipster, usually more of the "indie" persuasion then hardcore hipster (yes there are many types of hipster, often with little in common) and virtually all SWPL's were hipsters of some sort when they were younger.

The main things the two big groups have in common is being of above average intelligence/education, living in the inner city, being obsessed with what is currently cool (which means different things to different groups), and having progressive politics. Also coffee.

In fact, I'd argue the same holds true for hipsters. Let's take the two largest kinds of hipsters. How much does a wannabe 90's grunge kid who wears black skinny jeans and flannel really have in common with a granola, grandma sweater wearing neo-hippie for example? Put them in the same room and trust me they don't get along... Hipster is really just a catch-all-term for postmodern youth culture.

[speakeasy]

^^ Good post Deluge.

I always thought this graphic does a good job of explaining why it's hard to define what a hipster is....

[TonySandos]

True dat Deluge. Some of the hipster kids are cool and appear counter culture while some appear alternative culture but really are a moments notice away from a SJW battle cry. You can't differentiate them by appearance unless you're verse in your locality's diaspora

[Deluge]

Now you see why I'm under the impression that NYC and L.A are SWPL heartlands. That is, heartlands of the upper-middle class liberal elite, at least in the white neighborhoods.

[la_mode]

SWPL's prefer NYC to LA.

[el mechanico]

(10-31-2014 10:36 PM)Deluge Wrote:  

Now you see why I'm under the impression that NYC and L.A are SWPL heartlands. That is, heartlands of the upper-middle class liberal elite, at least in the white neighborhoods.

Have you ever been to the to the United States?

"Heartlands" can mean many things. You need to come here and see.

Or watch Rosanne

[el mechanico]

(11-01-2014 07:40 PM)la_mode Wrote:  

SWPL's prefer NYC to LA.

NYC spans from Fairfield county CT to Bergen NJ and beyond.

Which part?

[la_mode]

Manhattan & Brooklyn.

[h3ltrsk3ltr]

^mostly Williamsburg

[Deluge]

(11-01-2014 07:43 PM)el mechanico Wrote:  

(10-31-2014 10:36 PM)Deluge Wrote:  

Now you see why I'm under the impression that NYC and L.A are SWPL heartlands. That is, heartlands of the upper-middle class liberal elite, at least in the white neighborhoods.

Have you ever been to the to the United States?

"Heartlands" can mean many things. You need to come here and see.

Or watch Rosanne

Impression from the media, the forum and SWPL/hipster's I know. Hipsters in my city love New York City more then anywhere else in the world besides Berlin. Ask about their last visit and they'll go on about them ad nauseum. Obviously they're not talking about the suburbs, you know that. JWLZG joked about to me once about the hipster pipeline that runs through our city. They'll move from wherever they grew up to our city for/after college, then after a few years move to Berlin or Brooklyn. I can even think of a couple RVF members who've gone through the pipeline.