The 15 Hippest Places to Live

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Two decades of clamor and uncertainty about Quebec's status as a Canadian province may be a drag on Montreal’s economy, but not on the vitality of its culture. Local pride has inspired Montrealers to create a trés hip scene here along Boulevard Saint Laurant and Rue Saint-Denis. Conversation buzzes in several tongues throughout outdoor cafes, cellar restaurants, and galleries in brick rowhouses.

Soon-to-be-hot: A bit farther north, Little Italy draws a crowd that finds the Plateau a little too rich for its taste. There are classic old-world coffee shops with opera on the juke box, of course, but also a dash of Latin and Caribbean spice with salsa clubs and bodegas.

5. College & Clinton
(Toronto)

U2 hung out at the Bovine Sex Club in the Queen Street West area, but that was centuries ago on the hip timeline. The scene has shifted to the pricey pool halls and Italian eateries around this intersection, where writers and filmmakers flock. Parking's a big hassle here, which keeps the neighborhood interesting and discourages suburban evening trippers.

Soon-to-be-hot: Walk five minutes west to Kensington Market, a scruffy (at least by Toronto standards) zone anchored by a vegetable and fish market and teeming with secondhand stores. Theater people, along with slackers and runaway teens, live upstairs above the storefronts.

6. Wicker Park
(Chicago)

When novelist Nelson Algren moved into rough-and-tumble Wicker Park years ago, it was seen as a sign of perverse cantankerousness from the man who wrote Walk on the Wild Side. Actually it showed a shrewd head for real estate, if only he'd lived long enough to cash in. This area on the near northwest side, long a Polish and Mexican enclave of small brick cottages and storefront shops, now hosts a boggling selection of coffee shops, bars, and restaurants. But rocketing rents have sent some scenemakers packing for the near south side.

Soon-to-be-hot: Pilsen, a Czech settlement, is now a merry mix of white ethnics, Latinos, blacks, visual artists, Asians from nearby Chinatown, and creative newcomers like Frank Aurel, of the cult band Poi Dog Pondering, who has a new recording studio here.

7. Belltown
(Seattle)

The once-celebrated hip haven, Capitol Hill, is now so upscale that, in the words of one former resident, "You need to dress up to go to the store." So Belltown, at the north end of downtown, has taken over the role of the incubator of artiness. Galleries, restaurants, and bars—including 211, the last rowdy pool hall in town—share the streets with human-scale apartment buildings. The Speakeasy Club stages theater performances, readings, and silent films accompanied by local bands.

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