Montpelier in north Bristol has been named the hippest neighbourhood in the UK according to a travel guide ranking.
It beat traditional hipster favourites like Dalston, Peckham, Stroud Green with a ‘Hip Hangout Score’ of 28 out of 30
The neighbourhoods were ranked according to three factors:
Hip Culture Outposts: things like vinyl shops, vegan cafes, and vintage stores
Creative Capital Density: Apparently this looks at the amount of creative jobs, art galleries and studios
Traveller Value: Whether it’s good value for visitors to stay in.
The Playground, a café where people can play board games and use indoor swings, got a shout out as one of the best spots to get your coffee. Vegan café Monty’s also got a mention for its great brunches.
How instagrammable the streets are also played a role in the rankings. According to Travelsupermarket, Montpelier’s colourful streets are ‘Instagram fodder.’ A quick scroll through the Montpelier location tag on Instagram shows loads of brightly coloured buildings covered with murals. In fact, 84% of Montpelier’s surfaces have graffiti, a factor which helped make it a winner.
Kitsch illustrations by local artist Alex Lucas adorn many of the houses, with one of her most famous pieces being a house with a huge ‘Welcome to Montpelier’ sign. Traditionally, graffiti was thought to lower the value of neighbourhoods, but in Montpelier and the surrounding neighbourhoods, it’s actually contributed to its popularity as a place to live. According to research undertaken by the Affordable Art Fair, potential home buyers are willing to spend up to £50k more to have a home in an area with colourful street art.
Montpelier is an old town built by French POWs during the Napoleonic Wars. It has historically been known for being a bit of a ‘bohemian, hedonistic spot’ but managed to fly under the radar compared to other more well-know Bristol neighbourhoods. In fact, it’s relative obscurity is, according to the guide, what added to its cool factor. The index dished out penalty points for areas that had become popular enough to have large chains like Starbucks and Pret move in, which means they’ve become ‘peak hipster.’ Yikes,
Stokes Croft, another Bristol area came fifth after the three London boroughs, and the rest of the top 10 are north of the M1. Has your neighbourhood has avoided reaching 'peak hipster'?
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.