Where do the hipsters live? Wherever there are trendy bars, restaurants, coffee shops and night spots. There are plenty of such places across the country and in the Midwest, and online foreclosure provider RealtyTrac recently took on the daunting task of identifying the top 25 communities for hipsters.
And what, exactly, is a hipster? The Urban Dictionary says that they are men and women — usually in their 20s and 30s — who are focused on progressive politics, counter-culture ideals and independent thinking.
No matter how you define a hipster, though, you want them living in your neighborhood. RealtyTrac says that the arrival of the restaurants, shops and bars that come with hipsters boost property values and rental rates while lowering the number of foreclosures. Hipster neighborhoods are also appealing targets for real estate investors who want to flip homes or make good profits off of rental properties.
Where are the hipsters? A suprisingly high number of them are living in the Midwest. In fact, the Twin Cities of Minneapolis/Saint Paul scored high on RealtyTrac’s hipster rankings. The 55101 zip code of Saint Paul topped RealtyTrac’s list for appeal to hipsters. The 55401 zip code of Minneapolis ranked fourth on the list.
Other Midwest hipster hotspots include the 52245 zip code of Iowa City (8th on RealtyTrac’s list), 55408 in Minneapolis (11th), 60625 in Chicago (17th), 53703 in Madison (18th), 55405 in Minneapolis (20th), 60647 in Chicago (24th) and 60642 in Chicago (25th).
To determine the top hipster markets, RealtyTrac first identified those zip codes with a large population in the prime hipster age, 25 through 34. The company also identified neighborhoods in which at least 20 percent of the population either walked to work or used public transportation to get to their jobs. RealtTrac also selected neighborhoods in which renters accounted for occupancy in at least 50 percent of housing units and where the vacancy rate on rental properties stood at 5 percent or less.
