# Your city's trendy districts



## Manila-X (Jul 28, 2005)

What are some of your city's trendy districts or areas? Areas where you have nice innovative shops / boutiques, restaurants, galleries, etc.

HK has several tredy districts or areas. One of them the area around Staunton St. or SOHO (South of Hollywood Rd.)


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## Octoman (Nov 16, 2006)

Is the whole street lined with bars?


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## hkskyline (Sep 13, 2002)

Octoman said:


> Is the whole street lined with bars?


SOHO is mostly a bar area, while antique galleries line Hollywood Road further west. The best boutiques are actually in Mongkok hidden away in the dingy shopping centres. That's where the locals find unique clothes to wear.


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## Cristovão471 (May 9, 2006)

Sydney has many trendy districts heres one, Surrey Hills a trendy inner city suburb close to central station,which contains many, many bars (many tourists).
The Architecture is a mix of modern buildings and old terraces, very cool area.

Woollhara, also in Sydney includes: Bondi beach, bondi junction (massive shopping centre), Double Bay Very rich people with very expensive houses, boutique hotels, restaurants and lots of cafes. Views of the city and harbour.

and more but cant be bothered to write about them .... too tired


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## Rachmaninov (Aug 5, 2004)

SOHO is not the trendy area of Hong Kong. Think towards the direction of Causeway Bay and Mongkok.


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## wc eend (Sep 16, 2002)

Intersting thread!
When I visit a city, I'm always eager to visit those kind of districts, but they rarely appear in travel guides, or rather, the travel guides are outdated, since the trends are constantly moving.


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## Octoman (Nov 16, 2006)

That street looks pretty cool. Something a bit Bladerunner-ish about it the way photo has been taken.


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## jlshyang (May 22, 2005)

WANCH said:


> What are some of your city's trendy districts or areas? Areas where you have nice innovative shops / boutiques, restaurants, galleries, etc.
> 
> HK has several tredy districts or areas. One of them the area around Staunton St. or SOHO (South of Hollywood Rd.)


What about Lan Kwai Fong? Is that the most happening area in HK?


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## hkskyline (Sep 13, 2002)

jlshyang said:


> What about Lan Kwai Fong? Is that the most happening area in HK?


Are bars trendy though? I have fashion and technology in mind when I think about trendiness.


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## brisavoine (Mar 19, 2006)

In Paris the trendy areas are the Marais on the right bank, and Saint-Germain-des-Prés on the left bank. There's also the Champs-Élysées on the right bank, but it's more for tourists than for locals. If you're black, the trendy area for you is probably more around Château-Rouge metro station, in the north of central Paris. Finally, there are new trendy areas appearing in the east of central Paris, like around Bastille and Belleville, but I am not a specialist of these.

Trendy areas come and go. Here are historical trendy areas of Paris that have fallen out of favor, with the dates during which they were the trendiest parts of Paris:
- 1770-1810: Palais Royal
- 1810-1860: Grands Boulevards (mainly Boulevard du Temple and Boulevard Saint Martin) as well as the arcades (roofed passageways) in the Paris Bourse district (such as Passage des Panoramas, Galerie Vivienne, etc.)
- 1860-1920: Opéra-Haussmann (Boulevard des Italiens, Boulevard des Capucines, Boulevard Haussmann) as well as Champs-Élysées
- 1890-1920: Montmartre
- 1920-1940: Montparnasse

It's interesting to note that back in 1900, when Opéra, Champs-Élysées, and Montmartre were the trendiest parts of Paris, the Marais and Saint-Germain-des-Prés were rather sleepy working-class neighbordhoods then totally out of fashion.

Things might change again in the future. I bet at some point in the 21st or 22nd century the Opéra-Haussmann area will become a trendy part of Paris again. There's great potential in this area (superb buildings, large avenues, high density of subway lines).


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## staff (Oct 23, 2004)

For Hong Kong I would say the areas around Mong Kok and Causeway Bay as well.

Malmö: Möllevången, Gamla Väster, (parts of) Västra Hamnen, Davidshall.


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## Erebus555 (Apr 21, 2006)

The Convention Quarter here in Birmingham. Many upmarket shops and bars. Residential districts is difficult but I'd say Sutton Coldfield.


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## KGB (Sep 12, 2002)

I find "trendy" to be a real Pandoras Box around here....trendy to whom??? The biggest trend in Toronto is to try and not be trendy...but then you are being trendy anway.....??????? I guess there are trend-setting areas...and then there are trend-following areas. The gentrification process is just too damned fast these days to keep track.

Toronto's "coolest" area is probably Kensington....an area that is shared by the Punk/Bohemian/starving artist/Vegan/hipster/Trustafarian/Tourista crowd, wedged between Chinatown and hipster College St, that has managed to stave off any serious gentrification for an unusually long time.

Its rival would be Queen West of course, where gentrification has chased the street all the way to the gates of Parkdale, which will resist gentrification. Which is why Parkdale will be the new cool nabe.






KGB


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## FREKI (Sep 27, 2005)

For Copenhagen it's the old town... esecially the northern part just before you hit the King's Square ( Kongens Nytorv ) and west along Gothersgade ( street )

Here you will find all the international high end store, tons of trendy nighclubs and cafe's and all sorts of restaurants..


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## furrycanuck (Mar 13, 2005)

KGB said:


> Its rival would be Queen West of course, where gentrification has chased the street all the way to the gates of Parkdale, which will resist gentrification. Which is why Parkdale will be the new cool nabe.
> KGB



You mean "West Queen West," right? IMHO it's the coolest neighbourhood in Canada.


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## ROYU (Jul 19, 2004)

Here is some trendy district in Mexico City.
La Condesa.


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## RafflesCity (Sep 11, 2002)

A number of new 'trendy' areas are evolving in Singapore, some in small pockets outside the CBD.

In the CBD, one 'trendy' night spot is now at *Clarke Quay*, with a mix of bars, restaurants and clubs. Clarke Quay itself used to consist of pre-WW2 rotting shophouses/storehouses that have been conserved.

a pic by Fujimiya










more pics by babystan03



























Riverside Point (opposite Clarke Quay)









some I took


























Some other possible trendy areas

Holland Village - an expatriate enclave
Tanglin Village and Rochester Park - these combine classic colonial British black-and-white houses, set deep in a forest, and offer bars, restaurants, shops
Vivocity/St James Powerhouse/Mt Faber - nightlife and shopping

but I suppose its up to the individual to define trendy for himself, as fads come and go quite often here


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## RafflesCity (Sep 11, 2002)

Another spot is *Arab Street/Kampong Glam*, where you can chill out with a Middle Eastern flavour in a more relaxed setting :happy:

some pics I took


























It also offers an interesting array of small shops:



hyacinthus said:


> Some interesting shops...
> 
> cute... different chairs
> 
> ...


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## TalB (Jun 8, 2005)

The trendy districts in NYC are in Chelsea, Garment, SoHo, and all three villages.


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## Rupmulalauk (Jul 29, 2002)

Some spots in KL




























from flickr


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## Mr Bricks (May 6, 2005)

A beach in Brick Lane???

Btw. Your pic isn´t showing.


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## Taller Better (Aug 27, 2005)

SuomiPoika said:


> Sure! where is it located?



Was just a bit of a joke... it is a fictional pub in a TV series "EastEnders".
It's fictional address is 46 Albert Square, Walford, London E20, In reality, East End post codes only go up to E18! :cheers:


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## Mr Bricks (May 6, 2005)

Ok, sorry I´m not that well-educated on pubs in the East End


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## Tubeman (Sep 12, 2002)

I'll echo Spliff fairy's 'trendy' areas... I'd say at the moment Hoxton / Shoreditch / Brick Lane is the 'trendiest' with tons of bars, clubs, galleries and lots of students / artists. The streets still ooze dickensian charm and filth, which adds to the areas 'edginess'... Lots of forgotten backstreets, disused railway arches, and old industrial buildings.

Soho is sanitised... Its trendy, but not _trendy_... Its full of glitzy bars and expensive restaurants. People who go to Soho think they're trendy whilst people who go out in Hoxton know they are.

Why are there so many bloody 'Sohos', and why are they invariably 'trendy' areas?

London's Soho (presumably the first one) owes its name supposedly to a hunting call ("So-Ho!") from when the area was open fields on the edge of London where nobility went hunting.

New York's Soho is an abbreviation of 'South of Houston' is it not?

What about the origins of Soho in Birmingham and Hong Kong? Are they just imitations because the name sounds cool?


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## hkskyline (Sep 13, 2002)

Tubeman said:


> New York's Soho is an abbreviation of 'South of Houston' is it not?
> 
> What about the origins of Soho in Birmingham and Hong Kong? Are they just imitations because the name sounds cool?


Yes, New York's SoHo means South of Houston, while there is actually a SoNo in Conneticut, which means South Norwalk (it's a bedroom community of NYC).

Hong Kong's SoHo is a fairly new name that popped up less than a decade ago. I rarely hear about it because people tend to say they're going to the Lan Kwai Fong bars. I suspect it's just a copy-cat term used to familiarize foreigners as they tend to frequent the area.


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## Manila-X (Jul 28, 2005)

Tubeman said:


> I'll echo Spliff fairy's 'trendy' areas... I'd say at the moment Hoxton / Shoreditch / Brick Lane is the 'trendiest' with tons of bars, clubs, galleries and lots of students / artists. The streets still ooze dickensian charm and filth, which adds to the areas 'edginess'... Lots of forgotten backstreets, disused railway arches, and old industrial buildings.
> 
> Soho is sanitised... Its trendy, but not _trendy_... Its full of glitzy bars and expensive restaurants. People who go to Soho think they're trendy whilst people who go out in Hoxton know they are.
> 
> ...


HK's SOHO stand for *South Of Hollywood Rd.*


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## hkskyline (Sep 13, 2002)

WANCH said:


> HK's SOHO stand for *South Of Hollywood Rd.*


Just as I suspected ... a play of words to familize the foreign legion, since it is not even a Chinese derivation that the locals would have used for their daily life. Hence the notion of 'SoHo' itself isn't really a Hong Kong district name at all.


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## Manila-X (Jul 28, 2005)

hkskyline said:


> Just as I suspected ... a play of words to familize the foreign legion, since it is not even a Chinese derivation that the locals would have used for their daily life. Hence the notion of 'SoHo' itself isn't really a Hong Kong district name at all.


Most of those who hangout in Staunton St. or SOHO are either expats or non-chinese and yes it's not a district name. The local HK Chinese won't name it like that so it's the *******


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## Sen (Nov 13, 2004)

there is a SOHO in Beijing too....but it stands for Small Office, Home Office.:bash:


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## sydney_lad (Dec 6, 2005)

*Sydney*

Darlinghurst - Gay district, lots of cool nightclubs.
Paddington - Good shopping, cafes.
Surry Hills - Lots of students, lots of pubs, great restaurants.
Newtown - Very bohemian, lots of students and great restaurants.


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## Sideshow_Bob (Jan 14, 2005)

There will be a SoHo in Vilnius, Lithuania aswell.



Dompcz said:


> New quartal "Soho" in new city center of Vilnius (at the end of new city center area). 2200 people will live there and 300 people will work there


In Stockholm we have SoFo. South of Folkungatan.
It's quite hip.
Otherwise the trendiest locations in Sthlm vary a lot.


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## HirakataShi (Feb 8, 2004)

Allegedly Kita Horie. But I find all of Kita-ku in Osaka to be nothing more than a few pretentious restaurants/lounges in an otherwise drab area. 

Ame-mura (America Town) - Japanese kids who think they're Harlem kids. Some nice clubs though and wacky wacky outfits.


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## Hebrewtext (Aug 18, 2004)

Tel Aviv got Shenkin st.


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## Delfts blauw (Nov 12, 2005)

In Amsterdam are a few trendy districts - the jordaan
- the pijp
- the nine streets


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## the spliff fairy (Oct 21, 2002)

this is the pic from corner of the Brick Lane beach (thats not me btw) - its actually on a sidestreet, a former goods yard full of funky stores, Vespas and barbecues- ask for the Truman Brewery, once the largest in the world and now a converted artspace.. 
You can see the rest of the carpark behind, another bar at ground level, then a disused industrial office behind.

They serve barbecues every night, but the drinks are all Caribbean themed - rum, Carib beer and cocktails. Next door there is a Laotian food van, much like a kebab van but serving out restaurant quality streetfood instead.


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## aquablue (Mar 18, 2006)

Was. D,C,

-Adams Morgan - nightife, bars, etc.


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## the spliff fairy (Oct 21, 2002)

that mural is fantastic, I never think of DC as having a trendy area but it obviously has.


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## elkram (Apr 1, 2006)

deleted


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## elkram (Apr 1, 2006)

Montreal's:

Saint Henri (particularly along the Lachine Canal)
Plateau-Mont-Royal
La Petite-Patrie
Monkland Village
Le Village
Old Montreal
Griffintown
Petite-Italie
McGill Ghetto
I've drummed up this list of such neighbourhoods based on their restaurants -- Saint-Henri and Griffintown seem trendy enough even though they've few restaurants.


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## aquablue (Mar 18, 2006)

DC has more than that, 3 or 4 of them.

-adams morgan (pic above)
-U street
-Georgetown (mainly shoppning and restaurants)
-14 street
dupond circle
penn quater


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## ZOHAR (Jul 16, 2005)

Tel Aviv city center (unofficial gay district)
(Allenby-Shenkin-King George-Dizengoff complex)

















































































Tel Aviv promenade


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