We often focus on cities when we book travel. We want to explore London. See Paris. Eat our way through Singapore or drink our way through Rio. The city is the destination. But cities are big sprawling areas with various hidden corners and detailed nuances that usually get left out of atlases. Every city has neighborhoods that can make or break a trip. Stay in the wrong neighborhood and you might not ever find the culture that suits you, much less bump into the food and bars that all the bloggers and travel writers are raving about.
Enter Lonely Planet’s “top 10 US neighborhoods to visit now” list. Piggy-backing off their “world’s coolest neighborhoods list,” Lonely Planet has asked their experts to rank the best up-and-coming neighborhoods around the United States.
The list hits both coasts and some prime spots in between. Places where art, music, beer, and a DIY attitude are celebrated. With that in mind, we’ve cobbled together a visual tour of Lonely Planet’s list. There’s no particular order here … just a peek into the life of America’s coolest new neighborhoods.
East Liberty & Lawrenceville, Pittsburgh
The eastern reaches of Pittsburgh started its resurgence when the Ace Hotel took over the old YMCA in 2015. Since then millennials have started moving in and bringing with them jobs, beer, coffee, and food. This is a neighborhood on the rise, where you can watch growth while drinking a great beer.
Avondale, Chicago
Avondale is still holding onto its blue-collar roots as the hipper-than-thou gentrified neighborhoods that surround it move in. The neighborhood has a very do-it-yourself vibe — with locals popping-up businesses that honor their heritage. Dive bars still dominate the streets in between barber shops, thrift stores, and local fast food — all of which are thriving unironically.
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Point Loma, San Diego
Point Loma feels like a big outlier on this list. It’s an upscale neighborhood in San Diego — nestled nicely between the beach and the bay. What’s bringing people to Point Loma isn’t the promise of a hillside house with a killer view, it’s the fresh seafood that comes in every day to the marina. That fresh supply of delicious seafood is bolstered by an already sound infrastructure for restaurants to enjoy a great meal with a rad view of the Pacific and San Diego. Great food translates to a great place to hit up.
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East Nashville, Nashville
East Nashville is where the locals live. When you cross the Cumberland River, you find the hot chicken is hotter, the rail drinks are stronger, and the music scene is that little bit more local. That’s not to say Nashville proper doesn’t have a lot to offer, but for that real, local experience, you’ve gotta hit up East Nashville. Plus, that’s where Prince’s Hot Chicken is. Once you’re there, you may as well stick around and grab a beer at a dive to help your tongue recover.
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Capitol Riverfront & Yards Park, Washington DC
Back in 2008, the Nationals opened up their ballpark near the Navy Yard and started the slow rejuvenation of one of DC’s most neglected neighborhoods. Since then people have started moving in and reclaiming the area around the Potomac River. There are new boardwalks, parks, bars, restaurants, and galleries popping up to go along with the new housing developments that have been built over the last decade.
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South 1st Street, Austin
South 1st Street centers itself around the legendary Torchy’s Tacos, which is still slinging great tacos from its original trailer in its original location every single day. Circling said tacos, you’ll find a lived-in neighborhood (street really) of homes interspersed with coffee shops and a bar or two. It’s not fancy or flashy. It’s just real.
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Montavilla, Portland
Deep in southeast Portland, Montavilla started recovering from economic doldrums when the Academy Theater was refurbished in 2006. Over the last ten years, coffee shops, craft cocktail bars, record shops, and a Sunday farmer’s market have taken hold in the neighborhood. It’s a quaint 12 blocks where Portland’s qirkiness is one full display for all to enjoy.
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River North (RiNo), Denver
River North — or RiNo to locals — is an artistic haunt full of tattoos, weed, microbrews, food pop-ups, and an ever-changing gallery of street murals. The artistic heart of Denver can be found on the streets of RiNo, where Friday nights mean exploring experimental (and free) galleries while eating street food and washing it all down with a great cocktail and maybe even a new tattoo.
Sunset Park, New York
It’s amazingly hard to pick only one spot in New York. There’s just so much on offer in a city that big. Sunset Park in Brooklyn not only made this list, it also made Lonely Planet’s list of ten neighborhoods in the world that you should check out right now. Sunset Park has been existing under the gentrification radar for a while. There’s a deep multicultural vibe to the neighborhood — which informs a great food scene.
Plus, the neighborhood sits on a hill, giving it the best views of the Manhattan skyline.
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Frelard, Seattle
This Seattle spot also made the Lonely Planet’s list of great neighborhoods around the world. The name comes from one of the best pizza joints in Seattle where they combined the names of the two neighborhoods it borders: Ballard and Freemont. While we would have probably gone with ‘Ballmont’ over ‘Frelard,’ the few blocks around the pizza restaurant holds some great Seattle spots. There are cafes boasting strong Seattle coffee, a good amount of authentic dive bars and crafty cocktail bars, and plenty of great food in between.
The name aside, Frelard is a great spot to call home even if you’re only in town for a vacation.
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