Top 10 ‘world’s coolest’ neighborhoods revealed — and the US did not fare well

Call them hip codes.

Brooklyn may be shorthand for ‘cool’ on every continent except Antarctica by now, but the actual Brooklyn fell far short on a new list of the hottest blocks on the Third Rock, with just one puzzling pick from the Borough of Churches making the grade.

The arbiters of taste at Timeout, which has just released a list of the 38 coolest neighborhoods in the world, appear to be mostly over the United States, as a matter of fact — one lone district in the Land of The Free, way out on the West Coast, was allowed into the Top 10 this year.

To really get in with the in-crowd these days, you’ve got to head to France’s second city — the artsy area of Notre-Dame du Mont in Marseille took first prize in the chic-stakes for its “rebellious spirit” and “jovial, laid-back feel of a local market,” the list editors wrote.

“Named after a church, this decidedly unholy area is made up of colorful cul-de-sacs, graffiti-covered alleyways, streets lined with plane trees and twisting staircases that lead down from Cours Julien,” the experts explained.

New arrivals from Paris, which discovered the underdog city’s charms en masse during the pandemic, can be found “mingling with a diverse crowd of punks and their dogs, women in colorful robes, and salty old sailors sipping 8.6 beer,” the writers assured.

Naturally, “cool” is a subjective term — does one place more weight on bars, street art or scene-y cafes? However, Timeout defined hip neighborhoods as areas that reflect “the very best of their cities – its culture, community spirit, nightlife, food and drink — all condensed in one vibey, walkable district.”

To compile this Mount Rushmore of radical urban sectors, the lifestyle publication had their global network of editors and writers supply their choices, before vetting them against the area’s “one-of-a-kind local flavor,” among other criteria.

They then compiled them into a list of 38 places that are allegedly cooler than the other side of the pillow.

“This year’s list is a real mix of surprising, overlooked districts that have only just reached their moment and historically “cool” neighborhoods experiencing a renaissance,” Grace Beard, travel editor at Time Out, told CNN Travel.

Clocking in second was Mers Sultan, in Casablanca, Morocco, which apparently is a paragon of hipness because, well, it’s not trying to be.

“It’s still real, with nary a trendy coffee shop (or trendy anything, really) in sight,” the publication stated, hailing Mers Sultan as the “preferred place to live for Casablanca’s young artists and culture-sector workers.”

Rounding out the top five coolest enclaves were Pererenan in Bali, Indonesia, Seongsu-dong in Seoul, South Korea — billed as “Seoul’s answer to Brooklyn” — and Kerns in Portland, Oregon.

Timeout said they liked the latter for its small-town vibes.

But while Kerns was the only US neighborhood in the top ten, it’s still a step up from last year’s rankings, which gave the Home of The Brave an even colder shoulder last year, frosting the country out completely.

Roughly halfway down the list of zaniest zones, behind the likes of Warsaw, Poland and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, NYC is represented at No. 17 by Flatbush, called NYC’s “coolest neighborhood” for its mix of Caribbean cultures.

“You see this community thriving in spots like Peppa’s Jerk Chicken, Lips Cafe and Bodega Lounge and, of course, at the annual West Indian Day Parade that dances up Eastern Parkway every Labor Day weekend,” writer Shaye Weaver wrote.

Other domestic spots on the list included Little River, Miami (No. 12), East Hollywood, Los Angeles (No. 26) Mount Pleasant, Washington D.C. (No. 29) Brewerytown, Philadelphia (No. 32), Logan Square, Chicago (No. 34) and Union Square in Somerville, Mass. (No. 38).

The Top 10 Coolest Neighborhoods in the World in 2024

1. Notre-Dame du Mont, Marseille, France

2. Mers Sultan, Casablanca, Morocco

3. Pererenan, Bali, Indonesia

4. Seongsu-dong, Seoul, South Korea

5. Kerns, Portland, USA

6. Stokes Croft & St Paul’s, Bristol, UK

7. Chippendale, Sydney, Australia

8. Principe Real, Lisbon, Portugal

9. Glória, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

10. Windsor, Melbourne, Australia