Prague in 2006
I just got back to New York from Prague, where I was attending a wedding. Man, I was overwhelmed by the reality of how much globalization of culture has occurred since the last time I was in Europe. A local even dropped the word "hipster" on me. Weird.
I feel like New York City is losing its edge. If we can't even lay claim to being hipper than the rest of the world, what have we got? The city's architecture and infrastructure is aging, so we aren't even one of the most advanced, modern cities. Nor do we have the beauty and history of a city like Prague. I feel that New York is past its prime. Maybe time to move to Beijing?
UPDATE 8-25: Gawker declares New York to be "Already Over" (a full 2 weeks after I did.)
I feel like New York City is losing its edge. If we can't even lay claim to being hipper than the rest of the world, what have we got? The city's architecture and infrastructure is aging, so we aren't even one of the most advanced, modern cities. Nor do we have the beauty and history of a city like Prague. I feel that New York is past its prime. Maybe time to move to Beijing?
UPDATE 8-25: Gawker declares New York to be "Already Over" (a full 2 weeks after I did.)
posted by Laura @ 8:13 PM
3 Comments:
At 9:10 PM,
Anonymous said…
I don't know if anyone will ever read this. Anyway, it's an interesting experience to deflower a blog.
I've never been to New York so I can't compare. But I don't think it's past its prime. Maybe just like Berlin. For a long time Berlin has been considered to be past its prime. And today? Berlin is cool. Okay, poor but cool. Beijing still isn't and maybe will never be.
BTW, I like your AWC broadcast but it's not really the right way to remain anonymous, is it? ;-)
At 12:06 PM,
Laura said…
Thanks for the comments guys. I guess there are different ways of being anonymous, aren't there? I struggled with the debate on posting photos of myself, but figured I had to. Once you know what I look like, I guess I'm not really anonymous...Just as long as none of my "real life" friends see this...
At 9:24 AM,
Anonymous said…
OK, I'm probably much too late posting this for it to be read--but you know, it's always been hard to compete with Prague for hip. After all, they ARE the original Bohemians, right? And even when they were stuck behind the drab Iron Curtain, they still had Kundera writing about his window-washer persona's amorous adventures, etc. (Not that that's directly analogous to hipness, but...)
I think Shanghai, rather than Beijing--but perhaps that's my fantasy of Shanghai, as I haven't been.
But yeah, back to the point--I'm a bit worried as well about NYC losing its edge. Williamsburg was fun 7-10 years ago, but now is largely just annoying. Someone called it the Prague afterparty. So where's the Williamsburg afterparty?
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