Is York, Pa., becoming 'retro cool'?
The Hampden neighborhood of Baltimore gives you a glimpse of what York City's downtown can become – and maybe is becoming.
Hampden and York have parallels that go beyond their plentiful rowhouses.
Hampden grew up as a working man's town in the 1800s after the water of Jones Falls was harnessed to run mills along its route. People came from all over to work in those mills.
Artists and a younger crowd began migrating to the neighborhood some years ago. Now, its main street – the Avenue, with its boutiques, independent coffee shops, restaurants and galleries – bustles. The neighborhood sponsors an annual Honfest to trade on that expression of endearment often heard around Bawlmer.
Forbes places Hampden No. 15 on its list of America's Best Hipster Neighborhoods, saying that district "embodies retro cool."
And Forbes points to another Hampden distinction: "Every year the neighborhood celebrates Christmas with a 'Miracle on 34th Street' decoration spectacle in which residents adorn their abodes with thousands of lights."
Indeed, those lights twinkle well beyond Christmas. A mid-January drive through the neighborhood's streets shows townspeople are reluctant to pull their plugs.
You ask around Hampden if cult film director, writer and artist John Waters hangs around there, and people will say, yes, they see him from time to time. In fact, you can see him any time you visit. His image hangs in one shop that specializes in selling slices of pie.
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Yes, Hampden proves that communities in which working-class rowhouses reign can reinvent themselves and attract newcomers.
In fact, many people in their 20s and mid-30s – the millennials, as they're called – like the experience of restitching communities that are showing a little wear.
That would increasingly define York, a former red-brick factory community that is touting its artist studios, growing boutiques in its Market and Royal Square districts and independently owned fine dining.
One can confidently say: If Hampden, Md., can do it, so can York, Pa.
You can argue that York's downtown is doing it.
As just one big example, the community increasingly is finding uses for its prized asset, Central Market, other than its 125-plus-year role as a farmers' market.
Here's another case to show that.
A 30-something couple from D.C. – you might call them the embodiment of retro cool – were set to visit York County on a recent Saturday.
They received some options.
Would they want to hang out in a coffee shop in Lancaster, followed by a dinner in nearby Lititz? How about third-placing in Dauphin County's Linglestown and then see a movie and spend time in Harrisburg's Midtown neighborhood?
And there was an option closer to home: Dinner in one of York's eateries and then take in Jazz Vespers at First Presbyterian – dinner at Left Bank and the dueling saxophones of Tim Warfield and Chris Bacas at First Pres were not even held out as bait.
And the last option: Visit maybe the Hon Cafe, Spro Coffee Shop and other shops on the Avenue in Hampden for the evening.
The winning choice?
Dinner in York and the jazz concert in honor of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. at First Pres.
York, Pa., beat out Hampden, Md.
Maybe York is becoming retro cool.
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Yorkers would do well to travel to northern Baltimore to see what they can learn from the creative revitalization going on there.
There's some evidence that the good folks in Hampden consider themselves kinsmen of Yorkers.
At one restaurant, the Golden West Cafe, servers provide a treat accompanying the check.
Each guest receives a York Peppermint Pattie.
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From Forbes
America's Best Hipster Neighborhoods
"Nextdoor.com helped us dig through data on more than 250 neighborhoods in the biggest U.S. cities. We assessed each area’s walkability according to Walkscore.com; the number of neighborhood coffee shops per capita (with a little help from NPD Group’s report); the assortment of local food trucks (and their ranking according to Zagat’s); the number and frequency of farmers markets; the number of locally owned bars and restaurants; and the percentage of residents who work in artistic occupations. We also factored in Nextdoor's Neighborhood “Hipness” Index, which is based on how often words associated with hipness appeared on each Nextdoor neighborhood’s site pages, and Nextdoor conducted a survey in which members sounded off on their communities."