From the New York Times article Has Billburg Lost its Cool:
Some stirrings are coming from within. If lower rents in Manhattan were not reason enough to move, some Williamsburgers are finding the tribal mentality in their neighborhood suffocating and any resemblance to bohemia lacking.
”The Hipster Handbook” (Anchor Books, 2002) written by a Williamsburg author, list 10 species of the urban creature, ranging from the UTF (Unemployed Trust-Funder) to the WASH (Waitstaff and Service Hipster). So why, many residents wonder, does everyone in Williamsburg dress alike?
”Everyone is trying so hard to be different,” said Jess Holl, 23, an editor at Black Book, a glossy culture magazine, ”but in the end, they end up looking the same. It’s not the same artsy community I first saw back in 1999. When too many people hop on the Williamsburg bandwagon, it’s time to get off.”…
Robert Lanham, the author of ”The Hipster Handbook,” and the founder of a Webzine called Free Williamsburg, would seem like the last person to knock the neighborhood. But when Mr. Lanham, who has lived in Williamsburg since 1996, looks outside his window, he sees what he called the ”paradox of hipster culture” slowly coming to an end.
”Williamsburg is having an identity crisis,” Mr. Lanham said. ”It’s kind of absurd that these kids who went to fancy schools are dressing like they’re construction workers. The struggling artist is a myth. Williamsburg is a pseudo bohemia.”
Rather than stick around, Mr. Lanham has started an apartment hunt himself.
