In 1997 Utne Reader rated Davis Square 14th of the 15 hippest places to live in the U.S. and Canada, based on economic considerations and opinions of "alternative press editors, gallery owners, community organizers, coffee shop clerks, music promoters, art critics, gay activists, club goers, urban planners, cyber-journalists, and advertising honchoes, as well as assorted idlers and lingerers".

The Lower Garden District in New Orleans and the Inner Mission in San Francisco topped the list.