Berlin Is Over. What's Next?
Berlin is over. A Rolling Stone feature on its greatest club, Berghain, put it in critical condition two weeks ago ("The Secretive, Sex-Fueled World of Techno's Coolest Club"), and its obituary appeared in the Times Styles section (where else?) this weekend, in an article sub-headlined "Brooklyn Bohemians Invade Berlin's Techno Scene":
"The music reminds me of Brooklyn!" said Winston Chmielinski, a 25-year-old painter who moved here from New York last year. [...] Vincent Bouffandeau, a regular at the Panorama Bar, was hovering later near the back of the dance floor and couldn't find the beat. "Is this T-Pain?" he asked, perplexed, in a thick French accent. A Cooper Union alumnus gyrating nearby nodded yes.
The piece, a classic Styles section Straussian double-tap (to one audience: "This city is so cool, and you should visit!"; to the other: "This city is over, and you need to leave!"), marks the end of the city's decade (plus?)-long reign as Coolest City in the World.
The question is: Where is everyone going next? That's where you, fresh from your stint identifying the Williamsburgs of various global cities, come in.
Below, please nominate (or predict) the next Coolest City in the World. Explain why that city is next, what it has to offer, and where we should all move. Winner (determined over the next decade) gets bragging rights.