What the Sneaker Scene Is Like if You Don't Live in a Major City

We hear and see a lot about what it's like to be a sneakerhead in a major city. We already know that there are lines, raffles, lotteries, and a lot of waiting. But what about our comrades that live in other places around the world?

You'd think they'd have a easy time just waking up on release day and heading straight to their local Foot Locker to cop the heat. But, unfortunately, for many of them, that's not the case.

Instead of breaking out our Rolodex and asking people we knew, we decided to post the question on the Reddit Sneakerhead subreddit. The response we got was huge and gave us a glimpse into many more sneakerhead communities than we imagined.

We discovered that in cities and towns that aren't as populated, it's actually a struggle for 'heads. But many smart guys have resorted to teamwork and networking to cop the new heat. And by "major cities," we're referring to anywhere outside of the sneaker hotbeds of New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami, London, etc. Regardless, being a sneakerhead is more than a hobby, it's a lifestyle. And people all over the map are in on the culture. Here's What the Sneaker Scene Is Like if You Don't Live in a Major City.

Southern Maine

Cantaloupsareswell says in southern Maine the scene isn't that huge at all:

"I live in a fairly upper-middle class town in southern Maine. There are like four other kids at my school of about 800 who are "sneakerheads"—one of which is my brother. The guys who are into sneakers are all really chill, and since we live in Maine and our closest Foot Locker hardly gets any releases, there isn't much of a chance to be hypebeasting."

San Diego, Calif.

The San Diego scene isn't what you might think, KJTre says copping in his area is nearly impossible:

"It's very rare to see someone else rocking Jordans in my area. Almost everyone wears Vans or Nike SBs. There aren't really any major releases. And if there are, they're nearly impossible to get. From what I can tell, everyone outside of my suburb is still rocking Jordans."

Rural UK (United Kingdom)

Qazteck says it's pretty tough if you're a sneakerhead in rural parts of the UK:

"Here in a rural area in the UK, stores don't stock major releases and you have to shop online."

Denver

zachtothejohnson lives in Denver and wears what he likes:

"Here we have broke-ass, wannabe sneakerheads. The shoe game here is pretty lame, and the only thing people want are Roshes. There is a handful of us that are real. The rest are cool with fakes and whatnot. It's cool, though, I buy shoes for myself, not to impress others. I've got nothing to worry about."

New Hampshire

coderloo lives in New Hampshire and sees the state as very segmented:

"Where I live there are very few sneakerheads and very few shops that carry any of the new releases.

There are only about three locations—Manchester, Salem, and Nashua—in the entire state that carry the releases. Many times only Nashua, or only Salem and Nashua, carry them.

People who do collect, vary. AF1s are popular in the rural towns, and SBs in the suburbs. I see a lot of SBs and retros in southern New Hampshire (where the majority of the population is in suburbs/city). From what I can tell, there are more and more people after Jordans, but can't find them, or don't have a good taste/any knowledge about sneakers.

In New Hampshire, overall, you are much more likely to spot a moose than you are a kid wearing heat."

Conneticut Suburbs

SirBe lives in the suburbs of Connecticut and does a lot of shopping online:

"I live in the suburbs of Connecticut and the only Jordan releases we get are from franchise stores.

We have no boutiques or specialty stores anywhere. Salvin Shoes is one of the only stores in the state with multiple sneaker accounts. They do lottery systems at the Foot Lockers and Champs. We have Jimmy's, Sportspark, and Mister Sports, which are Connecticut franchises (as far as I know). They get Jordans and Nikes but nothing crazy.

We had Enclave, which was a skate shop with a SB account, but Yale raised the rent on their building and forced them out. So now, to the best of my knowledge, there is nowhere in Connecticut to buy SBs.

I do most, if not all, of my sneaker shopping online. I have to if I want anything good. We have the occasional sneaker show, but they are filled with little children and hypebeasts (that's the majority of the people there, but not everyone). There's not much sneaker talk on forums or Facebook, either.

All in al,l I'm kind of upset with the sneaker community in Connecticut. I try to reach out to people in my state but get no good feedback. I've been collecting, selling, and trading for years, and it has just seems to slowly go downhill."

South Texas

salmontoneyo, who lives in South Texas, actually likes the local sneaker scene:

"I'm from a medium-sized town in South Texas, and I actually enjoy our sneaker scene.

We know that we don't have the resources that a larger city like Austin or Houston has, so everyone in our local Facebook group really looks to help each other out. There's a good variety in terms of what people wear. A handful of people have some major heat and huge collections, but there's also a lot of people who are just thankful to cop any general release."

Centerville (Near Dayton), Ohio

Bad_wolf_23_, an Ohio sneakerhead, says his OGs are the ones with heat:

"Near Dayton, Ohio (Centerville), most of the heat here is actually on the middle and high schooler's feet. It's likely that nearly none of them (but me) buy their own shoes, and rely on their rich parents and grandparents.

I never go to in-store releases so I couldn't tell you, but super hyped shoes always seem to sell out when I visit. A social studies teacher at my school has a pair of O.G. Space Jams. My friends and I have decided to make it our mission to figure out his Reddit."

East Valley, Ariz.

RiccoMachado lives in Arizona, and says you need to wear something different to stand out:

"I live in East Valley, Ariz. near Mesa, Tempe, and Chandler. I only know of two stores left that still do FCFS Jordan releases, but GRs can sit for a few days after release. There are a few skate shops out here and only one (with four stores in the Valley) that sell SBs for box price. Most places do raffles for Jordan retros (which I don't trust). I don't see too many people wearing their stuff, though. When I go to the mall, I'll see maybe one or two people with a pair of Js. I started buying ASICS, which I see damn near no one with out here. Hopefully, I'll meet some cool sneakerheads when DunkXChange is in Phoenix."

Columbia, Mo.

BobbyAdamson lives In Columbia, Mo. He says the sneaker scene isn't that different from other Midwest towns:

"[I live in] Columbia, Mo. It's a medium, Midwest town. The University of Missouri is close by and brings some heat, but it's mostly kids who are from Chicago or Dallas where the sneaker culture is bigger. Areas like Columbia don't get big releases, because companies know there is not very much of a market for them. To get to a release, you gotta go to St Louis."

Utah

the_zercher lives in Utah and says there aren't a lot of sneakerheads, but people are still focused on footwear:

"I live in Utah. There's one Facebook sneaker group. For the "Tiffany" SB release, a bunch of people camped out at the one major place that got them. I'm on Brigham Young University's campus, and I saw one guy with Yeezys. Other than that, it's rare to see anything beyond a Flyknit Chukka. But there are alot of hipster-ish boots, though."

Kansas City, Kan.

Thegenesisfreak, a Kansas City, Kan. resident, says it's tough to come across anything that's not a general release:

"I go to high school in Kansas City, Kan. There are Nike Free Runs and Nike runners in general for days. I see a lot of Nike Roshes and a few Hyperdunks. Sometimes I see Kobes and KDs. There are maybe 10+ people that have Jordans that aren't Team Jordans. Only about five people have Nike Foamposites. The rarest thing I'll see is "Black Grape" Vs or "Aqua" VIIIs. Nothing special."

Rural Wisconsin and central Wisconsin

brando223 described that rural Wisconsin doesn't have a lot of sneakerheads, but the competition is still strong for hyped releases:

"Our stores only get the most general of Jordan releases. I wear a size 11. As long as I get there about an hour early, I can get my size. There's definitely some sneakerheads around here, but I only see [them] on release days. The only heat I really ever see is my own. To put it in perspective: I missed out on Gamma XIs because they did a raffle on them. I saw them for the first time, on someone, a week ago. There's not much around here, unfortunately."

Folss, a central Wisconsinite, said:

"Here in fairly rural Marathon County, the scene is pretty much dead. The "sick kicks" in my specific area are general department store releases. Every once in a while, the Eastbay retail store gets a damaged order or a return from an online releases—so things like retros are rare. A local shop provides us with some SB releases. Just about anything we want as a community, or even one customer wants as a release (SB-wise), they'll get. The biggest drop around here in the last five years was definitely the "Tiffany" Dunk Highs. I got my pair of those, "BHM" Dunks, and two Janoski "Digi Florals" from that shop. No retros are ever released here besides a few of the 1 Mids. It's a very small sneaker community, but it's grown a lot recently.