Being cool by association isn’t something that people usually try to be, but it’s interesting when it happens to places.
Some places are inherently cool because of history or because they were created to be cool. Castles are cool because of history. The Eiffel Tower is cool because it was built to be cool.
However, places can become cool when they’re association with something. When locations featured in films, TV series, art, and books, they become cool to the people who enjoy whatever mentioned the place.
A pretty good example of this is Platform 9 and 3/4 from the Harry Potter series. Before the books came out, it didn’t exist. There wasn’t a Platform 9 3/4 at King’s Cross Station. After the books became famous, however, it became a thing, and hundreds of people line up every day to get their picture taken. I probably would have too, had I the time. And the money, and I do want to complain about the price but to their credit, they have a photographer a person there who helps you get the shot by making you look all proper and doing other things.
Personally, I can’t at the moment think of any place that I would like to visit because it’s cool by association. Maybe the school from High School Musical, but I don’t know for sure if I want to go all the way to Salt Lake City just for that. If I just happen to be there, I’ll give it a go.
