ImTheresaMay

Banned
Jan 15, 2018
523
I'm planning a road trip with friends for a few weeks over summer 2019, I'm looking for sort of alternative communities to stop through on the long drives.

Any recommendations for hippie, bohemian, communal type towns?
 

uzipukki

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt account
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
5,722
So you decided to leave your post as PM and need a bit of a break. Understandable.
 

Xiaomi

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,250
Manitou Springs, Colorado. Get high as fuck and join a drum circle.

Woodstock, NY is pretty and near the Catskills, but Colorado is hippier by several orders of magnitude.
 

Deleted member 23850

Oct 28, 2017
8,689
If the hippie scene completely dies out, I will be pretty happy about that.
 

Vern

Banned
Oct 26, 2017
5,097
North Bay Area has a few spots. It's been a decade or so since I spent much time that way but Windsor and Sebastopol and Guerneville were kind of an eclectic mix of hippies with the pot smokers and growers, organic vegan lifestyle people, crunchy lesbians, etc. Then you had the right wing farmers, dairy mostly I guess. The Bay Area yuppies and winos... umm. I don't know if it's what you are looking for but it's an interesting area with great little communities and people.
 

Jeff Albertson

The Fallen
Oct 27, 2017
3,066
I'm probably totally and utterly wrong about this but I recently visited California for the first time from the UK and Venice Beach had that sort of feel

Maybe it was just the lingering smell of weed that made me think it though
 
Oct 27, 2017
3,257
Asheville NC definitely has that kind of atmosphere. There's a weekly drumcircle in the mini park every Friday. Boone NC is also supposedly even more hippie, but I've never been there.
 
OP
OP
ImTheresaMay

ImTheresaMay

Banned
Jan 15, 2018
523
Oct 25, 2017
12,754
Olympia, Washington is the most hipster place I've been per capita I'd say
Source: live there

Edit: woops you said hippies not hipster lol
 

Deleted member 13645

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Oct 27, 2017
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Cassadaga, Florida kinda fits the bill. It's a town of psychics and, based on some people I know who love the place, is very much appealing to hippies.
 

Deleted member 40797

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Mar 8, 2018
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Olympia, Washington is the most hipster place I've been per capita I'd say
Source: live there

Edit: woops you said hippies not hipster lol

I agree with this. It's more hippy than hipster - at least when I lived there.

There aren't many places in America where someone telling you they're part of an anarchist vegan art collective that hosts psychedelic brunches where their band plays doom metal won't turn more than a few heads (true story).
 

Saganator

Member
Oct 26, 2017
8,078
Nederland, CO. Very cool and eccentric town in the mountains. Filled with actual hippies, not liberal trust fund kids like in Boulder.
 

Deleted member 11985

User requested account closure
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Oct 27, 2017
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I went to a music festival in Ithaca, NY once, and it was the most hippie place I've ever been to. I'm not sure how much the music festival contributed to that, though.

Ninja edit: I said Utica before, but it's Ithaca.
 
Apr 10, 2018
214
I think Bisbee, Arizona would fit the bill. Cool old copper town that became this kind of hippy enclave in the 60s and 70s. Super beautiful countryside, too.
 

LegendofJoe

Member
Oct 28, 2017
12,426
Arkansas, USA
Eureka Springs, Arkansas

It's a spa town from the 1800's that looks like Old San Francisco. It's a fun place to visit for a few days. You can rent gorgeous tree houses and hobbit caves if you book far enough ahead.
 

MetalMagus

Avenger
Oct 16, 2018
1,645
Maine
If you're driving through Utah stop at Moab, it's not only heaven to the "great outdoors" type of hippies but it's honestly some of the most unique landscapes you'll find on the entire planet.
 

Br3wnor

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
4,982
Manitou Springs, Colorado. Get high as fuck and join a drum circle.

Woodstock, NY is pretty and near the Catskills, but Colorado is hippier by several orders of magnitude.

Woodstock is pretty chill but it's "rich hippies with nice houses who like artsy crafts shops" kind of chill, not exactly communal living. Nice place to spend a weekend but not what the OP seems to have in mind.


A little bit more hippie-ish than Woodstock, definitely more homeless people and you also have the college right there (UVM), so a lot of young people. Very cool main strip in town, basically a road w/ tons of shops that cars aren't allowed so it's nice to walk around. Also fantastic nature stuff to do if you're into it. But like Woodstock, it's very commercialized. (The city at least, didn't venture much outside of that)

As for my advice, all I can offer is this:
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Oct 25, 2017
12,754
I agree with this. It's more hippy than hipster - at least when I lived there.

There aren't many places in America where someone telling you they're part of an anarchist vegan art collective that hosts psychedelic brunches where their band plays doom metal won't turn more than a few heads (true story).
Yeah that sounds about right for Olympia lol. I've lived up and down the east coast and nothing compares to the weird and wild stuff here lol. Also don't forget the protests near daily for whatever is going on lol.
 

LegendofJoe

Member
Oct 28, 2017
12,426
Arkansas, USA
I also recommend Manitou Springs, Colorado as a good hippie town. My Mom lives about half an hour away and I always try to spend some time there when I'm visiting.
 
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Piggus

Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,968
Oregon
I would say my own hometown of Ashland, OR has a lot of hippies around in the summer, but it's turning into more of a retirement town for old Californians. We have one of the highest anti-vaxxer rates in the country though, which is the mark of a hippie town these days.

Still worth stopping for an OSF play or a hike if you happen to be driving through Oregon along I5.