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I'm looking for some leads/ideas on some cool towns in the Midwest for potential relocation. Definitely some place under 100,000 population, but smaller is better, like maybe 20,000 or less. Could be small town near a larger urban area etc. Looking for a place that is a bit more cultured than an average farm town. Liberal values are a big plus, and friendly people are a must (maybe in your opinion those two don't go together, but humor me). Ideally a town with at least one or two colleges/universities and good health care/medical centers nearby (for employment). States could be Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Wisconsin, etc. We'll consider any area but we need some ideas! We're a young couple looking to move out of the city (we both grew up in rural areas but don't want to move "home"). We'd still like to be a part of a young, hip small community if ever such a thing existed in the Midwest
Do you want politically liberal, socially liberal, both?
The areas around Cedar Rapids, Iowa were OK for me when I lived there, socially. Vinton, Shellsburg, that area. Although it's a largely agricultural area, and farmers who stay in business tend to be realists, they will help you out and may loan you "stuff" but they are not exactly socialists.
You're going to want to find a small community that's home to a school, be it a public university or small liberal arts college, IMO. Such a thing as young, hip, liberal, and progressive does exist in the Midwest, but your best bet for finding such atmospheres is to follow seats of higher ed. Without going the college town route, your basic agricultural community in the Midwest will slant conservative more often than not, and it won't typically attract more than the bare minimum of young, college-educated adults.
Chelsea, Michigan. Town itself is a nice little place with good restaurants for a place that size and Jeff Daniel's Purple Rose theatre company. Go 15 miles east, and you're in the liberal university/big hospital city of Ann Arbor. Go five miles west or south and you're in farmland. Go five miles north or northwest and you're in a huge state recreation area.
Ashland, Wisconsin looks like it might be liberal. It has a college, an environmental institute, and is in a county that's pretty much always went Democratic. It has under 10,000 people. I don't know anything about it though as I was just looking up Wisconsin towns that might fit.
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