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Thanks for the suggestions so far. I'll be looking into Louisville, KY and Ashville, NC.
Ashville is pretty cool. We looked there and even spoke to a realtor about a home in the Black Mountain neighborhood. That section of the country, the Western NC/Eastern TN/Eastern KY/NW S. Carolina region is spectacular scenery. It will take your breath away. If you like the outdoors, you will be blown away. The only things that made us pass on A'ville, were lack of jobs in professional/technical areas and being a little too car oriented. I am not a car person, so for me personally, that aspect was a negative. Also, once you leave the little oasis of Ashville, the people in the outlying communities / Johnson City etc, are not as open minded and welcoming as they are in Ashville. I would encourage visiting first, if anything, it will be a very nice vacation !
We're looking to move/buy a house in a hippie/artsy area that is small town or a suburb. We have a few qualifications and preferences. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
Require
*2-3 bedroom houses under $200,000
*Within 1 hour drive of major US airport
*Creative, artistic people
Prefer
*Liberal, left-leaning politics
*Ocean or Mountains within a couple hours drive
*Green-thinking area
Thank you for any/all suggestions!
It seems you would love Ashland Oregon/Corvallis
$200,000 you can get a place
It has a Airport
home of a university
It is very Liberal
It has mountains and the ocean is a couple of hours away
both or green
From what I've read, you might also want to check out Eureka Springs, AR. It's situated in the Ozarks, is liberal and artsy, and is about 50 miles from the airport in northwest Arkansas, one of the fastest-growing small metros in the country. The airport is busier than what might be expected for a region that size because the headquarters of F500 companies Wal-Mart and Tyson Foods are based there.
I thought of Ashland too, it's a lovely town where the Oregon Shakespeare Festival is based, that must keep a lot of "hippies" in employment! There's a great food coop in Ashland. The airport (in Medford) isn't major, though. Also, Ashland is located within a more conservative county.
Corvallis is a somewhat bigger university town in another part of Oregon, my brother has retired there and loves it. It's between the mountains and the coast range, and is maybe 90 minutes' drive to Portland airport, which is a major airport. I don't know what houses go for there.
Davis, California very much sees itself as a "green" town--it's famous for its bikeway network. It's within reasonable driving distance of both the Sierra and the coast. Close to Sacramento airport, sort of a second tier airport, getting to Oakland or San Francisco airport also possible. Very hot in summer though.
Ashland OR is beautiful but expensive and I think it has more retirees than hippies. Corvallis is also very nice with a great university. A friend of mine teaches there. It isn't high on the hippie list though and I don't think you could get your house for your price.
How about Eugene Oregon? The place where old hippies go to retire. I think you could find a house there for your price and there is a university. It is not far from Portland if you wanted to visit a larger city and take advantage of the airport. If you are looking for liberal it's there. Very creative artistic people.
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