Small hippie towns in Oregon? (Portland, Eugene: transplants, coop, homes)

[GreenGardener555]

Everyone knows Portland, Eugene and Ashland are known to be liberal hippies cities.

But what about smaller towns? Which smaller towns out there are mostly liberal/hippie? Maybe some coastal towns? Maybe some of the towns in the Willamette Valley? Any hippie towns out there that DON'T have a college?

I'm considering a move to Eugene. But I think it might be a bit too big and "too college" for me. I'd like to find some places that resemble the small towns in Humboldt County CA. Where should I look?

Thanks a lot.

[backdrifter]

Not really anything too much like Arcata/Eureka in Oregon. And not really anything like McKinleyville, Ferndale, Fortuna, and so on, either.

Other than the biggies, I'd say Takilma (more of a tiny rural agglomeration of "real" hippies), Williams (more like a village really), Astoria (a little funky nowadays in a good way), and... that's really about it that come close.

Ashland is a little too yuppie to be comparable to Humboldt. South Eugene and Inner SE Portland come closest, culturally, in my opinion, although they do have a more urban twist on it... More SF in Portland and more Santa Cruz in Eugene I'd say.

[SandHills]

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.....Talent, Oregon, just north of Ashland. Not yuppie like Ashland, more affordable & hippies a-plenty. :-) Fine little community, in my estimation. Best to you in your searching.

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[Megatron11]

Originally Posted by GreenGardener555

Everyone knows Portland, Eugene and Ashland are known to be liberal hippies cities.

But what about smaller towns? Which smaller towns out there are mostly liberal/hippie? Maybe some coastal towns? Maybe some of the towns in the Willamette Valley? Any hippie towns out there that DON'T have a college?

I'm considering a move to Eugene. But I think it might be a bit too big and "too college" for me. I'd like to find some places that resemble the small towns in Humboldt County CA. Where should I look?

Thanks a lot.

The coast is choc-full of retirees and mccain-palin voters. Ashland is as good as you'll get. The Oregon Country Fair is located west of Eugene near Veneta, but you're likely to find more rednecks than hippies in the town.

[hamellr]

Originally Posted by SandHills

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.....Talent, Oregon, just north of Ashland. Not yuppie like Ashland, more affordable & hippies a-plenty. :-) Fine little community, in my estimation. Best to you in your searching.

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There is a large group of hippies to the south of Cave Junction with such lovely additions as the Treehouse Bed and Breakfast

CJ itself tends to be a bit hippish, but it's a VERY small town and you have to travel for basic goods.

[Fiddlehead]

Williams, Oregon is the real deal. But tiny, with few if any jobs. Folks grow their own income....

Talent is pretty good. All the younger folks have moved there in recent years as Ashland has gentrified and squeezed them out. Ashland is like Marin County, Ca. It has become too gentrified to be hippy. Most of the hippy airy, fairy types we have are older California transplants with equity bucks. The yoga instructors driving Range Rovers to and from their 4000 sf "ecohomes." And the kids who hang out panhandling don't really strike me as hippies. Layabouts and trustafarians maybe, but not really hippies. Most of the older locals are pretty darn cool in Ashland though.

Grants Pass may still have a few hippies around. Otherwise, I think Eugene is the most hippyish area in the state. More broadly, I think you could find likeminded folks throughout the state.

[mikemorrow]

I see many, many old hippies along the coast. But alas we are older now. Mostly taking trails and beach camping. No big parties. I love it when we go to parties and find that we are the kids there. 55 years young. LOL

[GreenGardener555]

Great tips. Thanks!

Now i'm looking more into the Ashland area. When I visited there it struck me as very yuppie and gentrified, and I didn't consider it a place I would want to live. But it looks like there's a lot of cool small towns around there when you get out of Ashland, with much lower living costs. It looks like that area could be a great place to live.

My plan is to move into the city for a while to get established, find work and start meeting people. Then after a year or two move out into a smaller town nearby after I am connected. Eventually I want to live rural and off-grid, but that's a few years in the future.

How would you compare the Eugene area to the Ashland area? It looks as though the Eugene area is generally cheaper right? It also looks like Eugene might have better job opportunites and more mild weather. It seems like the Eugene area is more full of hippies while the Ashland area is a bigger mix of people. Am I correct on this?

[backdrifter]

Fiddlehead--old Ashland locals are pretty darn cool, I agree, but there are less and less of them.

Gardener, I would advise you not to go to Cave Junction looking for hippies. You might be sorely dissapointed with that.

Ashland is very yuppie and gentrified, but there are definitely some cool places around. I forget that Talent has seen many participants of the "old Ashland" diaspora..

Anyway, there is definitely more of a mix of different kinds of people in Eugene than in Ashland just by virtue of Eugene/Springfield being a large-ish city and having the the university there. Of course Ashland has a university too, but it's much smaller and it's a regional school versus a flagship school, and Ashland is more homogeneous generally. Eugene is going to have the better job opportunities, yes, and the weather won't be quite so hot in the summer and won't get quite so cold in the winter. A lot more rain in Eugene (40+ inches/year versus Ashland at 19 inches/year), however both will be quite gloomy in the fall and winter.

Still I'd say there are more hippies in Eugene, both old school and neo-hippies. For one example: Springfield Creamery in Eugene, which produces Nancy's yogurt, is owned by the brother of Ken Kesey and has its founding story intertwined with such figures as The Grateful Dead, Jerry Garcia, and the Merry Pranksters... Real street cred there.

Both great areas.

[Fiddlehead]

I would clarify that the old and new Ashlanders can be pretty cool. I have to fight the gag reflex at the Coop now and again (ecoposeur central), but generally, people young and old, local and transplanted care about their town, and seem to be good folk. My likes and dislikes are as much about me as anything else (curmudgeonly, occasionally amused, nonrich science dude). Ashland is great for the most part, but the housing bubble has changed the whole complexion of the place. It is closer to Aspen, CO than Garberville, CA., IMHO.