"Hippy" small towns (Minneapolis, Duluth: loft, co-ops, unemployment)

[matthewmatthewmatthew]

Hello!

I'm considering relocating from MPLS to a smaller city/town. It'd have to be within 5 hours of Minneapolis, and it'd be best if it was within 2-3 hours or less from the cities. Here's my list of wants:

-job opportunities for teachers (Math/Special Ed licensed)
-vegan friendly (within 45m of a co op)
-Quaker Meeting nearby
-bike friendly
-some sort of music scene (esp. bluegrass)
-left leaning politically
-decent amount of people around my age (mid to late 20's)
-near farmland, especially organic

I'm looking more towards the South East: river towns and such. I know that small towns aren't Minneapolis and I may not find everything I want. I'm not interested in moving to Duluth (too cold).

Winona seems like the obvious choice, given the communes and the college and everything, but it seems like jobs are harder to come by in Winona. Would La Crosse, WI be a good option? I've heard good things about Dubuque, IA, too. Are there cities/towns I'm overlooking?

I know not all the towns I'm looking at are in MN, but i figured it made more since to post here than U.S.A. because I'm coming from MN and most of the towns I'm interested in are in MN or on the border.

Thanks!

--Matthew

[mntonv]

Well, the first town that popped into my mind is Northfield. I live in a nearby town and we all have co-ops around here. One in Northfield is Just Food Co-op. We're in a very rural area, lots of farmland. They have Quaker meetings in right in Northfield. It's a college town so lots of bikers and you're near the Cannon Valley Trail ( Cannon Valley Trail Home ).

As for bluegrass, I think Minnesota is very eclectic musically. In nearby Red Wing, is the loft, part of Hobgoblin ( Stoney End Music Loft Concerts and Events (http://www.stoneyend.com/loft.html - broken link) )

I can't speak to job possibilities. Many school districts have budget issues and are losing teachers, but as a specialist, you may have an in.

[northstar22]

What about Marshall? It's SouthWEST but fits all your other criteria. It's progressive, has plenty of young people and jobs, hosts music festivals and it's surrounded by oceans of farmland. Unemployment is around 3%. I love it here.

I'd avoid Northfield because it's basically a suburb of the Cities. It's only 15 minutes from Lakeville and will probably fall victim to Cities sprawl within the next decade.

[uptown_urbanist]

Northfield came to my mind, too. It doesn't feel suburban at all.

[uptown_urbanist]

How about somewhere like Viroqua, WI? I don't know enough about it comment on all of your criteria, but it's VERY organic down there, very scenic, and my impression is that there seems to be a pretty strong hippie vibe down there. Lots of organic farmers, co-ops, back-to-the-land, traditional craftsmanship, buy local kind of stuff. It's a very nice little town, not too far from La Crosse. It's within five hours of Minneapolis, but not 2-3. (maybe 3 1/2 or so, I think)

[audadvnc]

"Hippy" towns? You're about 30 years late, partner.

As for the Winona communes - I was on one of those a couple years back; it wasn't very hippie-ish, more like a bunch 50 year old men with social phobia and drug dependency issues (like pretty much every small town in the Midwest), and their wives/domestic servants imported from Thailand.

[uptown_urbanist]

I interpreted the request to be more along the lines of looking for modern-version hippie-esque, rather than some vision straight out of the '60s.

[uptown_urbanist]

Forgot about the Quaker requirement: I did a quick search and it looks like there are several Quaker options in the La Crosse/Viroqua/Driftless region of WI; in La Crosse, Gays Mills, Hillsboro.

[Citykid3785]

Decorah, IA. It has Luther college and is a huge hippy town. They even has the famous seed exchange that caters to the organic grower community. It's beautiful there btw, tons of B&B's.

Northfield and Lanesboro come to mind as well, although Lanesboro has less than 1,000 people in the entire town. I also think Red Wing, Winona, Cannon Falls, Chatfield, etc are all places to consider.

[Radical_Car]

How small are you looking for?

I'd recommend Eau Clair, WI

Northfield is good too but it might be too close to the cities for you, you said it'd be best 2-3 hours to the cities, Northfield is a lot closer then that.

St. Peter is a favorite of mine, and very close to Mankato which is a college town with a large state university. Heck Mankato would be good to, depending on how big or small of a town you want, but if you want something smaller, St. Peter is great, and a skip down the road from Mankato.

Do you care how close to the cities you are?