Crunchy communities, loving natural landscapes... where are you?

[Ks Mama]

On the heels of my previous question, looking for a Montessori Erkinder school, and doing some earrrrrrly footwork, in anticipation of a potential midwest move...

Are you living in, or near, or know of a really "crunchy" community in Kansas, Missouri, Colorado, even as far South as Texas or West as outside of Vegas?  We're in NJ right now, in a very un-crunchy and un-nature-loving place.  Having come from a much more earth & environment-loving, natural lifestyle place as Maine, New Jersey can be rough and harsh at times when it comes to natural/earthy/eco-friendly/minimalist! If we can package a more crunchy community in with our next move, it would be truly awesome. We love the outdoors, hiking, clean water & air, etc... so living in that type of environment (as oppsed to the most densely populated state couched between two big cities in the US) would be ideal!

So... do you love the place you currently live? Why would we want to live there? Tell me about it!

[lorijds]

I think you can be as crunchy as you want to be in Lawrence, Ks or the surrounding countryside. 

[lunarlady]

Colorado, in general, is pretty crunch friendly. We currently live near Fort Collins, and we have quite an active community of Eco-minded individuals, natural birthing activists, organic foods (including awesome CSA's) and more. My daughter attends a great Montossori school here too.

Anywhere near the mountains you are going to find toms of people passionate about outdoor activities like hiking, cycling, kayaking, rafting, fishing and hunting. Most of the true prarie is devoted to farming, which of course means a little different bent. I don't much like the air quality near Denver, but otherwise it is a great city.

We are actually hoping to move soon to the western slope near Grand Junction. We've already scoped it out and found the bike trails, cloth diaper store, Montosorri school, and organic Farmers Market stalls.

Overall, in my opinion you can't go wrong in Colorado. It is also sunny quite often, and never gets too hot or too cold. (very few days over 100 or below 0). Check it out!

[TSomm]

I'm looking for a change too and I've centered on the Denver/Fort Collins corridor.  I'll let you know more once I make it there!

[GoldieP]

I'm from Kansas City.  We currently live in metro Detroit, but are looking to move back to Kansas.  We are looking at houses around Lawrence.  It's pretty crunchy!  There are great shops and a fabulous food co-op called "The Merc". 

[iamkateiam]

I'm in Kansas City and there are some pretty crunch people here!  We moved from Omaha to KC about 3 and a half years ago.  The Bad Seed Farmer's Market is a great place to get local foods and meet local people.  I also really enjoy going to First Fridays in the Crossroads Art District.  My husband does improv comedy in KC and we've met a lot of fun people in that community.  I'd also say that Lawrence is really crunchy- but it's more of a college town (not that there is anything wrong with that!).
 

[naturalcrunch]

I definitely understand wanting to leave NJ...I grew up there and finally escaped 2 years ago. I settled just outside Indianapolis. The area is super affordable (compared to NJ)and  I love that there are lots of farmers markets, parks and I had an awesome homebirth midwife and love my chiropractor!  However there is a serious lack of health conscious people. I feel like the odd ball around here and have had a difficult time finding people that share the same passions. Although I have never been, I have been starting to looking at Colorado. Good luck on your search!