Mountainy, friendly, artsy place to live sustainably? - Page 2

[GreenStudent]

Check out the SF Bay Area! 

Half Moon Bay is on the coast about 40 minutes south of San Francisco, 50 minutes north of Santa Cruz. The town itself has plenty to offer as far as activities for children (classes, library, etc). Lots of hiking in the mountains but also along the beach, mild weather all year long, and a great health food store and homeschool community. It's also just about 20 minutes from the SF peninsula which consists of towns such as San Mateo and Palo Alto If you're looking for more rural living you could look into land south of HMB between HMB and Pescadero. All the land around here is pricey compared to other rural area in the country though. 

Another N. California town I've recently visited and loved is Fairfax. It's about 40 minutes north of San Francisco in Marin County and is really awesome. It has a great natural food store, restaurants, and is located very close to the bigger town of San Rafael. Very cute town!  

[Poppyandsparrow]

If you're considering the mountains, you should take a look at Sun Valley, ID and the surrounding area. I was raised (and partially homeschooled) there by back to the landers- great restaurants, food stores, lots of gorgeous hiking, and the best children's ballet company I've ever seen. You don't have a big big city, but Sun Valley operates as its own piece of California, and if you're up for some online shopping it's all you need.

[germin8]

Aspen, CO! Every summer they have the International music festival & camp for college age students. Its mountainous and beautiful. I think the website is aspenmusicfestival.com. you get to listen to talented students play throughout the area. And you can see the Maroon Bells. Loved it there!

[germin8]

Also, how could I forget... Sedona AZ. Maybe Santa Fe, NM. DH says maybe Bend, OR. What about Canada?

[LeahBoo]

I'm surprised no one mentioned it, you described Bellingham, WA to a tee.

[herent]

I agree with PP Bellingham WA or outskirts of Bellingham, Whatcom county in general.  I live 30 minutes outside Bellingham in Everson WA, I grew up here and couldn't imagine living any where else, Whenever we travel out of state nothing seems to measure up, it's so green and beautiful here, right by the water, foothills of Mt Baker, it's quite green and crunchy here, it's also a college town so a good area for music, and Health food stores, Raw milk is sold at our local food coop stores or several other stores for that matter, it's homeschool friendly, lots of things for kids to do, plenty of parks and activities.  We love it here :)

[MommaKitten21]

Eureka Springs Arkansas!!!!!
 

[Adasmommy]

Thanks for all the ideas! It's kind of awesome to hear that there are so many wonderful places to choose from! We are checking out Asheville NC right now, and if we decide to look elsewhere, I will have this wonderful thread as my go-to list

[SamGroom]

I would really look into Fayetteville, Arkansas.  I know it sounds CRAZY.  But I am from New England and my husband is from Washington and we lived in and LOVED NC.  But now we find ourselves in AR (we are in the military) and we are SHOCKED!!!!  We could not believe the culture here and the mountains.  Plus all the amazing rivers and the cost of living in so cheap.  Fayetteville is right next to the Ozark Mountains which are VERY similar to the Blue Ridge Mountains.  We call Fayetteville mini Portland.  Though it is not that mini with a population close to 500,000.  

Anyway I think it is worth a look.

[nyssaneala]

Here is another voice for Asheville, UNLESS access to raw milk is crucial. You can get local milk here in NC, but not raw. I live in Charlotte, and we have easier access to it as we are only 20 minutes from SC, Asheville is further away from the state line.

I grew up in PA, and honestly would not recommend living there (although raw milk is legal in PA as well). The one exception would be the New Hope area. Access to raw milk, not too far from mountains, a lot of farm land and farms (we bought from Hendrick's farm in Telford, PA when we lived in NJ), close to Philadelphia, not too far from NYC. I don't know about music, but there is a great community theater in New Hope. Not the easiest state to homeschool in, but I know people who do it.
 

[greenmamato2]

Check out Prescott or Prescott Valley, AZ.  I live here and I *LOVE* it.  Arizona is one of the few states in the US that has building codes and approvals for things like earth bag housing.  Prescott is also HUGE on local arts and music.  We have a very large "hippie" style community here as well, so natural living is a big thing.  I love it here. :)
 

[root*children]

Lilbsmama - she said she needs a scientology church.  Otherwise, Asheville would meet a lot of your requirements.  Homeschooling is easy and very common, raw milk is illegal, but still not hard to come by ;)  The growing season here is spectacular.

We have lived near Boulder before and it's not only very pricey to live, but the winters are so long and hard and the summers so very very dry, that it is not particularly condusive to growing your own food for more than a few months of the year.

[sereneimago]

I would suggest Port Townsend, WA.  It is close to the Olympic National Park and many lakes and is full of nature.  There are many families living a natural lifestyle there, and an excellent co-op where you can buy raw milk and pretty much everything under the sun.

It's a town of about 10,000.  Land can be had for less than 100,000... I am not sure the exact prices but many people move from California and buy fancy Victorian homes they could not afford in California!  The people are very similar to Northern California people, except there are more older people and families, not a lot of people in their 20's.

There's a big music-loving and art-loving community there, with lots of concerts from national acts on a regular basis.  Folk and acoustic music are appreciated, as well as jazz and blues.

Good luck!
 

[mamayogibear]

I think that Taos NM would fit all of your criteria...There is an art colony there. a university with lectures in biotecture and permaculture, about a half hour away is the ski valley with beautiful mountains. There are four seasons but winter is short, it gets real cold in the fall and there is snow in the winter. The only thing would be the lack of water in the summer hinders food growth but sustainable agriculture is seen in the zeitgeist of the town. The cost of living is reasonable. I woiuld guess there would be a church an hour away in Santa Fe but if not then never mind...

[boogalu33]

I live in Boulder.  Its not so great, very, very expensive. Land is hard to come by unless you have tons of money.  I'm thinking of taking off to Taos NM, there is an amazing earthship community there. There is also cheap land (you would have to have water delivered, or catch your own). Lots of people live sustainably.  Good luck in your search.

[lanamommyphd07]

My first thought was Crestone...not too far away from you. 

http://www.townofcrestone.org/

but maybe you would have to build a greenhouse for the year-round growing season. lol. Before leaving the state, it is totally worth a visit.

Either way, I'm lurking because you have also described my ideal location. ;-)