where else is like austin-not california

[liz-hippymom]

is there anywhere else that has the good size population of liberal/hippyish people that ausitn does? perferable cooler than here, and not california-can't afford to live there.
thanks for your help!

[amanecer]

Bellingham, WA
Asheville, NC
Northampton/ Amherst, MA
Durango,CO
Madison, WI

[EStreetMama]

Portland, although I miss the music and food in Austin. No place like it.

[mamanurse]

I second Portland, OR and Madison, WI.

[Katheda]

please delete, thank you

[Lazyhead]

Ann Arbor, MI

As I just wrote somewhere else--look for the classic college towns!

[boysrus]

Olympia WA
Boulder CO
Bloomington IN

[smeghead]

is there anywhere else that has the good size population of liberal/hippyish people that ausitn does? perferable cooler than here, and not california-can't afford to live there.
thanks for your help!

Eugene, OR. I'm an 11th generation Texan and I like Eugene better than Austin, really, because here there is better food, cooler and more beautiful Summer's, and my favorite thing: bike trails. :) Plus we're 45 min. away from awesome beaches - sandy, rocky, or forest - camping in the mountains, volcanos, and two of the purest lakes in the world - Lake Waldo and Crater Lake. Oregon State Parks maintains awesome cabins and yurts you can rent to camp in - you don't need a tent or RV for camping out here. There are tons of amazing hot springs - everything from primitive undeveloped ones you go out in the woods to discover to the more developed ones like the ones at kah-nee-ta native america retreat... Eugene is a good place to buy real estate, too, right now because as California's bubble is finally bursting and homes are depreciating in value, here in Eugene property values keep going up slow and steady.

The only thing I think no city in the world can compete with Austin is the live music scene. I miss that. Eugene has one, but not like Austin. It's a good excuse to go home - for SXSW. :) People do play here, though... check out eugeneweekly.com

[fireflies~for~me]

lived in texas too-very familiar with austin...

definitely check out asheville NC...you'll find what you are looking for, but so are lots of other people. We lived there four years and loved it but for DH job situation, it was time to move on. What type of work would you all be looking for?

Funny, we just moved back to the NW and the downtown of Spokane looks a lot like Austin's...river thru it, lots of fun things to do...

HTH

[YogaMama04]

I second Madison, WI. We lived in Austin for three years and then Madison for three and we liked Madison a lot better, actually.

[kmamma]

You gotta check out Ashland, oregon. Love it, but a bit spendy. Beautiful, lots of groovy people, excellent coop, small coelleg town, the best park I've ever seen, with a beautiful stream running through where the kids play.

[mamamaris]

Boulder, CO
How can you argue with the town slogan of "Keep Boulder weird!" ?
Definitely cooler (temp wise) than Austin, not as pricey as California but unfortunately starting to head that way. Great little suburbs around the area that are cheaper but still close. CU is here to keep it young feeling. Wonderful arts community, very liberal and hippyish, also environmentally focused.
Also- tons of outdoor stuff as Boulder is nestled into the foothills of the Rockies. It's absolutely gorgeous.
BTW, I have never seen so many men that will use a sling as in this area!
Good Luck, Maris

[SimonsMamma]

I second the Boulder vote. We lived near Boulder for years and loved it.

Getting pretty commerical, though, but what town isnt??

[raeanneb]

I second Madison, WI, and also Boulder. Both are nice; I lived in Madison for awhile, but I don't like winter, so it's not the best place for me... Now I live in Loveland, CO, but I wish I could live in Boulder, I think I'd have a lot more to do there...

[root*children]

Bouler is wicked expensive though!! yikes! That's what kept us from moving there. Asheville's bumpersticker is "Keep Asheville Weird" too. And I'd have to saythere's ots more weirdos here than in Boulder where it's mostly wealthy folks :lol

[lalaland42]

I lived in Boulder (very expensive) and loved it but I loved Eugene OR more. It is also cheaper. I like Portland and lived in Seattle almost my whole life but they are a bit more big-city-feeling. -DH is laughing because Seattle is the smallest city he has lived in.

I'd say check out Eugene.

[Nora'sMama]

Iowa City, IA. In addition to the cities that have been named.

It's another Big 10 college town with a lovely downtown, on the river, not expensive, great music scene, great food co-op...etc. etc. etc.! I lived there for a year and a half a loooong time ago and I was a single person then so had that perspective, but a good friend from college did her PhD there and lived comfortably on her graduate student teaching stipend and her husband's undergrad student loans - they rented a nice house, lived well and she had a fabulous homebirth while there! They are in New Haven CT now and they like it but I gather it is much more $$ there.

SO much to like about Iowa City IMO. I would definitely move back there if DH happened to get a job at U of Iowa.

[boongirl]

I live in and love bellingham (http://www.bellingham.net/index.php?&MMN_position=1:1) wa. Kind of a mix of people but a good bunch of crunchy/organic types and a great way of life.

[Hokulele]

I've never been to Austin so I really have no right answering this post... but... I have always imagined Austin being like Madison, WI; Ithaca, NY; Northampton, MA, Boulder or Fort Collins, CO or some of the areas in the Pacific Northeast.... at least in terms of type of people / town.

It is fun to think about. Recently I moved to the southeast and feel very far out of my comfort zone in political/social environment. *sigh*

[mamaverdi]

Have heard several Austinites (?) compare Austin and Seattle favorably.

[edenluna]

portland, oregon... seattle is gorgeous, as is most of the puget sound area, but portland is much more laid back and the people are more friendly.

[pamamidwife]

portland - and it rocks for the music scene. nothing like it anywhere else.

[blizzard_babe]

Madison, WI or Lawrence, KS. Lawrence is great, but kind of a liberal oasis in the state of ongoing humans-din't-come-from-no-durn-monkeys drama. The rest of WI is more conservative than Madison (except Milwaukee and a few smaller college town enclaves), but less so than non-Lawrence parts of Kansas.

[LailaCA]

Maine!

[calynde]

Athens, GA maybe?

[Pepperdove]

Seattle is great...
Evanston, IL (just N of Chicago)