Really? Judge for yourself by counting down the roster, supplemented by excerpts from Estately.com text and photos from our summer 2013 slide show featuring fans of Widespread Panic -- a band that hails from Georgia, one of Estately's ten worst hippie states....
Note: The rankings were determined via the following factors:
Number of communes and intentional communities per capita in each state (source: Fellowship for Intentional Community)Number 10: IdahoNumber of food co-ops per capita in each state (source: Coop Directory)
Number of local Etsy stores per capita selling hemp, patchouli and tie-dye products (source: Etsy)
Percentage of Facebook users who express interest in the following: Grateful Dead, Phish, cannabis, tie-dye, peace, LSD, Bob Dylan, and hippies (source: Facebook)
Honestly, this came as a surprise. We triple checked the numbers and it all adds up. Thought for sure it would be Hawaii. So confused.Number 9: Washington
Residents of Washington state don't express their hippie values on Facebook the way the other states in the top ten do, but the state is littered with communes and intentional communities (108), marijuana is legal (and plentiful), and green values are commonplace.Continue to keep counting down Estately's ten best states for hippies. Number 8: Wisconsin
A midwestern hippie oasis, Patchouli-soaked Wisconsin has the sixth most co-ops per capita, the 12th most communes, and the 10th most Phish fans. Wisconsin's hippiedom extends far beyond its hippie capital of Madison, and could be spreading even into neighboring Iowa....Number 7: New Mexico
New Mexico has more interest in tie-dye and cannabis than any other state, it's fifth in selling hemp products on Etsy, and it boasts a high population of hippie artists wearing turquoise jewelry....Continue to keep counting down Estately's ten best states for hippies. Number 6: Montana
...With plenty of land and a policy of leaving the neighbors alone to do whatever they want, Montana is fast becoming a destination for another wave of hippie settlers.Number 5: Colorado
Not only is Colorado home to legal weed, it's also home the second highest concentration of Phish fans in America, the eighth highest concentration of communes, and the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics. The question though is whether Colorado will remain a hippie state or whether its growth and changing demographics will cause it to lose its hippie cred the way California has?Continue to keep counting down Estately's ten best states for hippies. Number 4: Oregon
...Oregon remains a hippie haven, but perhaps it doesn't let its freak flag fly as proudly as it once did.Number 3: New Hampshire
...Per capita, it has the third most Grateful Dead fans, the second most patchouli products for sale on Etsy, the fifth most co-ops, and the 7th most communes. It's basically Vermont with deodorant on.Continue to keep counting down Estately's ten best states for hippies. Number 2: Maine
...Overall, Maine residents expressed the most interest in hippie things, particularly peace (2nd), Grateful Dead (2nd), Phish (3rd), Cannabis (6th), Bob Dylan (2nd, and hippies (4th). The state is basically one big drum circle.Number 1: Vermont
...It has the most communes (24) and co-ops (16) per capita of any state, and it has highest concentration of Grateful Dead, Bob Dylan and Phish fans. Basically, Vermont is not only a massive hippie retirement community for the original hippies, but it's also a haven for the next generation of flower children.
Send your story tips to the author, Michael Roberts.
More from our Colorado Cannabis Time Capsule archive circa February 14: "Cannabis Time Capsule flashback: 'Anti-symbol Hippie Ponders Future in Jail.'"
