You might think that the whole hippie movement has faded away, but the truth is, there are plenty of hippies out there in Kentucky.
While they aren’t necessarily in your face all the time with war protests and the next Woodstock isn’t being planned any time soon, we thought it would be fun to look at which cities in the Bluegrass State where the most hippies would live.
And, after crunching the data, you know what? It was pretty spot on, we have to say.
How do you decide where the most hippies live? By the number of yoga studios, organic markets, and most importantly, where the liberals live in droves.
Using that criteria, it’s not hard to scrape the internet, run some scientific data on where hippies might live in Kentucky, and then put out a list.
So, put on your tie dye shirt and your sandals as you go through this list with us.
After analyzing all cities with a decent amount of people in them, we came up with this list of the 10 best cities for hippies in Kentucky:
- Douglass Hills
- Dayton (Photos)
- Bellevue (Photos)
- Middletown (Photos)
- Lyndon (Photos)
- St. Matthews (Photos)
- Fort Wright
- Fort Mitchell
- Shively (Photos)
- Newport (Photos)
Read on below to see where your town ranked, young flower child.
And if you already knew these places were hippie heavens, check out the best places to live in Kentucky or the safest places to live in Kentucky.
How do you determine the most beatnik city in Kentucky?
In order to rank the best cities for hippies in Kentucky, we had to determine what criteria defines a hippie.
We threw a lot of criteria at this one in order to get the best, most complete results possible. Using the Google Places API, the Census’s 2010-2014 American Community Survey, and Voter Registration data, this is the criteria we used:
- Number of yoga studios per capita
- Number of organic markets per capita
- Number of pet adoption centers per capita
- Number of vegan restaurants per capita
- Number of thrift stores per capita
- Each city’s liberal voting population
Note: For the sake of getting reliable numbers, we counted places within a ~4.5 mile radius of a city’s center. The average city in America is about 18 square miles.
All of these results are listed in a per capita basis, meaning number of stores per person in a city. Additionally, we limited the analysis to non-CDPs that have over 5,000 people.
We ranked each place with scores from 1 to 81 in each category, where 1 was the most hippie.
Next, we averaged the rankings for each place to create a hippie index.
And finally, we crowned the city with the highest hippie index the ‘Best City for Hippies In Kentucky.’ We’re lookin’ at you, Douglass Hills.
Read on below to learn more about what it’s like to live in hippie central. Or skip to the end to see the list of all the places in the state from hippiest to most square.
1. Douglass Hills
Yoga Studios Per 1,000 People: 1.98
Organic Markets Per 1,000 People: 0.72
Pet Adoption Centers Per 1,000 People: 1.26
Vegan Restaurants Per 1,000 People: 1.26
Thrift Stores Per 1,000 People: 3.59
Douglass Hills is a home rule-class city in eastern Jefferson County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 5,718 at the 2000 census.
2. Dayton
Yoga Studios Per 1,000 People: 6.69
Organic Markets Per 1,000 People: 1.49
Pet Adoption Centers Per 1,000 People: 1.3
Vegan Restaurants Per 1,000 People: 4.09
Thrift Stores Per 1,000 People: 5.2
Dayton is a home rule-class city along a bend of the Ohio River in Campbell County, Kentucky, in the United States. The population was 5,338 at the 2010 census. It is less than 3 miles (5 km) from downtown Cincinnati, Ohio.
3. Bellevue
Yoga Studios Per 1,000 People: 6.07
Organic Markets Per 1,000 People: 1.35
Pet Adoption Centers Per 1,000 People: 1.18
Vegan Restaurants Per 1,000 People: 3.71
Thrift Stores Per 1,000 People: 3.71
Bellevue is a home rule-class city in Campbell County, Kentucky, in the United States. It is located along the southern bank of the Ohio River. The population was 5,955 at the 2010 census.
4. Middletown
Yoga Studios Per 1,000 People: 0.82
Organic Markets Per 1,000 People: 0.41
Pet Adoption Centers Per 1,000 People: 0.55
Vegan Restaurants Per 1,000 People: 2.59
Thrift Stores Per 1,000 People: 1.91
Middletown is an independent, home rule-class city in Jefferson County, Kentucky, United States, and a former neighborhood of Louisville. The population was 7,218 at the 2010 census.
5. Lyndon
Yoga Studios Per 1,000 People: 1.61
Organic Markets Per 1,000 People: 0.54
Pet Adoption Centers Per 1,000 People: 0.54
Vegan Restaurants Per 1,000 People: 0.36
Thrift Stores Per 1,000 People: 2.24
Lyndon is a home rule-class city in Jefferson County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 9,369 at the 2000 U.S. census.
6. St. Matthews
Yoga Studios Per 1,000 People: 1.64
Organic Markets Per 1,000 People: 0.45
Pet Adoption Centers Per 1,000 People: 0.45
Vegan Restaurants Per 1,000 People: 0.62
Thrift Stores Per 1,000 People: 1.07
St. Matthews is a city in Jefferson County, Kentucky, United States. It forms part of the Louisville Metro government but is separately incorporated as a home rule-class city. The population was 15,852 at the 2000 census, making it the 20th-largest city in the state.
7. Fort Wright
Yoga Studios Per 1,000 People: 1.75
Organic Markets Per 1,000 People: 0.35
Pet Adoption Centers Per 1,000 People: 0.7
Vegan Restaurants Per 1,000 People: 1.57
Thrift Stores Per 1,000 People: 3.32
Fort Wright is a home rule-class city in Kenton County, Kentucky, in the United States. The population was 5,723 at the 2010 census.
8. Fort Mitchell
Yoga Studios Per 1,000 People: 1.46
Organic Markets Per 1,000 People: 0.24
Pet Adoption Centers Per 1,000 People: 0.61
Vegan Restaurants Per 1,000 People: 1.22
Thrift Stores Per 1,000 People: 2.31
Fort Mitchell is a home rule-class city in Kenton County, Kentucky, in the United States. The population was 8,207 at the 2010 census.
9. Shively
Yoga Studios Per 1,000 People: 0.26
Organic Markets Per 1,000 People: 0.32
Pet Adoption Centers Per 1,000 People: 0.26
Vegan Restaurants Per 1,000 People: 0.52
Thrift Stores Per 1,000 People: 1.68
Shively is a home rule-class city in Jefferson County, Kentucky, United States and a suburb of Louisville within the Louisville Metro government. As of the 2010 Census, the city’s population was 15,264, reflecting an increase of 107 (+0.7%) from 15,157 in 2000.
10. Newport
Yoga Studios Per 1,000 People: 1.81
Organic Markets Per 1,000 People: 0.45
Pet Adoption Centers Per 1,000 People: 0.26
Vegan Restaurants Per 1,000 People: 1.1
Thrift Stores Per 1,000 People: 1.16
Newport is a home rule-class city at the confluence of the Ohio and Licking rivers in Campbell County, Kentucky, in the United States. The population was 15,273 at the 2010 census. Historically, it was one of four county seats of Campbell County. Newport is part of the Cincinnati Metropolitan Area, which includes over 2 million inhabitants.
There You Have It — The Hippies Of Kentucky
If you’re measuring the locations in Kentucky where there are lots of liberals, and there are many options for vegan food, yoga and thrift stores, this is an accurate list.
If you’re curious, here are the most square places in Kentucky:
- Wilmore
- Williamsburg
- Georgetown
For more Kentucky reading , check out:
- These Are The 10 Poorest Places In Kentucky
- These Are The 10 Worst Places To Live In Kentucky
- These Are The 10 Most Ghetto Cities In Kentucky