These Are The 10 Best Cities For Hippies In Maine

You might think that the whole hippie movement has faded away, but the truth is, there are plenty of hippies out there in Maine.

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 Pine Tree 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 Maine, 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 Maine:

1. South Portland (Photos)
2. Rockland (Photos)
3. Brewer (Photos)
4. Westbrook (Photos)
5. Ellsworth (Photos)
6. Bath (Photos)
7. Belfast (Photos)
8. Saco (Photos)
9. Waterville (Photos)
10. Augusta (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 Maine or the safest places to live in Maine.

How do you determine the most beatnik city in Maine?

In order to rank the best cities for hippies in Maine, 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 19 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 Maine.’ We’re lookin’ at you, South Portland.

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. South Portland

Yoga Studios Per 1,000 People: 1.31
Organic Markets Per 1,000 People: 0.4
Pet Adoption Centers Per 1,000 People: 0.2
Vegan Restaurants Per 1,000 People: 0.4
Thrift Stores Per 1,000 People: 1.15
South Portland is a city in Cumberland County, Maine, United States, and is the fourth-largest city in the state, incorporated in 1898. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 25,002. Known for its working waterfront, South Portland is situated on Portland Harbor and overlooks the skyline of Portland and the islands of Casco Bay. Due to South Portland’s close proximity to air, marine, rail, and highway transportation options, the city has become a center for retail and industry in the region.

2. Rockland

Yoga Studios Per 1,000 People: 0.55
Organic Markets Per 1,000 People: 0.41
Pet Adoption Centers Per 1,000 People: 0.14
Vegan Restaurants Per 1,000 People: 0.28
Thrift Stores Per 1,000 People: 0.55
Rockland is a city in Knox County, Maine, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 7,297. It is the county seat of Knox County. The city is a popular tourist destination. It is a departure point for the Maine State Ferry Service to the islands of Penobscot Bay: Vinalhaven, North Haven and Matinicus.

3. Brewer

Yoga Studios Per 1,000 People: 0.75
Organic Markets Per 1,000 People: 0.21
Pet Adoption Centers Per 1,000 People: 0.32
Vegan Restaurants Per 1,000 People: 0.75
Thrift Stores Per 1,000 People: 1.7

4. Westbrook

Yoga Studios Per 1,000 People: 0.96
Organic Markets Per 1,000 People: 0.28
Pet Adoption Centers Per 1,000 People: 0.06
Vegan Restaurants Per 1,000 People: 0.11
Thrift Stores Per 1,000 People: 0.74
Westbrook is a city in Cumberland County, Maine, United States and a suburb of Portland. The population was 17,494 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Portland–South Portland–Biddeford, Maine metropolitan statistical area.

5. Ellsworth

Yoga Studios Per 1,000 People: 0.26
Organic Markets Per 1,000 People: 0.13
Pet Adoption Centers Per 1,000 People: 0.13
Vegan Restaurants Per 1,000 People: 0.26
Thrift Stores Per 1,000 People: 0.64
Ellsworth is a city in and the county seat of Hancock County, Maine, United States. The 2010 Census determined it had a population of 7,741. Ellsworth was Maine’s fastest growing city from 2000–2010, with a growth rate of nearly 20 percent. With historic buildings and other points of interest, Ellsworth is popular with tourists.[citation needed]

6. Bath

Yoga Studios Per 1,000 People: 0.6
Organic Markets Per 1,000 People: 0.12
Pet Adoption Centers Per 1,000 People: 0.0
Vegan Restaurants Per 1,000 People: 0.36
Thrift Stores Per 1,000 People: 0.95
Bath is a city in Sagadahoc County, Maine, in the United States. The population was 8,514 at the 2010 census, and 8,357 as of 2013, the population has had a change of -10.2% since 2000. It is the county seat of Sagadahoc County, which includes one city and 10 towns. The city is popular with tourists, many drawn by its 19th-century architecture. It is home to the Bath Iron Works and Heritage Days Festival, held annually on the Fourth of July weekend. It is commonly known as ‘The City of Ships.’ Bath is part of the metropolitan statistical area of Greater Portland.

7. Belfast

Yoga Studios Per 1,000 People: 0.45
Organic Markets Per 1,000 People: 0.45
Pet Adoption Centers Per 1,000 People: 0.15
Vegan Restaurants Per 1,000 People: 0.15
Thrift Stores Per 1,000 People: 0.45
Belfast is a city in Waldo County, Maine, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 6,668. Located at the mouth of the Passagassawakeag River estuary on Penobscot Bay, Belfast is the county seat of Waldo County. The seaport has a wealth of antique architecture in several historic districts, and remains popular with tourists.

8. Saco

Yoga Studios Per 1,000 People: 0.32
Organic Markets Per 1,000 People: 0.21
Pet Adoption Centers Per 1,000 People: 0.0
Vegan Restaurants Per 1,000 People: 0.16
Thrift Stores Per 1,000 People: 0.27
Saco /sko/ is a city in York County, Maine, United States. The population was 18,482 at the 2010 census. It is home to Ferry Beach State Park, Funtown Splashtown USA, Thornton Academy, as well as General Dynamics Armament Systems (also known by its former name, Saco Defense), a subsidiary of the defense contractor General Dynamics. Saco sees much tourism during summer months, due to its amusement parks, Ferry Beach State Park, and proximity to Old Orchard Beach.

9. Waterville

Yoga Studios Per 1,000 People: 0.06
Organic Markets Per 1,000 People: 0.19
Pet Adoption Centers Per 1,000 People: 0.06
Vegan Restaurants Per 1,000 People: 0.13
Thrift Stores Per 1,000 People: 0.5
Waterville is a city in Kennebec County of the U.S. state of Maine, United States, on the west bank of the Kennebec River. Home to Colby College and Thomas College, the population was 15,722 at the 2010 census. Waterville is also the latter of the cities which make up the Augusta-Waterville, ME Micropolitan Statistical Area.

10. Augusta

Yoga Studios Per 1,000 People: 0.05
Organic Markets Per 1,000 People: 0.05
Pet Adoption Centers Per 1,000 People: 0.26
Vegan Restaurants Per 1,000 People: 0.32
Thrift Stores Per 1,000 People: 0.32
Augusta is the capital of the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat of Kennebec County.

There You Have It — The Hippies Of Maine

If you’re measuring the locations in Maine 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 Maine:

1. Caribou
2. Caribou
3. Lewiston

For more Maine reading , check out:

• These Are The 10 Safest Places In Maine
• These Are The 10 Most Boring Places In Maine
• These Are The 10 Most Dangerous Cities In Maine

Detailed List Of The Hippiest Cities In Maine