You might think that the whole hippie movement has faded away, but the truth is, there are plenty of hippies out there in New Jersey.
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 Garden 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 New Jersey, 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 New Jersey:
- Guttenberg (Photos)
- Glen Ridge (Photos)
- North Caldwell
- Haddon Heights (Photos)
- Audubon (Photos)
- Secaucus (Photos)
- Caldwell (Photos)
- Edgewater (Photos)
- Somerdale
- Prospect Park
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 New Jersey or the safest places to live in New Jersey.
How do you determine the most beatnik city in New Jersey?
In order to rank the best cities for hippies in New Jersey, 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 180 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 New Jersey.’ We’re lookin’ at you, Guttenberg.
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. Guttenberg
Yoga Studios Per 1,000 People: 5.26
Organic Markets Per 1,000 People: 4.04
Pet Adoption Centers Per 1,000 People: 3.07
Vegan Restaurants Per 1,000 People: 5.26
Thrift Stores Per 1,000 People: 5.26
Guttenberg (/tnbr/) is a town in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the town’s population was 11,176. Only four blocks wide, Guttenberg is the ninth-smallest municipality in the state and the most densely populated incorporated municipality in the United States, as well as one of the most densely populated municipalities worldwide, with 57,116 people per square mile (22,052/km²) of land area.
2. Glen Ridge
Yoga Studios Per 1,000 People: 4.6
Organic Markets Per 1,000 People: 0.92
Pet Adoption Centers Per 1,000 People: 1.05
Vegan Restaurants Per 1,000 People: 1.31
Thrift Stores Per 1,000 People: 6.57
Glen Ridge is a borough in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough’s population was 7,527, reflecting an increase of 256 (+3.5%) from the 7,271 counted in the 2000 Census, which had in turn increased by 195 (+2.8%) from the 7,076 counted in the 1990 Census.
3. North Caldwell
Yoga Studios Per 1,000 People: 4.68
Organic Markets Per 1,000 People: 0.78
Pet Adoption Centers Per 1,000 People: 1.4
Vegan Restaurants Per 1,000 People: 1.4
Thrift Stores Per 1,000 People: 3.28
North Caldwell is a borough in northwestern Essex County, New Jersey, United States, and a suburb of New York City. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough’s population was 6,183, reflecting a decline of 1,192 (-16.2%) from the 7,375 counted in the 2000 Census, which had in turn increased by 669 (+10.0%) from the 6,706 counted in the 1990 Census.
4. Haddon Heights
Yoga Studios Per 1,000 People: 2.56
Organic Markets Per 1,000 People: 0.94
Pet Adoption Centers Per 1,000 People: 1.21
Vegan Restaurants Per 1,000 People: 1.62
Thrift Stores Per 1,000 People: 4.18
Haddon Heights is a borough in Camden County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough’s population was 7,473, reflecting a decline of 74 (-1.0%) from the 7,547 counted in the 2000 Census, which had in turn declined by 313 (-4.0%) from the 7,860 counted in the 1990 Census.
5. Audubon
Yoga Studios Per 1,000 People: 2.05
Organic Markets Per 1,000 People: 0.8
Pet Adoption Centers Per 1,000 People: 1.37
Vegan Restaurants Per 1,000 People: 1.6
Thrift Stores Per 1,000 People: 4.45
6. Secaucus
Yoga Studios Per 1,000 People: 2.16
Organic Markets Per 1,000 People: 1.08
Pet Adoption Centers Per 1,000 People: 1.7
Vegan Restaurants Per 1,000 People: 2.16
Thrift Stores Per 1,000 People: 2.21
Secaucus (/sikks/ SEE-kaw-kus) is a town in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the town’s population was 16,264, reflecting an increase of 333 (+2.1%) from the 15,931 counted in the 2000 Census, which had in turn increased by 1,870 (+13.3%) from the 14,061 counted in the 1990 Census.
7. Caldwell
Yoga Studios Per 1,000 People: 3.94
Organic Markets Per 1,000 People: 0.76
Pet Adoption Centers Per 1,000 People: 1.02
Vegan Restaurants Per 1,000 People: 1.4
Thrift Stores Per 1,000 People: 2.8
Caldwell is a borough located in northwestern Essex County, New Jersey, about 16 miles (26 km) outside of New York City. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough’s population was 7,822, reflecting an increase of 238 (+3.1%) from the 7,584 counted in the 2000 Census, which had in turn increased by 35 (+0.5%) from the 7,549 counted in the 1990 Census.
8. Edgewater
Yoga Studios Per 1,000 People: 5.01
Organic Markets Per 1,000 People: 2.01
Pet Adoption Centers Per 1,000 People: 1.34
Vegan Restaurants Per 1,000 People: 3.26
Thrift Stores Per 1,000 People: 5.01
Edgewater is a borough located along the Hudson River in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough had a population of 11,513, reflecting an increase of 3,836 (+50.0%) from the 7,677 counted in the 2000 Census, which had in turn increased by 2,676 (+53.5%) from the 5,001 counted in the 1990 Census.
9. Somerdale
Yoga Studios Per 1,000 People: 2.48
Organic Markets Per 1,000 People: 0.76
Pet Adoption Centers Per 1,000 People: 1.14
Vegan Restaurants Per 1,000 People: 1.52
Thrift Stores Per 1,000 People: 3.62
10. Prospect Park
Yoga Studios Per 1,000 People: 3.04
Organic Markets Per 1,000 People: 0.68
Pet Adoption Centers Per 1,000 People: 2.2
Vegan Restaurants Per 1,000 People: 1.35
Thrift Stores Per 1,000 People: 3.89
There You Have It — The Hippies Of New Jersey
If you’re measuring the locations in New Jersey 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 New Jersey:
- Hopatcong
- Bridgeton
- Millville
For more New Jersey reading , check out:
- These Are The 10 Snobbiest Places In New Jersey
- These Are The 10 Most Boring Places In New Jersey
- These Are The 10 Safest Places In New Jersey
