You might think that the whole hippie movement has faded away, but the truth is, there are plenty of hippies out there in Ohio.
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 Buckeye 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 Ohio, 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 Ohio:
- Pepper Pike
- Brooklyn (Photos)
- Grandview Heights (Photos)
- Beachwood (Photos)
- Richmond Heights (Photos)
- Deer Park (Photos)
- Union (Photos)
- Highland Heights (Photos)
- University Heights (Photos)
- Worthington (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 Ohio or the safest places to live in Ohio.
How do you determine the most beatnik city in Ohio?
In order to rank the best cities for hippies in Ohio, 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 260 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 Ohio.’ We’re lookin’ at you, Pepper Pike.
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. Pepper Pike
Yoga Studios Per 1,000 People: 3.13
Organic Markets Per 1,000 People: 0.99
Pet Adoption Centers Per 1,000 People: 0.82
Vegan Restaurants Per 1,000 People: 1.81
Thrift Stores Per 1,000 People: 2.8
Pepper Pike is an affluent eastern suburb of the Greater Cleveland area in the US state of Ohio. The population was 5,979 at the 2010 census.
2. Brooklyn
Yoga Studios Per 1,000 People: 1.27
Organic Markets Per 1,000 People: 0.27
Pet Adoption Centers Per 1,000 People: 1.09
Vegan Restaurants Per 1,000 People: 1.54
Thrift Stores Per 1,000 People: 3.98
3. Grandview Heights
Yoga Studios Per 1,000 People: 3.36
Organic Markets Per 1,000 People: 0.59
Pet Adoption Centers Per 1,000 People: 0.73
Vegan Restaurants Per 1,000 People: 3.36
Thrift Stores Per 1,000 People: 4.83
4. Beachwood
Yoga Studios Per 1,000 People: 1.69
Organic Markets Per 1,000 People: 0.51
Pet Adoption Centers Per 1,000 People: 0.51
Vegan Restaurants Per 1,000 People: 1.1
Thrift Stores Per 1,000 People: 1.86
Beachwood is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States, and a suburb of Cleveland. As of the 2010 census the city’s population was 11,953.
5. Richmond Heights
Yoga Studios Per 1,000 People: 1.33
Organic Markets Per 1,000 People: 0.38
Pet Adoption Centers Per 1,000 People: 0.38
Vegan Restaurants Per 1,000 People: 1.24
Thrift Stores Per 1,000 People: 2.0
Richmond Heights is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. The population was 10,546 at the 2010 census.
6. Deer Park
Yoga Studios Per 1,000 People: 3.32
Organic Markets Per 1,000 People: 1.57
Pet Adoption Centers Per 1,000 People: 1.57
Vegan Restaurants Per 1,000 People: 0.87
Thrift Stores Per 1,000 People: 4.2
Deer Park is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States. The population was 5,736 at the 2010 census.
7. Union
Yoga Studios Per 1,000 People: 9.34
Organic Markets Per 1,000 People: 5.45
Pet Adoption Centers Per 1,000 People: 5.6
Vegan Restaurants Per 1,000 People: 9.34
Thrift Stores Per 1,000 People: 9.34
8. Highland Heights
Yoga Studios Per 1,000 People: 1.32
Organic Markets Per 1,000 People: 0.36
Pet Adoption Centers Per 1,000 People: 0.48
Vegan Restaurants Per 1,000 People: 1.08
Thrift Stores Per 1,000 People: 1.68
9. University Heights
Yoga Studios Per 1,000 People: 1.64
Organic Markets Per 1,000 People: 0.3
Pet Adoption Centers Per 1,000 People: 0.37
Vegan Restaurants Per 1,000 People: 1.34
Thrift Stores Per 1,000 People: 1.57
University Heights is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. It borders Beachwood to the east, Cleveland Heights to the west, South Euclid to the north and Shaker Heights to the south. The population was 13,539 as of the 2010 Census. University Heights is nicknamed the ‘City of Beautiful Homes.’ University Heights is closely tied to neighboring Cleveland Heights, with the two sharing a school system, library system, post office and ZIP Code, some city services, and local media outlets. With about half the population under the age of 30, University Heights is home to one of the youngest communities in the region, including both students and families.
10. Worthington
Yoga Studios Per 1,000 People: 1.17
Organic Markets Per 1,000 People: 0.66
Pet Adoption Centers Per 1,000 People: 0.95
Vegan Restaurants Per 1,000 People: 0.51
Thrift Stores Per 1,000 People: 1.89
Worthington is an affluent city in Franklin County, Ohio, United States, and is a northern suburb of the larger Columbus. The population was 13,575 at the 2010 census. The city was founded in 1803 by the Scioto Company led by James Kilbourne, who was later elected to the United States House of Representatives, and named in honor of Thomas Worthington, who later became governor of Ohio.
There You Have It — The Hippies Of Ohio
If you’re measuring the locations in Ohio 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 Ohio:
- Mason
- Galion
- Delphos
For more Ohio reading , check out:
- These Are The 10 Snobbiest Places In Ohio
- These Are The 10 Worst Places To Live In Ohio
- These Are The 10 Safest Places In Ohio