These Are The 10 Best Cities For Hippies In Rhode Island

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

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 Ocean 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 Rhode Island, 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 Rhode Island:

1. Central Falls (Photos)
2. East Providence (Photos)
3. Newport (Photos)
4. Pawtucket (Photos)
5. Cranston (Photos)
6. Warwick (Photos)
7. Providence (Photos)
8. Woonsocket (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 Rhode Island or the safest places to live in Rhode Island.

How do you determine the most beatnik city in Rhode Island?

In order to rank the best cities for hippies in Rhode Island, 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 8 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 Rhode Island.’ We’re lookin’ at you, Central Falls.

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. Central Falls

Yoga Studios Per 1,000 People: 0.82
Organic Markets Per 1,000 People: 0.21
Pet Adoption Centers Per 1,000 People: 0.46
Vegan Restaurants Per 1,000 People: 0.36
Thrift Stores Per 1,000 People: 1.13
Central Falls is a city in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 19,376 at the 2010 census. With an area of only 1.29 square miles (3.3 km2), it is the smallest and most densely populated city in the smallest state, and the 27th most densely populated incorporated place in the United States. It is also one of only four incorporated places in New England that have a higher population density than the city of Boston (ranking fourth, behind the Massachusetts cities of Somerville, Chelsea and Cambridge, all inner suburbs of Boston). The city takes its name from a waterfall on the Blackstone River.

2. East Providence

Yoga Studios Per 1,000 People: 0.66
Organic Markets Per 1,000 People: 0.11
Pet Adoption Centers Per 1,000 People: 0.19
Vegan Restaurants Per 1,000 People: 0.19
Thrift Stores Per 1,000 People: 0.64
East Providence is a city in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 47,037 at the 2010 census, making it the fifth largest city in the state.

3. Newport

Yoga Studios Per 1,000 People: 0.61
Organic Markets Per 1,000 People: 0.12
Pet Adoption Centers Per 1,000 People: 0.16
Vegan Restaurants Per 1,000 People: 0.2
Thrift Stores Per 1,000 People: 0.37
Newport is a seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States. The City of Newport is located approximately 37 miles (60 km) southeast of Providence, 21 miles (34 km) south of Fall River, and 74 miles (119 km) south of Boston. It is known as a New England summer resort and is famous for its mansions. It is also the home of Salve Regina University and Naval Station Newport, which houses the United States Naval War College, the Naval Undersea Warfare Center, and a major United States Navy training center. It was a major 18th-century port city and also contains a high number of surviving buildings from the colonial era of the United States.

4. Pawtucket

Yoga Studios Per 1,000 People: 0.31
Organic Markets Per 1,000 People: 0.08
Pet Adoption Centers Per 1,000 People: 0.11
Vegan Restaurants Per 1,000 People: 0.13
Thrift Stores Per 1,000 People: 0.45
Pawtucket /ptkt/ ( listen) is a city in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 71,148 at the 2010 census. It is the fourth largest city in the state.

5. Cranston

Yoga Studios Per 1,000 People: 0.3
Organic Markets Per 1,000 People: 0.05
Pet Adoption Centers Per 1,000 People: 0.06
Vegan Restaurants Per 1,000 People: 0.07
Thrift Stores Per 1,000 People: 0.35
Cranston, once known as Pawtuxet, is a city in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. With a population of 80,529 at the 2010 census, it is the third largest city in the state. The center of population of Rhode Island is located in Cranston. Cranston is a part of the Providence metropolitan area.

6. Warwick

Yoga Studios Per 1,000 People: 0.19
Organic Markets Per 1,000 People: 0.02
Pet Adoption Centers Per 1,000 People: 0.12
Vegan Restaurants Per 1,000 People: 0.21
Thrift Stores Per 1,000 People: 0.28

7. Providence

Yoga Studios Per 1,000 People: 0.18
Organic Markets Per 1,000 People: 0.03
Pet Adoption Centers Per 1,000 People: 0.04
Vegan Restaurants Per 1,000 People: 0.05
Thrift Stores Per 1,000 People: 0.17
Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island in the early 1900s it was the most visited place , founded in 1636 and one of the oldest cities in the United States. It was founded by Roger Williams, a religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay Colony. He named the area in honor of ‘God’s merciful Providence’ which he believed was responsible for revealing such a haven for him and his followers to settle. The city is situated at the mouth of the Providence River at the head of Narragansett Bay.

8. Woonsocket

Yoga Studios Per 1,000 People: 0.12
Organic Markets Per 1,000 People: 0.02
Pet Adoption Centers Per 1,000 People: 0.07
Vegan Restaurants Per 1,000 People: 0.02
Thrift Stores Per 1,000 People: 0.17
Woonsocket (/wnskt, wn/ wn-SOCK-it) is a city in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 41,186 at the 2010 census, making it the sixth largest city in the state. Woonsocket lies directly south of the Massachusetts state line and constitutes part of both the Providence metropolitan area and the larger Greater Boston Combined Statistical Area.

There You Have It — The Hippies Of Rhode Island

If you’re measuring the locations in Rhode Island 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 Rhode Island:

1. Woonsocket
2. Providence
3. Warwick

For more Rhode Island reading , check out:

• These Are The 10 Most Dangerous Cities In Rhode Island
• These Are The 10 Worst Places To Live In Rhode Island
• These Are The 10 Snobbiest Places In Rhode Island

Detailed List Of The Hippiest Cities In Rhode Island