Largest populations of unschoolers in the USA?

[Wendi Dee]

Hi, I'm new here. :-)

I'm wondering if anyone has ever done research, trying to find out what areas of the USA are the most populated with unschoolers.

Our daughter is 14 years old and we want to move to a location where she can meet other unschooling teens. We're looking for a place where there's already a strong unschooling/homeschooling community that's interested in natural living.

We'd love to find a location where we'd be able to grow our own produce for many (if not all!) of the months of the year, where there's an appreciation for the arts, and most of all where the people are friendly and loving.

I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Thanks!

Love,

Wendi

[James Marcus Bach]

When I lived in Santa Cruz, CA, and my wife wanted to do homebirth, we found out that Santa Cruz was a popular place for that. It gets good sun, and although I don't know anything specific about it, I BET it's popular for unschoolers, too. You might also look a little south. The people of Big Sur tend to be very individualistic.

[Wendi Dee]

Thanks! I'm checking out all of the places suggested. :-)

Do any of you know anything about Redding, CA? It's looking a bit conservative from my brief searching on the Net. Anyone know anything about that area (about the people, culture there)?

Thanks, again!!

Love,

Wendi

[James Marcus Bach]

Wendi Dee said:

Thanks! I'm checking out all of the places suggested. :-)

Do any of you know anything about Redding, CA? It's looking a bit conservative from my brief searching on the Net. Anyone know anything about that area (about the people, culture there)?

When I lived near there in the eighties, it had a reputation for conservatism. But if you look south a bit, you'll find Chico, CA. I lived there for several years. It's a college town. A wonderful town. IMMENSE city park and lots of progressive culture. It also has one of the largest university libraries on the West coast (or did have at the time). I enjoyed living there, except that it's LOTS of sun and very hot in the summer (115 degrees hot!).

-- James

[Sylvia Toyama]

Our unschooling yahoo group in Albuquerque has about 30 members -- in real terms, more like 15 families regularly active at events/park days.

[Ren]

I highly recommend reading the other thread that Joyce linked. I don't have the energy to talk all about this area again, but it's all there in that discussion. We have a very mild four seasons here in the Eastern TN/Western NC area. Lots of cool folks, many unschoolers and tons of farms and agriculture. We'll never move again. You can read about our recent goings on at my blog if you wish.

[heather]

we live in Ashland, and after living on both upstate new york, Madison wisconsin (another great town), and portland, or, I think ashland has a lot more sun and the best weather. It doesn't get too cold for too long in the winter - and there is a lot of sun in the winter (more than I'm used to). It has been getting VERY hot here, this summer, however (up to 105!), which is very difficult for me, personally.

My daughter is five, and I have heard rumors of two other unschoolers moving into the area... but I haven't found any other folks here yet. I've been living in the nearby mountains for a year - so that may have kept us a little out of the loop.

I love Ashland - it has very little of the big box stores, no mall, low crime - it is a rather small town and you can typically run into the same person 5 times in a day doing errands... I love that about it. The weekly pancake breakfast at the grange has been the highlight for us, this past winter. It's a great place to meet and hang out with radical country folk. There is a lot of "kulchah" here, too - though the retired, wealthy shakespeare festival community seems to have taken over this formerly radical town. There's a great library, an extensive and beautiful park, lots of nearby wilderness, farmer's markets twice a week in the summer, wonderful seasonal festivals, good swimmin' holes and a terrific (developed)hotsprings, etc.

There's also a project funded by the local public school district to support homeschoolers, called Willow wind. http://www.ashland.k12.or.us/SectionIndex.asp?SectionID=49

best of luck to you and yours

heather
It's a well-kept secret - but tell all the other unschoolers!
heather

[Wendi Dee]

Thanks, everyone!

Ren, I did read the other thread and jotted down notes from it. ;-)

We're compiling a list, now, and researching all the places that have been suggested (we're open to more suggestions, as well!). My husband is great at creating complicated spreadsheets, so we'll be narrowing the list down to just a few spots (which we'll then visit to check out in person).

I really thought Corvallis was the place...so sad there are a few months without sunshine there. If anyone is looking for an ideal location and they don't need a lot of sunshine, that's the place to be!

Thanks, again! I hope if anyone else has suggestions you'll share them.

Lots of love to you,

Wendi
XOXOXO

[mom5X's]

It is so awesome that your moving to accomodate your daughter. Wish I could do that! I would love to move to NC, mild weather sounds nice!
Good luck to you! I look forward to hearing about your journey!

Wendi Dee said:

Thanks, everyone!

Ren, I did read the other thread and jotted down notes from it. ;-)

We're compiling a list, now, and researching all the places that have been suggested (we're open to more suggestions, as well!). My husband is great at creating complicated spreadsheets, so we'll be narrowing the list down to just a few spots (which we'll then visit to check out in person).

I really thought Corvallis was the place...so sad there are a few months without sunshine there. If anyone is looking for an ideal location and they don't need a lot of sunshine, that's the place to be!

Thanks, again! I hope if anyone else has suggestions you'll share them.

Lots of love to you,

Wendi
XOXOXO

[carelia]

You might still considering visiting here, before completely eliminating it. Even in the winter, the sun usually peeks out. People still DO things all winter long. It rains a lot in winter but it's more of a constant mist than dark downpours. That "few months without sunshine" thing is really not accurate.

Just a thought. :)

Wendi Dee said:

Thanks, everyone!

I really thought Corvallis was the place...so sad there are a few months without sunshine there. If anyone is looking for an ideal location and they don't need a lot of sunshine, that's the place to be!

[Dandarius Cavallaro]

Nevada City/Grass Valley - California is where we live - lots of sunshine - 2500 ft. elevation (above the fog and below the snow) - strong community focus on sustainable living - very long growing season - lots of homeschoolers and 'outside of the box' types around here. 3 hours from SF - 1 hour from snow - 4 hours from Mt. Shasta - Pretty big unschooling group just down the hill near Sacramento...You might want to check it out as a potential....

We live on 60 acres here and would be happy to host your family for a visit if you want to come to the area to explore possibilities....

Ride the heartwave of synchronicities....


Wendi Dee said:

Oh, no. :-( I assumed there was a lot of sunshine in Corvallis because there's a long growing season. My daughter and I were LOVING the location, reading all about it on the Net. We were falling in love with it until we showed it to my husband. He said it sounds ideal, but he was pretty sure there wasn't a lot of sunshine in that part of Oregon. I insisted he must be mistaken, since there's a long growing season. Well, turns out he was right. :-(

I'm deficient in Vitamin D and feel that it's important to find a location with a lot of sunshine for us. Sure wish Corvallis had the sunshine...it would have been perfect. :-(

So, the search continues. For anyone who doesn't need a lot of sunshine, Corvallis seems like an ideal place to live!

====
Thanks, Joyce. I'm going to read over that thread.



Love,

Wendi
XOXOXO

[Wendi Dee]

Thanks, everyone!! Our list is getting filled out and full of so many possibilities! We're going to begin the narrowing down process next week, but would love to continue hearing about any place you feel might meet our needs!

I appreciate the time everyone is taking in letting me know the pros and cons of places, too, and for taking the time to come back and offer more comments. This is such a big decision and having the suggestions and recommendations from everyone is extremely helpful.

Lots of love to all of you,

Wendi
XOXOXO

[diana (hahamommy)]

carelia said:

You might still considering visiting here, before completely eliminating it. Even in the winter, the sun usually peeks out. People still DO things all winter long. It rains a lot in winter but it's more of a constant mist than dark downpours. That "few months without sunshine" thing is really not accurate.

Just a thought. :)

Jon Gold convinced me to move here (above my similar concerns) by showing me that, indeed, the sun shines *every day* - it's up to us to catch it ;)
I know folks in South Dakota (once called The Sunshine State, as they have more hours of sunshine than most other states, year round) who use light boxes in the winter, so it's no surprise that lots of us use them here in Oregon ;) I've got at least two Blues Buster light bulbs in lamps to help, too.