Spiral Dynamics any green states besides California & NYC?

[playdoh]

2 hours ago, eskwire said:

I live in an intentional community in Washington with inexpensive rent. 

That's a super green situation.

But also kind of a lucky situation.

Washington and Oregon have many green pockets. 

CA has A LOT of Stage Orange, so be careful. I was born and raised in Southern California and would never move back.

Yeah I would love Washington and Oregon but I can't do all that rain. Btw what color would you say San Diego is? 

[playdoh]

By the way everyone thanks for the tips on other greenish cities, I'll definitely look into them. We should compile a list of all the U.S cities with a lot of green. Or is there a thread where this already exists? Grassy ass 

[playdoh]

Man there's some really good reads on the www. For instance

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Austin, TX

San Diego, CA

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I am from NYC. Should I move to Austin or San Diego?

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Akshat Vaidya, Traveler

Updated Jan 13, 2015 · Upvoted by Virginia Moher, lives in Austin, TX

From someone who grew up in Austin, but went the other direction (Philly/NYC/DC and abroad):

What is Austin and why do some of us care so much?

Forgive my fellow native Austinites for their (seemingly) hostile replies. But there's a backstory to all of the "Austin is full, but I hear Houston is nice" t-shirts and "Austin Sucks, don't move here" bumperstickers you see nowadays.

Austin's culture has been all about down-to-earth individuals with independent souls doing what they want to do without judging each other. Whether that's playing a Japanese boardgame at a local cafe for hours, or getting dressed up for a Star Wars party, or being lifelong musicians just because they love music (and not because they want to be stars), or pondering the world in the hills at night with a beer as being part of your weekly routine, Austinites live genuine lives. Austinites respect anyone/everyone regardless of social class, income, race, and other man-made designations, and will have a real conversation with anyone willing to let down their guard.

Since growing up in Austin and leaving to go explore the world at age 18, I've had humbling and informative experiences in the North East and abroad that have taught me...most of the rest of the world does not live such a genuine, spiritually intact existence. There are lots of materialistic and homogenizing pressures, as well as cliques and segregation, that lead people to people live internally conflicted, almost fake lives. And usually, they aren't even aware of it. It's harder to have real conversations, and society is segregated in ways I didn't even know were possible from my naive, idealistic Austinite world-view.

Obviously there are quirky, misfits everywhere in the world (and I encourage them check out Austin!), and of course not everyone in Austin fits this description 100% (eg. good chunks of UT's population).
But generally speaking, Austin's culture disproportionately embodies this sort of...hippie, nerdy, different-thinking, genuine lifestyle and way of looking at the world. Or at least it has.

Hostility to Outsiders

Austin has historically been enriched by good people moving to the city - whether it be misfits from other southern cities, or misfits from large, anonymous cities up north - who let down their guard and find themselves. 

The problem is that ever since Austin's and Texas' economy have taken off while the rest of the country has suffered, droves of fratty, homogenous yuppies have been moving here from both coasts because of jobs, lower cost of living, and/or  "party culture" that's limited to just a few streets. They treat it like some kind of French Quarter (New Orleans) almost. Which is disgusting and disrespectful. 

The Austin that I see now, has worsened in so many ways. The city has also become notably more flashy. Along with highrises under construction left and right, have arrived wealthy elites bringing a culture of insecurity to the city, and suburban 9 to 5 types "here for jobs" bringing a culture of apathy and consumerism. Many of the outsiders don't take ownership of the city that they live in, nor do they take the time to understand and respect what it is they are experiencing. This makes me and other Austinites incredibly concerned about Austin's future from a cultural standpoint. 

 And then on top of that resources have become strained, with both traffic and prices worsening significantly. All of these factors are driving out the people who made Austin...Austin, and slowly making Austin just like any other big city.

Hence, our reservations to outsiders moving in. It's not about general hostility to outsiders or frustration with prices/traffic alone, it's about a loud and influential (hopefully) minority of outsiders, fundamentally changing Austin for the worse."

[Forestluv]

18 minutes ago, playdoh said:

Yeah I would love Washington and Oregon but I can't do all that rain. Btw what color would you say San Diego is? 

I lived in Oregon for years. The actual amount of rainfall isn’t very high. It is mostly persistent cloudy, drizzly, light rain for around 7 months a year. It doesn’t rain hard very much. 

I had a harder time with the constant low clouds and low light. I remember going a month without seeing the sun. It felt like living in s dome. I had full spectrum lights throughout my house and work place. 

[playdoh]

6 minutes ago, playdoh said:

Man there's some really good reads on the www. For instance

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Austin, TX

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I am from NYC. Should I move to Austin or San Diego?

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Akshat Vaidya, Traveler

Updated Jan 13, 2015 · Upvoted by Virginia Moher, lives in Austin, TX

From someone who grew up in Austin, but went the other direction (Philly/NYC/DC and abroad):

What is Austin and why do some of us care so much?

Forgive my fellow native Austinites for their (seemingly) hostile replies. But there's a backstory to all of the "Austin is full, but I hear Houston is nice" t-shirts and "Austin Sucks, don't move here" bumperstickers you see nowadays.

Austin's culture has been all about down-to-earth individuals with independent souls doing what they want to do without judging each other. Whether that's playing a Japanese boardgame at a local cafe for hours, or getting dressed up for a Star Wars party, or being lifelong musicians just because they love music (and not because they want to be stars), or pondering the world in the hills at night with a beer as being part of your weekly routine, Austinites live genuine lives. Austinites respect anyone/everyone regardless of social class, income, race, and other man-made designations, and will have a real conversation with anyone willing to let down their guard.

Since growing up in Austin and leaving to go explore the world at age 18, I've had humbling and informative experiences in the North East and abroad that have taught me...most of the rest of the world does not live such a genuine, spiritually intact existence. There are lots of materialistic and homogenizing pressures, as well as cliques and segregation, that lead people to people live internally conflicted, almost fake lives. And usually, they aren't even aware of it. It's harder to have real conversations, and society is segregated in ways I didn't even know were possible from my naive, idealistic Austinite world-view.

Obviously there are quirky, misfits everywhere in the world (and I encourage them check out Austin!), and of course not everyone in Austin fits this description 100% (eg. good chunks of UT's population).
But generally speaking, Austin's culture disproportionately embodies this sort of...hippie, nerdy, different-thinking, genuine lifestyle and way of looking at the world. Or at least it has.

Hostility to Outsiders

Austin has historically been enriched by good people moving to the city - whether it be misfits from other southern cities, or misfits from large, anonymous cities up north - who let down their guard and find themselves. 

The problem is that ever since Austin's and Texas' economy have taken off while the rest of the country has suffered, droves of fratty, homogenous yuppies have been moving here from both coasts because of jobs, lower cost of living, and/or  "party culture" that's limited to just a few streets. They treat it like some kind of French Quarter (New Orleans) almost. Which is disgusting and disrespectful. 

The Austin that I see now, has worsened in so many ways. The city has also become notably more flashy. Along with highrises under construction left and right, have arrived wealthy elites bringing a culture of insecurity to the city, and suburban 9 to 5 types "here for jobs" bringing a culture of apathy and consumerism. Many of the outsiders don't take ownership of the city that they live in, nor do they take the time to understand and respect what it is they are experiencing. This makes me and other Austinites incredibly concerned about Austin's future from a cultural standpoint. 

 And then on top of that resources have become strained, with both traffic and prices worsening significantly. All of these factors are driving out the people who made Austin...Austin, and slowly making Austin just like any other big city.

Hence, our reservations to outsiders moving in. It's not about general hostility to outsiders or frustration with prices/traffic alone, it's about a loud and influential (hopefully) minority of outsiders, fundamentally changing Austin for the worse."

Original Austin sounds glorious. Where or where are you original Austin? We know you still exist somewhere out there in 'merica. Big ups to the first person who can name me a verifiable city that's still like original Austin. 

[playdoh]

12 minutes ago, Serotoninluv said:

I lived in Oregon for years. The actual amount of rainfall isn’t very high. It is mostly persistent cloudy, drizzly, light rain for around 7 months a year. It doesn’t rain hard very much. 

I had a harder time with the constant low clouds and low light. I remember going a month without seeing the sun. It felt like living in s dome. I had full spectrum lights throughout my house and work place. 

Yes this exactly would be my problem. I neeed my healthy dose of sunshine. 

[eskwire]

San Diego is orange.

[playdoh]

12 minutes ago, eskwire said:

San Diego is orange.

With quite a bit of green or nah?

[eskwire]

1 minute ago, playdoh said:

With quite a bit of green or nah?

Nah. The orange is strong. The green people are orange with nascent green, so the kind of green where they like hippie stuff because it's cool/hip/fashionable.

I went to high school there and have lived there twice. I would absolutely never live there again. 

If you aren't rich, you might end up sharing a house with 5 strangers and lots of roommate drama. 

The CA hippies are in the north.

[laurel]

Boulder and Denver are full of Green. Although it is expensive to live in, I appreciate the surplus of healthy food, outdoor activities, and conscious people. 

Edited August 6, 2019 by laurel

[playdoh]

20 minutes ago, laurel said:

Boulder and Denver are full of Green. I currently live in Boulder. Although it is expensive to live in, I appreciate the surplus of healthy food, outdoor activities, and conscious people. 

I'd like Colorado but getting as expensive as some of the better cities in California. 

[Sempiternity]

3 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

Fucking Fresno! Some meth addict broke into my car in Fresno and stole $3000 worth of gear.

Fresno is the meth capital of the US. Stay out of Fresno.

A) Most anyone knows not to leave anything of value in your car, so if you left $3000 of gear in your car you were asking to get it broken in to, that's on you. 

B) Where is the infinite Love for the methheads? 

[Leo Gura]

6 minutes ago, Jed Vassallo said:

A) Most anyone knows not to leave anything of value in your car, so if you left $3000 of gear in your car you were asking to get it broken in to, that's on you. 

In other words, what where you wearing?

Quote

B) Where is the infinite Love for the methheads? 

I gifted him $3000 worth of love. That should buy him plenty of meth love.

[Sempiternity]

I live in Seattle and it is wonderfully Green. Just the other night there was a huge lighting festival at one of our biggest parks. Hundreds of local artists made amazing lighting art installations. The whole area was lit with colorful LED lighting. There was DJs playing music. It was all free. No one did any of it for profit. They gave of themselves for the joy of others. Thousands of locals came. Exposing many lower stages to things they've never experienced before. There were no police, as there was no need. Just thousands of humans, from all different backgrounds, all coming together in celebration of life. And that is just one example of thousands that happen here in Seattle every year. It's not perfect, but it has lots of Stage Green beauty and harmony. 

[kieranperez]

16 hours ago, Jed Vassallo said:

I live in Seattle and it is wonderfully Green. Just the other night there was a huge lighting festival at one of our biggest parks. Hundreds of local artists made amazing lighting art installations. The whole area was lit with colorful LED lighting. There was DJs playing music. It was all free. No one did any of it for profit. They gave of themselves for the joy of others. Thousands of locals came. Exposing many lower stages to things they've never experienced before. There were no police, as there was no need. Just thousands of humans, from all different backgrounds, all coming together in celebration of life. And that is just one example of thousands that happen here in Seattle every year. It's not perfect, but it has lots of Stage Green beauty and harmony. 

If we didn’t live in a society that didn’t value profit or make it of much significance there would be no social or survival infrastructure to even have that event. Watch out for having this collective Green shadow on profit. 

Green has a lot of pathologies. A lot of the “love” Green expresses is out of sense of social conformity and forced still and can turn ethnocentric. 

[Apparition of Jack]

@kieranperez Ethnocentric green? I can imagine cult-like and exclusionary green, but I'm having a hard time visualising full-on ethnocentric green... 

[playdoh]

Yeah I didn't get that either

[playdoh]

On 8/5/2019 at 5:27 PM, mandyjw said:

@playdoh Check out Vermont, parts of it are very green. Southern Maine too. There are lots of green pocket areas all over the country if you're willing to live in a smaller city. 

Any city recommendations for Vermont other than Berlington, and Maine also? Tia

[d0ornokey]

@playdoh boulder is hippie

[playdoh]

27 minutes ago, d0ornokey said:

@playdoh boulder is hippie

Would be nice but has become quite expensive