Seeking list of cofriendly communities in Southern US

I am a New Yorker who finished my soul searching and is now beginning location searching to start a more sustainable life style, ie. buy land and plant an organic garden / farm.

Is there someplace where I can find a list of eco-friendly communities? Someplace where there are food coops, like-minded people, etc.? I will need some place less expensive than eg. Ashville NC or the like, some place that I can grow with over the next many decades.

In addition to recommendations on cities, are there web sites that are 'musts'?

Hi Maria!

I am in Greenville, SC which is a little over an hour south of Asheville.  I'm happy to say that we are in the process of inheriting a lot of the locavore spirit from there, but it is blending with the progressive elements (Greenville has a lot of up and coming industry including Proterra an electric bus company and a lot of international business) and the conservative elements. (Greenville is the home of Bob Jones University, if you're familiar with it you know why many of us claim to be in the buckle of the Bible belt)  There are thriving farmer's markets in every city and many of the larger towns, multiple community garden programs, sustainability groups, etc.  The city is also priding itself on being one of the most bike-friendly small cities in the southeast.  What we're lacking in are food coops and public transportation.

Here are some links that might be of interest:

http://www.appalachianfeet.com/ - A food/sustainability blog written by a Greenville resident.  I love the tagline "Are you a sustainahillbilly?"  The author also organizes Green Drinks Greenville, which is a local chapter of a nationwide group of "environmentalist mixers"  http://www.appalachianfeet.com/greendrinks/

http://www.gofohealthandeducation.org/ Greenville Organic Foods Organization

http://www.upstateforever.org/ Upstate Forever is one of the larger conservation groups around along with http://www.treesgreenville.org/

Lots of local farm links here: http://www.slowfoodupstate.com/links.htm

I hope this helps and isn't too much of a sales pitch for Greenville.  We're actually moving away in a little over a year, but that has nothing to do with the area. 

Hi Mariah'
i'm just outside nyc in long isalnd (nassau) and also want to get away from here.someplace warmer,at least for this time of year!

i really love spending time in asheville and have often thought about moving there even if only part-time.but i agree it can get pretty pricey relative to avg income/cost of living. the nicer land nearby is taken/expensive and annexed for avl taxes.. i also worry i wouldnt find adequate work there.who knows though.

i've only been to greenville once with an ex. It's a truly Beautiful city, far far larger than ash.to be honest i enjoyed it more than NYC.to be fair i'm not into big cities so i have that bias    i obviously cant speak to progressive community there but i bet there are some thriving pockets(arts scene seemed real healthy,not as funky as avl perhaps). 

as david pointed out though they're in that bible belt !  even in asheville,the funky/alternative/ progressive elements are confined to like a square mile or so it seems.
a big concern  for me moving south is being in a bible/baptist dominated culture.my ex was in clemson.church on every corner it seemed  .not far away we drove past  what she termed "extremist baptist churches' .folks speaking tongues and abusing animals(hurting snakes,having them bite them,drinking blood,crazy stuff) 

sorry , i'm getting off message.

WWW.IC.ORG  is what you want to look at... you will find intentional-communities listed all around the world.

http://www.greenecocommunities.com/ is another more eco-specific list...
you may even find resources through wwoof.org

and here's a link for southeast permaculture group,there are links there for others in the area.
http://www.southeasternpermaculture.org/index.html

i'm guessing you already know about green phoenix and the nyc permie meetup?
http://www.nycpermaculture.info

tribalwind,

I'm sure there are a couple of "crazy" churches out there like that...moreso the further from civilization you get.  I grew up here and have never heard of any snake handlers or blood drinkers(though I've encountered some in Georgia) but there are a lot of charismatics. (speaking in tongues)  Of course you could argue blood drinking among the churches that teach transubstantiation. 

Clemson has a huge university and a lot bars but is very rural so you get some crazies out there.  In Greenville nowadays in addition to the various flavors of Christianity you have a Mosque, a Hindu mini-temple, several synagogues, and various neopagan/Wiccan groups so it's a bit more cosmopolitan that you would expect given the proximity to Bob Jones.

Hah. i'm certain they're few and far between! i have another story about being warned not to camp along the blue ridge parkway b/c "satanists" were abducting travelers   
yep it was out in the stick someplace. between clemson and Isaqueena Falls.(nice falls to visit!)

here is the picture that led to the conversation on the snake handlers etc.
snapped on the way back.and a lil guy i met at the falls!
anywhoo. no more thread hijacking,
i'd definitely like to visit GV again someday. thanks for the local resource links
neopagans,now that's .my kinda crowd
peace

Mmm...Mouse Popsicles!!!

Personally, even though I'm Eastern Orthodox I'm more comfortable around neopagans than Baptists but I may be biased as the food and company is usually better. 

Dar Williams does a great song about this topic: 

Now I'm hijacking the thread!

Hahahaha! i was in that crowd! small world indeed!