Paradise found: for food, fun and culture, you can't beat these 13 veg-friendly small towns - vegetarian-friendly towns

Vegetarian Times, June, 1995 by Mark Harris

Access to nature: City bordered by cornfields and woodlands, including the 1,000-acre Glen Helen Nature Preserve, which adjoins John Bryan State Park, site of Little Miami River and a clutch of gorges--a natural nirvana for rapellers, rock climbers and hikers.

Cultural life: A lively community chorus and community theater. Art galleries, chamber orchestra and a funky cinema that shows two foreign or independent flicks for every Hollywood blockbuster.

Worth noting: The town is working on a Green Belt policy, which would prohibit chain stores and megamalls from encroaching on downtown and siphoning business from the small shops there.

THE NORTHWEST

CORVALLIS, ORE.

(population: 44,7 5 7) Oregon has a reputation as a hideaway for the counterculture (this is, after all, the land of novelist Ken Kesey and his Merry Pranksters), and Corvallis harbors its share of them to this day. People come for the outdoors, with the Pacific an hour away, the Cascade Mountains looming to the east and some of the country's most pristine natural areas within an hour's drive.

Vegetarian restaurant: Nearly Normal's Gonzo Cuisine

Veg-friendly restaurants: Many. Bob's Burger Express serves up veggie burgers, and The Beanery, a bustling local coffeehouse with two locations, offers a host of vegetarian options. Christine Hansen, a grad student at Oregon State University, raves about Fresh Mex, which sells bean and rice burritos for $1.50 "that are huge and delicious! "

Natural food store: First Alternative

Vegetarian support: Salem Vegetarians (30 miles north) Earth-friendly attributes: Curbside recycling and drop-off center. Public bus transportation. Saturday farmers' market. Network of bike and running paths throughout city.

Access to nature: Cascade Mountains to the east, Coast Mountain Range to the west and Willamette River running through the town. Marys Peak, the highest in the Coast Mountains, is outside town, as is the hikeable Finley Wildlife Refuge and Paul Dunn Forest. Corvallis itself boasts 3 0 parks.

Cultural life: Renowned Corvallis Folklore Society presents annual Oregon Folklife Festival. First-rate classical music by Friends of Chamber Music and the Corvallis/OSU Music Association. Opera Theater Corvallis produces two operas a year. Corvallis Arts Center presents a mix of cultural events. Nine of the Willamette Valley's small-scale wineries are open to visitors.

Worth noting: Though 60 miles of bike paths run through the city, the large community of cyclists wants even more. Protesting die paucity of bike lanes downtown, they recently took their bicycles to the city streets and forced auto traffic to move at cycler's speed.

MISSOULA, MONT.

(population: 42,918) Melding both wilderness and civilization, Missoula offers urban-class cultural life at the doorstep of some of the country's largest wilderness areas. How dose is the great outdoors? Mountain lions have been shooed off the University of Montana campus, and timberwolves have been reintroduced into the Greater Salmon Selway south of town.