Say you wanted to build yourself a homestead, to go totally off the grid, where would you do it at?
freedomlovingman
I don't believe there is any such thing in the lower 48.
Maybe Alaska has that still.
Canada does but you would have to immigrate.
I assume you mean real homesteading.
Maybe Alaska has that still.
Canada does but you would have to immigrate.
I assume you mean real homesteading.
1. In the Missouri Ozarks
2. In the Wyoming Black Hills
3. In the Nevada Sierra Nevada Mountains
Just my opinion.
2. In the Wyoming Black Hills
3. In the Nevada Sierra Nevada Mountains
Just my opinion.
We have spent time in half of those states, we decided to homestead in Maine.
Only after we began, did we find that there were so many others already doing it here
Only after we began, did we find that there were so many others already doing it here
I would pick somewhere in the foot hills of the Appalachian mountains in the Tennessee, Kentucky, North Georgia West Va. area. Not too hot, not too cold, plenty of wood for construction, heat and cooking, lots of game animals and fishing opportunity, fairly free states with lax gun & hunting laws, very affordable real-estate and plenty of lakes, streams and springs for drinking water. The soil is rich enough and season long enough for productive gardening, but the winters are cold enough to have a root cellar. I’m leaning towards West Va. because of the natural gas reserves there. Free natural gas for life is a very common perk to homes sold there. That’s huge IMHO.
My ideal survival retreat would have the natural gas hooked up for heat and cooking with a wood furnace as back-up. Lighting and outlets would be solar powered with an LP gas generator as back-up. I would have at least 1 acre of open land for farming and a spring, stream or brook running through the property. I would have at least 5 acres of woods for fuel. There would be a root cellar, smoke house and large shop/ barn. A chicken coop and 1 acre goat pasture would be near the home.
My ideal survival retreat would have the natural gas hooked up for heat and cooking with a wood furnace as back-up. Lighting and outlets would be solar powered with an LP gas generator as back-up. I would have at least 1 acre of open land for farming and a spring, stream or brook running through the property. I would have at least 5 acres of woods for fuel. There would be a root cellar, smoke house and large shop/ barn. A chicken coop and 1 acre goat pasture would be near the home.
Washington is a great state for all walks of life. Urban & rural, rainforests and deserts, beaches/mountains, liberal/conservative... The list goes on and on, its quite a diverse place. I'm biased, but I've been around, its really a great state. My next bet would be Alaska.
I was there for 5 years. I owned an apartment building in Bremerton. Looked at dozens of places to homestead. Many of my crewmates homesteaded there.
I haven't travelled a lot in America, but from what I have seen, I would say either Washington or Oregon.
I live in BC Canada, and can say with respect that there are places here that are untouched wilderness, and some areas with very small towns and villages. there is a lot of untouched land here, but land in BC is expensive, taxes are high, and our gun laws are horrible.
I live in BC Canada, and can say with respect that there are places here that are untouched wilderness, and some areas with very small towns and villages. there is a lot of untouched land here, but land in BC is expensive, taxes are high, and our gun laws are horrible.
In the 90's I was doing some shopping in the Whistler area. That is some very beautiful land. But they were talking about making much of it into a grizzly preserve. And how much old pavement [established roads and housing] the crown was going to be removing.
As you say; expensive, high taxes, and strict gun laws.
I had some buddies who had each bought land in Western Wa, then Sea-Tac exploded. Urbanites wanted vacation homes in the woods, so land prices 4X'ed, and municipalities wanted to provide water and septic to remote properties, so taxes shot up too.
As you say; expensive, high taxes, and strict gun laws.
I had some buddies who had each bought land in Western Wa, then Sea-Tac exploded. Urbanites wanted vacation homes in the woods, so land prices 4X'ed, and municipalities wanted to provide water and septic to remote properties, so taxes shot up too.
No Matter Where You Go; There You Are
We chose SW OR. Moved up here in 1986 from central Kommiefornika and have not looked back mostly. Still have family in CA. But...no matter where you go; there you are. You take it with you. What that means is that you will always have some concerns.
Advantages to SW OR. No sales tax. Our county has very low property taxes. Long story. Homestead land still available if you look hard and long. We did. Solar homestead possible. We did it. We were about 50% self sufficient in food. Power, 75% there.
Excellent climate. About 40 miles from Pacific. Little snow. About 40-60 inches rainfall. Excellent soil. Solar cells doable. About 40 KWH mo. summer, 10 KWH mo. winter. Very small system. Average local gov interference. Very few people and most good.
Few gun laws. Auto weapons OK with tax stamp. Our area politically conservative / libertarian. No vehicle inspections or smog laws. Little county government. Natural law. People very polite. Very cheap to live here. Off nuke fallout zones. Cheap power. $.0363 KWH and up.
Disadvantages; No Sheriff's office. Most people on welfare. Very few jobs unless educated. Oregon run by liberals up North. Little store food and too many deer rifles. Hydro power not doable. Wildfires. $High$ real estate. Lots of fed level laws. But we like it here. HB of CJ (old coot)
PEM if 'ya wanna' lots and lots to talk about if you are serious. Most good, some not. I'd say we are in the top 1% of whole nation.
We chose SW OR. Moved up here in 1986 from central Kommiefornika and have not looked back mostly. Still have family in CA. But...no matter where you go; there you are. You take it with you. What that means is that you will always have some concerns.
Advantages to SW OR. No sales tax. Our county has very low property taxes. Long story. Homestead land still available if you look hard and long. We did. Solar homestead possible. We did it. We were about 50% self sufficient in food. Power, 75% there.
Excellent climate. About 40 miles from Pacific. Little snow. About 40-60 inches rainfall. Excellent soil. Solar cells doable. About 40 KWH mo. summer, 10 KWH mo. winter. Very small system. Average local gov interference. Very few people and most good.
Few gun laws. Auto weapons OK with tax stamp. Our area politically conservative / libertarian. No vehicle inspections or smog laws. Little county government. Natural law. People very polite. Very cheap to live here. Off nuke fallout zones. Cheap power. $.0363 KWH and up.
Disadvantages; No Sheriff's office. Most people on welfare. Very few jobs unless educated. Oregon run by liberals up North. Little store food and too many deer rifles. Hydro power not doable. Wildfires. $High$ real estate. Lots of fed level laws. But we like it here. HB of CJ (old coot)
PEM if 'ya wanna'
lots and lots to talk about if you are serious. Most good, some not. I'd say we are in the top 1% of whole nation.I looked at several states before I moved to South Dakota from Colorado (which, btw, is swimming right now, really glad I'm not in the middle of that!). I looked at Idaho - great climate, too many migrated Californians driving prices up and bringing their bull***t in with them. I looked at Montana - beautiful country and great pricing if you avoid a few high ticket areas, downside is that too much of the state is an EPA superfund site and I didn't want to raise my children, or my dogs for that matter, on tainted land.
I looked at Kansas - this is breadbasket country, easy to grow food on. Too many tornadoes. Did you ever hear the saying that tornadoes are God's way of saying "get that ugly trailer park off my my planet!"?
I looked at Maine - too cold in winter, not enough daylight, but in the summertime it's fantastic especially if you're on the water, and proximity to Canada is also a plus.
I ended up choosing South Dakota because of low cost of living, extremely affordable housing, no state income tax, conservative government, gun friendly (because of all the hunting), good Christian base, low crime rates and proximity to Colorado so I could still see my friends and go snowboarding if I wanted to. It was a good choice for me.
If I were buying a homestead tomorrow, I'd be looking at the Black Hills of South Dakota and Wyoming, also possibly northern Idaho (although there are still too many transplanted Californians there for my liking). Oregon and Washington have gorgeous land, but the higher cost of real estate, state income tax, and stricter gun laws make them less appealing, at least for me.
My 2 cents.
I looked at Kansas - this is breadbasket country, easy to grow food on. Too many tornadoes. Did you ever hear the saying that tornadoes are God's way of saying "get that ugly trailer park off my my planet!"?
I looked at Maine - too cold in winter, not enough daylight, but in the summertime it's fantastic especially if you're on the water, and proximity to Canada is also a plus.
I ended up choosing South Dakota because of low cost of living, extremely affordable housing, no state income tax, conservative government, gun friendly (because of all the hunting), good Christian base, low crime rates and proximity to Colorado so I could still see my friends and go snowboarding if I wanted to. It was a good choice for me.
If I were buying a homestead tomorrow, I'd be looking at the Black Hills of South Dakota and Wyoming, also possibly northern Idaho (although there are still too many transplanted Californians there for my liking). Oregon and Washington have gorgeous land, but the higher cost of real estate, state income tax, and stricter gun laws make them less appealing, at least for me.
My 2 cents.
James Rawles seems to think Idaho is the best.
I'll be doing it in the Southeastern US. Spare me the lecture. It's my home region and I'll die fighting to make/keep it free.
I'll be doing it in the Southeastern US. Spare me the lecture. It's my home region and I'll die fighting to make/keep it free.
This is the sort of property/home I'd be hunting for when I retire....
http://www.unitedcountry.com/TimberlandProperty/WestVirginia/Spencer West Virginia-47041-08680.htm
http://www.unitedcountry.com/TimberlandProperty/WestVirginia/Spencer West Virginia-47041-08680.htm
Anywhere that isn't a major military country (aka USA), or crazy overpopulated (England, Japan). No major cities/hubs regardless of country.
As much as Australia is a nanny state, we do have a good deal of security due to sheer size, obscurity, wealth and minimal threat.
New Zealand maybe a better choice though.
As much as Australia is a nanny state, we do have a good deal of security due to sheer size, obscurity, wealth and minimal threat.
New Zealand maybe a better choice though.
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