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Location: San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara Counties
6,391 posts, read 2,809,774 times
Reputation: 2622
1. Your physical location is not so important, as long as you are out of the metro areas. You want easy access to our public lands, National Forests, State Parks.
2. You cannot do better for your kids than to have a little land, 2 acres, 5 acres, 10 acres. Grow a garden, have some chickens, maybe some goats, and certainly horses, and or dirt bikes.
3. Posters on City-data are overwhelmingly urban, or have urban proclivities, not many are going to suggest a rural, or "ranchette" home, but, kids who grow up with animals and gardens tend toward having their heads screwed on correctly, an increasingly rare commodity in our society.
Location: San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara Counties
6,391 posts, read 2,809,774 times
Reputation: 2622
1. For your kids sake, you need some land, 2 acres, 5 acres, 10 acres, room for a good garden, some chickens, maybe some goats or sheep or llamas, and horses, maybe even a dirt bike or two. If you give your kids a chance to be responsible and room to roam, they will turn out all right.
2. You need handy access to our public lands (which should not be hard, half the state is public land), National Forests, State Parks, you and your kids need to hike, camp, look for lizards, go fishing.
1. Your physical location is not so important, as long as you are out of the metro areas. You want easy access to our public lands, National Forests, State Parks.
2. You cannot do better for your kids than to have a little land, 2 acres, 5 acres, 10 acres. Grow a garden, have some chickens, maybe some goats, and certainly horses, and or dirt bikes.
3. Posters on City-data are overwhelmingly urban, or have urban proclivities, not many are going to suggest a rural, or "ranchette" home, but, kids who grow up with animals and gardens tend toward having their heads screwed on correctly, an increasingly rare commodity in our society.
These are great ideas, if she happens to have a few million dollars in her back pocket and doesn't need to work and doesn't mind that her kids will be bored stiff because the nearest neighborhood kids are 1000 yards away (if there are any neighborhood kids - large lot neighborhoods like described above are often filled with retired people).
It doesn't get any worse for raising kids on three acres. Likely the rest of the homes are on three acres so the 'kid density" needed for your kids to find other kids to play with other kids is insufficient. Also, on large lots you end up with a lot of retired people who "want their privacy" so the next kids might be three houses away, or a half mile. You end up with bored kids driving you nuts.
Too many retired "Get off my property" people who "like their privacy"; that's why they buy 3 acre lots - so they don't have to deal with neighbors.
He is retired, has no kids, and only leaves his house to go to church, go to the doctor, or eat at Bob Evans.
Kids want to play with other kids. In communities where there are large lots there is a) low kid density, and b) a good chance that your neighbors don't have kids, maybe they are retired.
I don't know if there is a perfect solution, but be aware life on a large lot with a lack of neighbor kids could be quite a challenge.
Your kids might be bored to death. Playdates are a hassle. Most kids would rather play with the neighborhood kids 50 feet away rather than 1/3 mile away.
You may be the exceptions but living on large lots may be nice for you as adults - but your kids won't dig on it. First of all, the "neighborhood kid" density will be low since the homes will be spread out. Your kids want to play with other kids, play ball in the street, spontaneously hang out and goof off. With young kids, you'd hesitate to let them travel by themselves 1/3 mile or so to the nearest house. Kids are sort of isolated. Play dates sort work but they are a big hassle.
Your kids will want this:
But instead will be stuck with this:
"Mommy, there's nothing to do. Are you sure you called everyone for a play date?"
Location: San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara Counties
6,391 posts, read 2,809,774 times
Reputation: 2622
Looks like I pushed someone's button. Here you have an opposing position, I could not disagree more with the poster.
Reminds me of the old saying; "whether you think you can or think you can't, you are right".
My three kids were raised on land, surrounded by National Forests, they are adults now, and remember their childhood on the land with great fondness. They remember feeding the horses at 6:00 AM in the crispy cold snow, looking back at the house with smoke curling out of the chimney. Two young girls saddling the horses and taking off across the National Forest lands at a canter, visiting meadows and streams and lakes. The boy driving his modified jeep through the same lands,
Tending the garden and eating the produce, finding the deer bedding grounds, catching trout out of the stream.
I too grew up on a rural farm, with my brothers, we fished, climbed trees, rode bicycles, our friends would pedal over, we would crawl through the berry thickets, steal cigarette butts from ashtrays take them down the creek and smoke them like we were tough guys.
These are things of value, a remnant of the values that made America the great place it is.
I am going to leave you with a great poem, think about it;
"Things of Intrinsic Worth
written by Wallace McRae
Remember that sandrock on Emmells Crick
Where Dad carved his name in 'thirteen?
It's been blasted down into rubble
And interred by their dragline machine.
Where Fadhls lived, at the old Milar Place,
Where us kids stole melons at night?
They 'dozed it up in a funeral pyre
Then torched it. It's gone alright.
The "C" on the hill, and the water tanks
Are now classified, "reclaimed land."
They're thinking of building a golf course
Out there, so I understand.
The old Egan Homestead's an ash pond
That they say is eighty feet deep.
The branding corral at the Douglas Camp
Is underneath a spoil heap.
And across the crick is a tipple, now,
Where they load coal onto a train,
The Mae West Rock on Hay Coulee?
Just black and white snapshots remain.
There's a railroad loop and a coal storage shed
Where the bison kill site used to be.
The Guy Place is gone; Ambrose's too.
Beulah Farley's a ranch refugee.
But things are booming. We've got this new school
That's envied across the whole state.
When folks up and ask, "How's things goin' down there?"
I grin like a fool and say, "Great!"
Great God, how we're doin'! We're rollin' in dough,
As they tear and they ravage The Earth.
And nobody knows…or nobody cares…
About things of intrinsic worth.
® Wallace McRae. All Rights Reserved. From Things of Intrinsic Worth and Cowboy Curmudgeon and Other Poems by Wallace McRae.
Looks like I pushed someone's button. Here you have an opposing position, I could not disagree more with the poster.
Reminds me of the old saying; "whether you think you can or think you can't, you are right".
My three kids were raised on land, surrounded by National Forests, they are adults now, and remember their childhood on the land with great fondness. They remember feeding the horses at 6:00 AM in the crispy cold snow, looking back at the house with smoke curling out of the chimney. Two young girls saddling the horses and taking off across the National Forest lands at a canter, visiting meadows and streams and lakes. The boy driving his modified jeep through the same lands,
Tending the garden and eating the produce, finding the deer bedding grounds, catching trout out of the stream.
I too grew up on a rural farm, with my brothers, we fished, climbed trees, rode bicycles, our friends would pedal over, we would crawl through the berry thickets, steal cigarette butts from ashtrays take them down the creek and smoke them like we were tough guys.
These are things of value, a remnant of the values that made America the great place it is.
I am going to leave you with a great poem, think about it;
"Things of Intrinsic Worth
written by Wallace McRae
Remember that sandrock on Emmells Crick
Where Dad carved his name in 'thirteen?
It's been blasted down into rubble
And interred by their dragline machine.
Where Fadhls lived, at the old Milar Place,
Where us kids stole melons at night?
They 'dozed it up in a funeral pyre
Then torched it. It's gone alright.
The "C" on the hill, and the water tanks
Are now classified, "reclaimed land."
They're thinking of building a golf course
Out there, so I understand.
The old Egan Homestead's an ash pond
That they say is eighty feet deep.
The branding corral at the Douglas Camp
Is underneath a spoil heap.
And across the crick is a tipple, now,
Where they load coal onto a train,
The Mae West Rock on Hay Coulee?
Just black and white snapshots remain.
There's a railroad loop and a coal storage shed
Where the bison kill site used to be.
The Guy Place is gone; Ambrose's too.
Beulah Farley's a ranch refugee.
But things are booming. We've got this new school
That's envied across the whole state.
When folks up and ask, "How's things goin' down there?"
I grin like a fool and say, "Great!"
Great God, how we're doin'! We're rollin' in dough,
As they tear and they ravage The Earth.
And nobody knows…or nobody cares…
About things of intrinsic worth.
® Wallace McRae. All Rights Reserved. From Things of Intrinsic Worth and Cowboy Curmudgeon and Other Poems by Wallace McRae.
."
Well, I do, my brothers do, and my kids do.
No buttons pushed at all. I just think it is risky for a parent to think living on a large lot is going to be easy and romantic (horses, and fishing and wild flowers and gathering eggs, etc) like is written above. The fact is, kids want to play with other kids a lot more than they want to take advantage of the amenities of rural living. And parents appreciate the convenience of having other kids for their kids to play with rather than having to schedule play dates or supervise their kids on horses or motorcycles, etc. Who has time to saddle up horses or maintain motorcycles for fun on a regular basis (as opposed to a couple times a month)? That life may be fun for a vacation but it sounds too challenging for day to day living.
Besides, realistically, where is someone going to find acres of land with a home and jobs unless they are extremely wealthy?
It sounds nice but seriously, how practical is it for a
Quote:
Originally Posted by JessyBell
young mom (mid-twenties) with a toddler looking for affordable, safe places to live in California
Location: San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara Counties
6,391 posts, read 2,809,774 times
Reputation: 2622
Based on your post, it would appear that "settling the West" would be just too darned much work. Fortunately there are plenty of people who find adventure in living, and this young woman might be just that sort.
Supervise children on horses or motorcycles? tough to do when they took off into the piney hills, guess you just need to allow them to be free. Very few country kids need to be rescued, that free government service is generally limited to city people out of their element.
These are great ideas, if she happens to have a few million dollars in her back pocket and doesn't need to work and doesn't mind that her kids will be bored stiff because the nearest neighborhood kids are 1000 yards away (if there are any neighborhood kids - large lot neighborhoods like described above are often filled with retired people).
It doesn't get any worse for raising kids on three acres. Likely the rest of the homes are on three acres so the 'kid density" needed for your kids to find other kids to play with other kids is insufficient. Also, on large lots you end up with a lot of retired people who "want their privacy" so the next kids might be three houses away, or a half mile. You end up with bored kids driving you nuts.
Too many retired "Get off my property" people who "like their privacy"; that's why they buy 3 acre lots - so they don't have to deal with neighbors.
He is retired, has no kids, and only leaves his house to go to church, go to the doctor, or eat at Bob Evans.
Kids want to play with other kids. In communities where there are large lots there is a) low kid density, and b) a good chance that your neighbors don't have kids, maybe they are retired.
I don't know if there is a perfect solution, but be aware life on a large lot with a lack of neighbor kids could be quite a challenge.
Your kids might be bored to death. Playdates are a hassle. Most kids would rather play with the neighborhood kids 50 feet away rather than 1/3 mile away.
You may be the exceptions but living on large lots may be nice for you as adults - but your kids won't dig on it. First of all, the "neighborhood kid" density will be low since the homes will be spread out. Your kids want to play with other kids, play ball in the street, spontaneously hang out and goof off. With young kids, you'd hesitate to let them travel by themselves 1/3 mile or so to the nearest house. Kids are sort of isolated. Play dates sort work but they are a big hassle.
Your kids will want this:
But instead will be stuck with this:
"Mommy, there's nothing to do. Are you sure you called everyone for a play date?"
that first picture is from the 80's... a 2010 photo of city life would have mexicans wearing much longer "shorts" and baggy clothes (sorta like the homeless, I guess that's the look they are going for)
Based on your post, it would appear that "settling the West" would be just too darned much work. Fortunately there are plenty of people who find adventure in living, and this young woman might be just that sort.
Supervise children on horses or motorcycles? tough to do when they took off into the piney hills, guess you just need to allow them to be free. Very few country kids need to be rescued, that free government service is generally limited to city people out of their element.
Don't dream your life, live your dream.
OK, let's have a little fun. If you were her what would you do? Assume she has $100K down payment. Assume she can earn $75K. Now, those are quite generous assumptions however anywhere she can afford 2.5 acres with a house with a $100K down payment with a $75K income probably won't have too many jobs.
Location: San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara Counties
6,391 posts, read 2,809,774 times
Reputation: 2622
If she earns 50 K that would allow her a house payment of a thousand a month, which equates roughly to 100 worth of house, add in the 100k you are giving her, that can get her a $200,000 house and land.
Median house price in Kern County in 2008 $222,000, less today
Median house price Tulare County 214,000
Siskiyou county, less than 200,000
Stanislaus county $133,000.
Now, median includes the high priced homes in town, and the low end rural, as you can see getting in under 200,000 is not the impossible dream. Kick her income to your figure of $75,000 and she will do better.
Now, if she is reasonably comely, even with toddlers she will meet a reasonable man in a reasonable amount of time, then the sky is the limit. #1 daughter is 22, her gentleman collar has a piece of a 50,000 acre ranch (shared with family). He has a big belt buckle, which he earned.
Something else to consider, rural men, at least those not on meth and with all their teeth are very respectful and well mannered. My wife and I were at a function the other day, ran into an old friend of mine, he had not met my wife, he nearly dropped his coke in his haste to remove his hat to say hello to her.
Daugher #1's gentleman caller (same age 22) is so darned polite to me, and to my wife, full of sirs and maam's and treats daughter #1 with a great deal of respect, and brings out the best in her, as she brings out the best in him.
Most ranch kids are like that. Hers could grow up that way, and hang out with kids who are that way.
I was at another ranch function recently, three days of camping and riding, the kids all hung out together from 7 to 17 riding the hills bareback.
I think too many modern Americans have lost sight of who we really are, in their haste to plan every minute of their child's life, they take their child's childhood away from them.
My kids learned responsibility early, real responsibility, Animals have to be cared for, rain or shine, snow or hail, whether you are sick, or hurt or well and happy.
I feel sorry for kids today, they know they have no real purpose, they do not contribute materially to the family, they are merely appendages demanding entertainment.
One afternoon we came home from work to a phone message, one of our horses and gotten out and was chased into a marsh by a pack of dogs. A neighboring ranch wife rescued the horse and brought her back to their home put her in a pen.
I drove down in my full size pickup with daughter #1 (she was ten at the time) I checked out the horse, she was hurt, but I figured I could walk her the couple miles home. I told daughter #1 to take the truck back. She had never driven alone, and looked at me like a deer caught in headlights. I told she would have no problem, just keep the trees to the sides instead of the front. She did fine.
Today, she knows that she can do anything, and she purt'near does.
Thomas Jefferson thought that America should be a nation of small farmers, I agree with him.
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