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Old 09-16-2015, 05:16 PM
 
5 posts, read 4,890 times
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I'm currently attending college in Chico, CA, and I'm looking for somewhere to move after I graduate in a year. I grew up in the country on a large acreage where it was quiet, remote, and we had no neighbors. You could go weeks without seeing anyone if you didn't leave, and you could do whatever you wanted whenever you wanted, without your neighbors, the police, or a HOA telling you otherwise. I'm definitely not the guy people picture when they think of a typical Californian.

I loved that lifestyle, and even in living in Chico proper (pop ~90,000) is way too urban for me. It bothers me that I'm pressed up against my neighbors, everyone can see in my windows, and there's constant noise from traffic. Further, the politics of CA and the people moving here (even transplants from LA and the Bay to NorCal) are getting worse and worse, and more packed. People are shallow, pretentious, and unaware of their surroundings. I find the things I desire in life are very different from most of the city people I meet.

I want to move somewhere rural, with a cheaper cost of living than Northern California but at least decent access to jobs. I'm going to graduate with a pointless fine arts degree, but I desire to work a blue collar job, whether it be a technician or maintenance, a blue collar supervisory/management job, or picking up a skilled trade. I'm tired of jumping through hoops in college, doing useless work and never seeing the results of my labor. I've done hauling and property maintenance part time for over a year now and know that I want to work with my hands in some capacity and do something worthwhile for a career.

In short, I don't want to push papers. I don't want a 9-5, I don't want a white picket fence and a McMansion and kids to send off to soccer practice. I don't want vegan restaurants or art galleries or concerts, or good schools or low crime. I would be perfectly happy spending the rest of my life living in a double wide on 10 acres and never leaving except to resupply or visit friends and family. I just want to find a place with affordable land, few restrictions, and employment.

I would prefer to stay in the west but I'm open to anywhere in the US. States I have considered: Wyoming, Montana, Minnesota, Maine, Missouri, Washington. I am used to any range of temperatures from 0-100+. I like fishing, 4 wheeling, shooting guns, walking slackline, rock climbing, swimming at the river, and playing music. I am very much a "mind your own business and I'll mind mine" libertarian but I think I'm fairly well read, open minded, and not socially backwards like some rural folk.

Where can I find a decent compromise between affordable (more than CA), rural, and being able to find a blue collar job?
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Old 09-16-2015, 06:52 PM
 
Location: Back and Beyond
2,993 posts, read 4,284,741 times
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Affordable 10+ acres with few restrictions and also close enough to jobs is going to be tough in the western U.S. , unless you are wayyyy rural, like way to far to commute to a job on any sort of regular basis. You can find work in some of the western United States. You could try to get on as a plumbing apprentice for a small mom and pop plumbing outfit. You won't get paid much at first, but you'll be learning a trade. I've found plumbing work in several different smaller western towns. You could also try coolworks.com for some seasonal jobs in the idyllic places you are thinking of.

Your 10 acres and a house may have to wait a while unless you bring money with you. I'd buy a van/camper/rv and stay at campgrounds while trying to find work/the place for you. That way you're not locked in to a lease right off the bat. You may find a job 100 miles away from the place you were originally thinking....

Land in rural Maine is super cheap, I can't speak of the job situation though.... There seems to be reasonably priced land relatively close to Bangor which I assume has at least some jobs.

I live in Alaska, if I ever have to move from here, I'd probably pick Maine. Possibly a big parcel in New Mexico....
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Old 09-16-2015, 08:08 PM
 
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I suppose my plan is more to move to the general state I want to live, where I can rent while paying off debt and establishing a career. Then hopefully buy my property before 30 without having to relocate completely, only within the state.

I really just can't stand living in the city, can't afford to live in California, and I'm worried that after I graduate the only way I'll ever be able to pay off my debt, make a living, and save for land is to live in an even bigger city for a huge chunk of my life while I save up.

I don't want to spend the prime of my life slaving away in the big city so that I can move where I actually want to live once I'm too old to do the things I want to do.
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Old 09-16-2015, 08:37 PM
 
Location: Southwest Washington State
30,585 posts, read 25,041,229 times
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If you can find a job in Springfield, MO, you might do OK in that area. There are homes on acreage surrounding that little city. I think your political orientation would definitely fit, and if you tend toward conservative Christianity, so much the better. You might also look into St. Charles Co, MO. There might be jobs there, it is quite prosperous, and you could possibly find habitation in one of the outlying areas. St. Charles is suburban St. Louis. There is a city St. Charles, and a county with the same name. Look into the county.

The major prob might be where to find a job that would pay you a livable wage. In fact, if you want to work blue collar, I question where at all you could go for a livable wage unless you have specific skill.

I also want to mention that "big cities" usually have suburbs and exurbs. Not everybody who lives around a metro area lives in cramped quarters.
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Old 09-16-2015, 10:36 PM
 
Location: Back and Beyond
2,993 posts, read 4,284,741 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by silibran View Post
If you can find a job in Springfield, MO, you might do OK in that area. There are homes on acreage surrounding that little city.
^Northwest Arkansas and southern MO are a good choice. I have long been intrigued by the Ozark region. Land is cheap enough and you should be able to find some sort of employment in NWA. I have driven through the are a few times (although never lived there) and there are plenty of out of the way places within reasonable driving distance by western U.S. Standards. I sometimes browse the affordable land within an hour or so of fayetteville and Springfield. Plus there is much more water than in the west.

Montana is pretty nice and fits most of your criteria. I didn't recommend it in my first post because land is at a premium right now due to the influx of people moving in.
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Old 09-17-2015, 12:11 AM
 
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I've generally been avoiding states like Montana, Oregon, and Washington because so many people are moving there, driving up prices, and I hear they aren't big on Californians.
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Old 09-17-2015, 12:57 AM
 
Location: Texas Hill Country
23,658 posts, read 13,854,634 times
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Generally I would say, any place where land is cheap is a place where it is land that no one wants.

For example, look at this:
40 Acres Presidio

For someone who paid $70K for ten acres in the Hill Country, I would leap at that. It's beautiful country! I could probably afford that easily.

EXCEPT......it's far too far away from me to be able to visit it nothing less than a small plane. Water is no doubt a problem (add another $30K to my land for what it cost to put a well in). It is far too far away from my work. Probably worse of all........it is too close to the border and potentially a war zone. Even if there isn't any shooting (and those who cross the border are darn right MURDEROUS and DANGEROUS), it is an area that could be seized by the Feds either physically or in the loss of rights.

So while it is beautiful land that I would love to get my hands on to preserve it naturally, it is just too much out of the question.
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Old 09-17-2015, 02:57 AM
 
5 posts, read 4,890 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TamaraSavannah View Post
Generally I would say, any place where land is cheap is a place where it is land that no one wants.

For example, look at this:
40 Acres Presidio

For someone who paid $70K for ten acres in the Hill Country, I would leap at that. It's beautiful country! I could probably afford that easily.

EXCEPT......it's far too far away from me to be able to visit it nothing less than a small plane. Water is no doubt a problem (add another $30K to my land for what it cost to put a well in). It is far too far away from my work. Probably worse of all........it is too close to the border and potentially a war zone. Even if there isn't any shooting (and those who cross the border are darn right MURDEROUS and DANGEROUS), it is an area that could be seized by the Feds either physically or in the loss of rights.

So while it is beautiful land that I would love to get my hands on to preserve it naturally, it is just too much out of the question.
It's not a black and white issue where your only options are spending $7000 an acre or settling for ****ty land in West Texas. There are plenty of places with very decently priced land, I was just hoping to find some near a good center for blue collar work, or to hear experiences from people who have bought cheaper land.

Check out this nice little house with a huge barn on 12 acres for only $46k:

http://www.landwatch.com/Crawford-Co...71867]Cherokee, Crawford County, Kansas land for sale - 12 acres at LandWatch.com

I want something like that.
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Old 09-17-2015, 06:23 AM
 
Location: In the Pearl of the Purchase, Ky
11,060 posts, read 17,461,624 times
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If you could consider hopping over the Mississippi River from Missouri, Kentucky isn't a bad place to live. Been here all my life (so far!). One thing I think would help finding work in any state is to learn a trade like welding, etc. There is a company near Cadiz, Ky that makes semi trailers. They are hire welders at good wages.
For what you enjoy doing when you're not working, check out the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area (Land Between The Lakes National Recreation Area) which is 170,000 acres of no homes, businesses, nothing but park and recreation. One side of the LBL is Kentucky Lake, the largest man made lake east of the Mississippi River. Plenty of fishing, hunting, 4 wheeling (Turkey Bay Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV) Area), camping, hiking, biking, you name it. On the Turkey Bay part, my step-son-in-law belongs to a Jeep club that goes mudding in part of Turkey Bay several times a year. You can ride anything from dirt bikes to 4 wheel drive trucks.
My step daugher and SIL bought a 4 br, 2 bath home, with 1 br and bath in the full apartment in the basement, on 14 acres for 125 acres. They are about 10 miles from town and 15 from the lakes. Job wise, there are jobs around, but like everywhere else, you have to look for them. We have a business here where I live, in Mayfield (we're about 25 miles from that proverbial hop across the Mississippi) that makes steel buildings. Everything from little yard barns to industrial size buildings. We have a chicken processing plant, a plant making Remington .22 rifles, air fresheners (that AirWick candle you possibly have in your bathroom was possibly made in Mayfield). A Facebook friend works at the Corvette manufacturing plant in Bowling Green said "The auto industry isn't suffering any. Tomorrow is the first day off work for me in the last 47 days and only the second time off in the last 71 days dating back to July. Mandatory overtime every single Saturday and Sunday until a break on Thanksgiving or another vacation day is approved."
Check out towns like Paducah, Mayfield, Murray, Princeton, Henderson, Madisonville, Hopkinsville, Bowling Green. I've always said there are 120 counties in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, so at least one of them should have something for somebody.
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Old 09-17-2015, 07:08 AM
 
Location: Jamestown, NY
7,840 posts, read 9,170,294 times
Reputation: 13779
Let me get this all straight ...

Quote:
Originally Posted by FrostyNugs View Post
grew up in the country on a large acreage where it was quiet, remote, and we had no neighbors. You could go weeks without seeing anyone if you didn't leave, and you could do whatever you wanted whenever you wanted, without your neighbors, the police, or a HOA telling you otherwise.
Really? "A large acreage?" Don't most westerners who grow up out in the boonies refer to their large acreages as ranches or farms?

Quote:
Originally Posted by FrostyNugs View Post
I'm going to graduate with a pointless fine arts degree, but I desire to work a blue collar job, whether it be a technician or maintenance, a blue collar supervisory/management job, or picking up a skilled trade.
So, if you think it's "pointless", why are you pursuing it? If you want to be a janitor, why are you wasting money on college?

Quote:
Originally Posted by FrostyNugs View Post
In short, I don't want to push papers. I don't want a 9-5, I don't want a white picket fence and a McMansion and kids to send off to soccer practice.
Before you make up a fake internet personna supposedly pursuing a college degree, you should at least know what kind of work a person with that major is likely to be doing. Most fine arts majors don't anticipate becoming "paper pushers"; they want to become artists!!!
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