State (AL) VS State (GA) VS State (LA) (transplants, low crime)

[RubyRainbow]

Hey Y'all!

I am looking to move down South within the next year. After much research I have limited my search to 3 states and am torn between Alabama, Georgia, and Louisiana.

What I am specifically looking for:

I will be looking to purchase as much acreage as I can find for under $200,000 for starting my organic farm. On this farm we will be helping Veterans and those who live with debilitating mental health diseases find their inner strength as well as have a community of tiny houses for them to live in.

I want to keep it to small rural towns, no big cities as I am not fan of them and they can be very overwhelming to people living with mental health diseases and especially those who suffer from PTSD.

Also this will sound trivial but I'd love to stick to towns which have tons of spanish moss. I find it incredibly beautiful & very therapeutic to look at.

So basically what I need from y'all is to tell me in your opinion which state of the 3 above you believe I should pick and why. Also give me specific towns or even counties if ya don't mind.

Basic breakdown of what I said above:

More Acreage for Less Money (Average cost of acreage)
Great for organic farming.
Small town, real Southern feel, friendly townsfolk, low crime, spanish moss.

Please be as detailed as possible so that I can try and narrow my list down. I love details, and Id love to hear from those who live there!

Thank you!
I hope y'all have a wonderful night/day!

Ruby

[MinivanDriver]

Well, the Chamber of Commerce flacks from all three states will be in here any minute, telling you why their particular state is the Elysian Fields, while the other two states are the Slough of Despond.

I'm not going to do that. Because it's kind of pointless and stupid. Instead, I'll recommend some places in my own state to consider. Here are some thoughts:

If it's organic farming, then it still needs to be a reasonable driving distance from a market where organic produce will be bought.

Spanish Moss means that you'll be below a certain latitude. In Alabama, that means drawing a line through the navel of the state roughly at Montgomery. Any thing below that is good.

So, by process of elimination, I'd offer these as places worth checking out.

Eufala. A lovely town on the lake, filled to the brim with picturesque old homes.

Opp/Andalusia. I tend to think that Andalusia is a lovely little town.

Monroeville. Hey, Truman Capote and Harper Lee came from here, and they love to tell you all about it.

Enterprise. Home to an Army base, so it has a solid economy and some nice amenities.

Fairhope. It's on Mobile Bay and close to heaven. You'd want to live outside of town a good bit, but a great town. Or further from the coast is Robertsdale, Foley, and Summerdale.

[annie_himself]

I'm thinking a rural/exurban area would be best. Urban areas will have the most veterans in need of assistance so of assume you'd want to be close enough to service them. Areas like Robert, Bush, and Folsom, Louisiana are between both Baton Rouge and New Orleans, there's a huge VA in New Orleans and a Navy reserve base in Belle Chase. There's also a Air National Guard base in Hammond. This area gives you access to the VA, an international airport, and 2-3 million people to market to. This area has lots of pine trees.

Another area would be somewhere in North Louisiana like Natchitoches (Nakidish), which is between Ft. Polk army base in Ft. Polk which is a huge base from what I understand and Barksdale Airforce Base near Shreveport. Natchitoches is a beautiful town, was founded before New Orleans and there's Kisatchie National Forest nextdoor. Alexandria has an international airport due to military flights and you'd also be able to market to Houston in this area.

I don't know if Spanish Moss is that much of a desire but I can't imagine it is in this circumstance.

[RubyRainbow]

I really appreciate your responses and will definitely be looking into the cities y'all mentioned! Both Fairhope and Nathitoches were both on my lists for potential places in those states!

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by RubyRainbow

Basic breakdown of what I said above:

More Acreage for Less Money (Average cost of acreage)
Great for organic farming.
Small town, real Southern feel, friendly townsfolk, low crime, spanish moss.

Please be as detailed as possible so that I can try and narrow my list down. I love details, and Id love to hear from those who live there!

Thank you!
I hope y'all have a wonderful night/day!

Ruby

I don't live there but have researched for a future move the following towns in southern Georgia which could be a good fit. Hope this helps a bit!

Thomasville is in SW Georgia and known as the City of Roses. It has a well preserved and vibrant downtown with a very large weekly farmers market. City of Thomasville | Home

Bainbridge is just west of Thomasville and is pretty much the consummate Southern town, again very well preserved and a bit sleepier than Thomasville which you may find more attractive. See | Bainbridge Georgia Convention & Visitors Bureau

Woodbine is in SE Georgia and a new favorite of mine. It has a very distinct Southern feel, is welcoming of transplants (not an automatic in much of the South), has a fantastic location within close proximity of the beautiful GA coast and progressive leadership planning for the future. City of Woodbine » Why Woodbine?
http://www.landandfarm.com/search/?P...&Auction=False

[RubyRainbow]

Thank you so much I will def look into those places as well!

[PNW-type-gal]

Originally Posted by RubyRainbow

as well as have a community of tiny houses for them to live in.

Zoning is going to be your big issue and that will likely be on a county by county basis. There are a lot of places in the US where you can't just randomly build multiple dwellings on a property, no matter how rural.