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I'm new here. 22 years old, single, other **** that no one cares about. While I am doing a bit of pre-emptive research on which state I'd want to live in, I say one can never be too prepared. I have a homesteading pal that I'm hoping to work with. States I've narrowed it down to are Alaska, Texas, Colorado, Wyoming, and New Hampshire. I like NH the best due to it being New England (four seasons), and its state motto: Live Free or Die. That's some gangsta ****!
Before I ask questions, I'm going to type a disclaimer. I'm not trying to turn it into a liberal hell hole. I'm in an area where morons throw themselves in prison, create copies without having the means to pay for them, and expect the government -- no, demand the government support them. Whenever I try to argue something like the 2nd, I get a "there's no reason to have an arsenal of weaponry". When I talk about growing hemp for my self-sufficiency wishes, I get, "well the government made it illegal so sry bro!" I can't have conversations with liberals (or conservatives, really), and I see the way things are going. I'm all for voluntary aid on an individual basis. Meaning that if 3 out of 4 people want to help John Smith pay his bills, those 3 people should be feel to do so, and the 1 person should be free to spend it on their family. Not only do I NOT want a blue state, but the Free State Project is what made me look at NH in the first place (liberty minded from the jump). I'm pro-gun, and I don't mean sometimes pro-gun (i.e. post-Sandy Hook). I realise that some people will do sick things with guns. I also realise that gun laws will only affect the law-abiding citizens, as most of the gun-toting criminals obtain their firearms illegally in the first place (then again, can you "illegally" get a weapon?). If guns were really that bad, the country would be a constant war-zone. How often do you hear about gun tragedies? Exactly.
I'm with you all in that I don't want liberals moving to NH -- even if I never move there myself! Hell, on the FSP Forums some progressive (liberal) asked if they could join the project and some idiots said they're welcome to. No. I want to live in peace, shoot my weapons, grow my crops, drive my four-wheeler and have the money that I worked for going to my and not some ******* who keeps having kids they can't support. Does everyone get that? Good!
Moving on. Some things that concern me are: Self-Sufficiency, property taxes, and the job market. I don't live there, and I'm no expert on America. I don't claim to be. I've never been to NH. I'm reading online and I've talked to a handful of people on the internet who have said NH has a low growing season and that farming has "been unheard of for quite some time". Someone like me, who wants to be as self-sufficient as possible, will have hard time there if this is true. I want to do it all from growing food to harvesting water.
Property taxes. This is obvious. Wait, wait. I don't mean it in the Massachusetts way ("we should have free housing for me and my liberal clan!"). I mean it in the "why are they so high?" way. Common sense tells me it's to keep those who aren't about the NH lifestyle out, the same way Alaska is the way it is to keep those who can't hack the lifestyle out.
Jobs. We all need one. I plan to be self-employed but I'm going to need something else external for a while. Gotta have a plan.
Uh, I guess that's everything. This is also my first post here so g'day all!
New Hampshire has mandatory annual auto inspections. That doesn't exactly scream "live free or die."
Not trying to pick on New Hampshire, but I think these searches for "ultimate freedom" are silly. Just find a place you like and live there. Why does it have to be somewhere where everyone agrees with you? The entire U.S. is a land of freedom. The differences are negligible.
As a New Hampshire gun owning liberal I think self centered "individuals" like you claim to be after having had a Government Job for most of your life would be very welcome in Oklahoma or maybe Texas. Most of the folks in NH actually try to take care of their neighbors while remaining tolerant of the "Free State" wanna be anarchists.
You will be welcome in parts of NH but do not expect any support for most of your selfishness.
The entire U.S. is a land of freedom. The differences are negligible.
I totally disagree with this. Have you actually compared states like NY, NJ, and even MA to NH? There is actually a pretty big difference in the level of freedom between the far left states and NH. Something as simple as possessing a SINGLE bullet without a permit will land you in jail in places like NJ.
I don't think that you've provided enough information about yourself, which makes your questions too vague to answer.
So you are 22 years of age. What is your education and job skill set? If you were to have your own business, what would it be?
Are you single or moving up with a family? Do you have any seed money? Do you plan to rent for a while or if you are planning to buy a place right away, what is your budget? Are you comfortable living in rural areas that aren't going to have any lively nightlife for young adults such as yourself or will you start off in one of NH's more urban areas?
New Hampshire has mandatory annual auto inspections. That doesn't exactly scream "live free or die.".
. . .
The entire U.S. is a land of freedom. The differences are negligible.
I agree with Bruins_Fan. While many freedoms are protected at the Federal level, there are real differences between the states. Consider the hurdles involved in running for political office, opening a bar & grill, starting a home-based business, raising a handful of chickens, or even just cutting down one tree.
The auto inspection requirement is an East Coast thing. I don't object too strenuously, the slogan isn't "live free or crash into other motorists, killing your fellow residents in a flaming pileup".
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Originally Posted by Gigano Raidome
States I've narrowed it down to are Alaska, Texas, Colorado, Wyoming, and New Hampshire.
If you want land cheap to farm and homestead, you may want to look west. While it is possible to grow food in New Hampshire, climate is a real challenge. I actually considered moving to western states, but I choose NH in part because there's plenty of surface water, even if it is frozen half the year.
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Jobs. We all need one. I plan to be self-employed but I'm going to need something else external for a while. Gotta have a plan.
Job market here is limited, especially in the areas where land is cheap and property tax rates are low.
I got my job first, then later convinced the company to move the East Coast office to New Hampshire.
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I mean it in the "why are they so high?" way. Common sense tells me it's to keep those who aren't about the NH lifestyle out, the same way Alaska is the way it is to keep those who can't hack the lifestyle out.
Property taxes are so high mostly because this is a major source of funding for not only schools, but also the rest of the infrastructure of the state (16 percent of state tax revenue is property tax). New Hampshire may not provide a lot of the services people have come to expect from their town, county, or state, but of the services that are provided, particularly by the local town, funding comes from property taxes. The good news is, changes to the town portion of property taxes are voted on by the residents as individual warrant articles. Don't like the idea of spending your tax money on a new fire truck? Vote against it!
There are a few areas in New Hampshire with very low or no town property tax, but these areas also tend to be remote and with even more bare bones town services, if there's a town at all.
I don't think that you've provided enough information about yourself, which makes your questions too vague to answer.
So you are 22 years of age. What is your education and job skill set? If you were to have your own business, what would it be?
Are you single or moving up with a family? Do you have any seed money? Do you plan to rent for a while or if you are planning to buy a place right away, what is your budget? Are you comfortable living in rural areas that aren't going to have any lively nightlife for young adults such as yourself or will you start off in one of NH's more urban areas?
I thought I said I was single. Oh, well I am. No children. I would prefer to rent, yes. Rural is fine, but if I could get both (rural area with nightlife) that would be fine. Job and education are for the logistics field. Which is what my business would likely be.
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Originally Posted by Nonesuch
I agree with Bruins_Fan. While many freedoms are protected at the Federal level, there are real differences between the states. Consider the hurdles involved in running for political office, opening a bar & grill, starting a home-based business, raising a handful of chickens, or even just cutting down one tree.
The auto inspection requirement is an East Coast thing. I don't object too strenuously, the slogan isn't "live free or crash into other motorists, killing your fellow residents in a flaming pileup".
If you want land cheap to farm and homestead, you may want to look west. While it is possible to grow food in New Hampshire, climate is a real challenge. I actually considered moving to western states, but I choose NH in part because there's plenty of surface water, even if it is frozen half the year.
Job market here is limited, especially in the areas where land is cheap and property tax rates are low.
I got my job first, then later convinced the company to move the East Coast office to New Hampshire.
Property taxes are so high mostly because this is a major source of funding for not only schools, but also the rest of the infrastructure of the state (16 percent of state tax revenue is property tax). New Hampshire may not provide a lot of the services people have come to expect from their town, county, or state, but of the services that are provided, particularly by the local town, funding comes from property taxes. The good news is, changes to the town portion of property taxes are voted on by the residents as individual warrant articles. Don't like the idea of spending your tax money on a new fire truck? Vote against it!
There are a few areas in New Hampshire with very low or no town property tax, but these areas also tend to be remote and with even more bare bones town services, if there's a town at all.
Don't forget about catching rainwater. Why that's illegal is beyond me.
Maybe looking west would be better, but I'm partial to the New England scenery and the four seasons. Can't get that in California, obviously. Now, so far, only one reply to this thread has been ignorant and immature. If the person read my original post, he'd know that I'm not an anti-social nut who wants to kill people for saying hi to me in NH. I made it clear there isn't anything wrong with helping out your community. I'm not trying to evade taxes or fund illegal activity. I'm trying to be as self-sufficient as possible in a state where people claim to generally mind their own business. I want to move there because it's New Hampshire, not because it isn't where I am now (if that makes sense). Obviously, I agree with the consensus of "if it hurts no one, let it be". How that translates to selfish I'll never know.
Putting GregW's ignorance and butthurt aside, it is a beautiful state from what I've seen, and the only things I've heard about it that would make me not move there are the property taxes, job market, and homesteading difficulty because of the climate. I can handle the winters, and I can handle having to be on my best behaviour to get help in my community (if I should need it) rather than demand my neighbour pay for my mistakes. Just so that there isn't any confusion. If I do move, it's because I intend to live the way that makes the state what it is. Does everyone understand me?
If you want land cheap to farm and homestead, you may want to look west. While it is possible to grow food in New Hampshire, climate is a real challenge. I actually considered moving to western states, but I choose NH in part because there's plenty of surface water, even if it is frozen half the year.
Good post.
On the growing front, it's not just the climate (and the growing season is pretty short), it's soil and and sun. Being a pretty heavily treed state, on a lot of residential lots it's a challenge to get all-day sun even during the growing season NH has. The soil tends to be rocky and may need amendments, if not raised beds.
If you're farming on a larger scale (actual farm plot), you'll likely have cleared enough to address the sun issue, but you're likely still looking at impediments to modern farming techniques. Perhaps it's just apocryphal, but as the story goes all those old New England stone walls were built from just some of the rocks farmers pulled from the soil in order to hand till.
This is, roughly speaking, the main reason that when modern farming developed the midwest quickly outpaced the east, particularly the northeast. Most of the New England/NY farms that did hang on eventually moved into premium/niche markets (organics/creameries/dairies/orchards) where they could demand higher margins, since for most crops you really can't compete against bulk prices of stuff grown in the midwest or California.
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