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Sorry for not posting sooner, I couldn't keep up so I decided to wait till Saturday! So many great posts.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jamies
Thank you for this thread. This rural living doesn't sound like much fun. Too much work, nasty neighbors, shooting guns. Mountain lions and airplanes and bears, oh my! No Uber Eats or Door Dash, how do you survive?
I have decided to build my homestead in a rooftop penthouse in Miami.
That's ok, more rural for us then I have never used uber or door dash anything so I don't think I'll miss them.
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Originally Posted by mayfair
Finding good, reliable farm sitting/pet sitting/livestock sitting can be hard. It's also expensive.
I'm sure! I do pet sitting where I am now. Many that I've talked to, especially if they are not moving full time yet, manage to have a caretaker live on the property. I find a lot of properties with two houses but it wouldn't be hard to add a cabin either.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Submariner
Within the first few years that we lived here, one day I spotted a fox running through the midst of our chickens.
<snip>
That was how and when I first met the gun shop guys.
You're going to write a book some day right? I'd buy a signed copy
Quote:
Originally Posted by twinkletwinkle22
Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (948) is a favorite movie, city newbies build a country home, troubles are many. You really need to be an expert in so many different areas when building a home in the "country." Maybe best to buy a place with functional home already there and work on fencing areas for garden after determining if your nearest neighbors like to fire guns in that direction.
Florida, where we lived 20+ years, allows backyard shooting ranges in average lot size neighborhoods.
You also can't depend that zoning won't be changed to allow bad neighbors like hog farms or commercial enterprises that decrease both your property value and your happiness level. We read about that often living in Florida, a phosphate mine was allowed right next to a fairly large, nice homed HOA there. Mining people won that fight.
We don't plan on building.
I'm in CT and many of our rural areas allow shooting if your land is large enough. And some do it anyway.
Zoning - yeah, that's an issue everywhere. Even where I am now mixed zoning is creeping closer and closer
Quote:
Originally Posted by KCZ
The events of the last two years have brought out zealots and conspiracy theorists alike, and a lot of them are rabid. This has happened all over, not just small towns or rural areas. I'm not sure changing your locale is going to get you more tolerable neighbors.
I know this wasn't to me but I agree 100%. I'm in a highly populated area and many turned zealot in 2016 (both sides). I just try to keep my head down and not talk politics.
Quote:
Originally Posted by katharsis
Have you considered moving about 25 miles or so from the city?
Again I know this wasn't to me, but that's exactly what was suggested to me when I was talking to locals in the area I am considering. 10+ miles out of town
If I were doing it all over again today I'd check out the prospect with a zip code look up service like PRIZM even if I had to pay for the service. It would give me a profile of the people in that area. (most cost effective way as even Realtors use it)
Second I would find a young person who grew up there and knows who all the A-holes & Troublesome people are in that area. This is very important. Even the ultra religious wing nuts.
Finally, I'd try to purchase a tract of land where I wouldn't be too close to anyone. If you are more isolated it is more difficult for a village "council" to try and make you get on city sewer or water if you have a well & septic tank or aerator/chlorinator. (a key reason for living remotely) Having electric & cable/internet and a cistern is just fine in a remote area. There is rural trash pickup for small fees too.
You could slowly add Solar and a bank of batteries to cut your electric bills down. But do check into the cost of electric service. (There are "rural co-op's whose cost can be thru the roof...you may want to avoid them)
Then just stay on your property, mind your own business, vote absentee, keep a membership to AAA where you can get road service if you need it or towing to a garage. If you have internet many banks have online Bill Pay & banking. It's the next best thing to off grid living.
I would also suggest becoming familiar with a magazine called, "Mother Earth News" too.
Great post! Thanks for that link - going to play with it later.
What happens if that young person is one of the a-holes? I've done well by staying at a small b&b and talking to the owners (I know, anyone has the potential to be an a-hole)
I actually had that magazine on my screen a couple of weeks ago, I will pull it up again.
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Originally Posted by TexasRoadkill
Local water table levels.
See that's what I'm not used to being on city water. I know about wells and septic but it's the little nuances I need to learn.
I forgot to add this, with us just going through July 4
Someone had mentioned how bad fireworks can be in the country, but can they be worse than multiple neighbors on .25 acre (or smaller) lots setting off fireworks for 3-4 days? You can be talking 100s of households, it's non-stop.
How does having 5 neighbors on acreage compare? (by acreage I mean 10+ each, farms, spread out)
I was at someone's house last weekend on 1 acre lots with a lot of woods and oddly, no one close had anything going on but I could hear stuff far away. Being home was not good, but not as bad as 2020 was.
Personally, we researched everything pretty well. We knew our options for Internet wouldn’t be good, we knew commutes would be longer, we knew we would not have much in the way of public services (which is awesome bc our taxes are low then). Can’t say I would do anything differently.
I forgot to add this, with us just going through July 4
Someone had mentioned how bad fireworks can be in the country, but can they be worse than multiple neighbors on .25 acre (or smaller) lots setting off fireworks for 3-4 days? You can be talking 100s of households, it's non-stop.
How does having 5 neighbors on acreage compare? (by acreage I mean 10+ each, farms, spread out)
I was at someone's house last weekend on 1 acre lots with a lot of woods and oddly, no one close had anything going on but I could hear stuff far away. Being home was not good, but not as bad as 2020 was.
I’m in a neighborhood of mostly five-acre lots and maybe half of them are developed. We had it for several nights and some were louder than others. It was probably not as bad in living in suburbia.
Rural areas are hit/miss in terms of newcomers being accepted into the community. Small Town politics can get nasty. Alot of people want to be left alone which is why they are moving/have moved to said rural locale, others have lived there all their lives and have an inner circle of friends/relatives. I personally would "test the waters" socially before buying property in a small town or rural location. Saying this living in a rural locale, can't wait to leave.
We live in a flight path, military helicopters and small planes fly over all the time. It’s mildly annoying, but quiet would be better.
Finding handyman to come out and work has been a huge nightmare. Many don’t want to drive out, while others are just flakes. If you have a fixer upper, it might be better to use your skills, than to rely on others. A country place can start to feel isolated and lonely on a dark night or during a big snowstorm. Make sure you always have candles and flashlights for a power outage.
For close to 40 years my wife lived within 15 miles "as the crow flies" from Ft. Campbell Army base in Kentucky. Helicopters and planes flew over them all the time and at nights you could hear grenade training from on base. She told me after a while you don't really hear any of it any more. After I moved in with her, 4 helicopters flew over. I asked if that happened all the time. She looked up and said "Does what happen all the time?"
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Originally Posted by Hemlock140
From the experience of my parents:
Is cable available? They had to use satellite TV because their street did not allow underground utilities.
Most places won't have underground utilities because of the cost of putting it in and maintaining it. After the ice storm in 2008, that was brought up quite a bit, thinking there wouldn't have been so many power lines down. Utility companies said there's no way they could afford it.
Rural areas are hit/miss in terms of newcomers being accepted into the community. Small Town politics can get nasty. Alot of people want to be left alone which is why they are moving/have moved to said rural locale, others have lived there all their lives and have an inner circle of friends/relatives. I personally would "test the waters" socially before buying property in a small town or rural location. Saying this living in a rural locale, can't wait to leave.
I've heard that a lot. I've never had issues while traveling, but others have in the same areas, which I thought weird (but they are more social than I am so maybe they were perceived as pushy? I don't know)
Quote:
Originally Posted by kygman
For close to 40 years my wife lived within 15 miles "as the crow flies" from Ft. Campbell Army base in Kentucky. Helicopters and planes flew over them all the time and at nights you could hear grenade training from on base. She told me after a while you don't really hear any of it any more. After I moved in with her, 4 helicopters flew over. I asked if that happened all the time. She looked up and said "Does what happen all the time?"
I'm right over the river from a regional airport and I hear everything. The other day I counted 8 small planes in 15 minutes, and that goes on every day. There really isn't a time that things are quiet. I'm also on a flight path for a major airport but they are a bit higer.
If you asked me that question, I'd loudly say "WHAT???? I CAN'T HEAR YOU WITH THE PLANE NOISE!! WAIT TILL IT PASSES. HOLD ON THERE'S ANOTHER!!!!"
I *wish* I could ignore it but it's so invasive it drives me crazy, and I hate it more each year.
I have gotten used to my neighbors wind chimes enough that I've considered getting my own. Crows don't bother me anymore either. But planes - hate the sound.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hawk J
We live out in the boonies on side of a beautiful, forested mountain. We're thankful we didn't hear any fireworks, this year.
Awesome! Fingers crossed for next year
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