Is it ever possible to live in ANY very small town in San Bernardino County? (San Diego: taxes, cost of living)

[Count David]

Originally Posted by Brandon Graves

Okay, this thread has gone off topic, so let's put it back on this thread's topic, shall we?...

Would it ever be possible for someone to live in a ghost town out in the desert of San Bernardino County? (e.g., Ludlow, Amboy, Cima, Vidal, Nipton, Halloran Springs, etc.) If so, how would one go about it? What would be the legal requirements for someone to do so? What would one have to do for water, cable TV, electricity, gas, Internet/Wi-Fi, etc.? Where would one have to go for entertainment, recreation, groceries, eating out, medical, fire, police, church, school/education, etc.? Where is/are the nearest location(s) for any of these necessities? Will one have to worry about any sort of crime in any of those ghost towns, since they are all far away from the nearest police station? Will one have to worry about using the A/C during the brutally hot summer months? How about using the heater during the brutally cold winter months?

Are some, most, or all of those desert ghost towns now private property, or protected by law by the local agencies/government(s) of San Bernardino County?

Yes, it would be possible. Likely, you would have to purchase habitable/properly zoned property.

Water would have to be hauled in and kept in a storage tank. TV would have to be satellite, so you would also need a view of the southern sky. Electric would have to be solar and generator, otherwise you would have to go without. Not sure about gas. Internet would have to be satellite as well, and I hear the latency on it is pretty bad.

For activities, one would have to go to the nearest town of size, which could mean Barstow, Needles, 29 Palms, Ridgecrest, Victorville, or Las Vegas. I would imagine you would have to get kids to school yourself, and/or you could homeschool them. And of course you will use your heater and A/C (or swamp), it isn't even a question. Ridgecrest gets bone chilling cold in the winter, for example.

Speaking of Ridgecrest (Kern County, but still Mojave Desert), it lies in an interesting position on the San Bernardino County line, there are some homes (mostly trailers) on the SBD County side that are pretty free from the law/etc. They are zoned to Ridgecrest's schools, but if you get arrested there, you are picked up by a San Bernardino County Sheriff's officer from Trona and hauled to jail in Barstow (a similar thing happens on the Kern side, if you get arrested in Ridgecrest proper, you get hauled to Mojave, or worse, to Lerdo {near Bakersfield} if you're going to be there awhile).

Speaking of Trona, if you ever wanted to live in a post apocalyptic/similar to Detroit but desert environment, it may be a good choice. That is, if you can handle the smell, cross-eyed neighbors, regular occurrences of arson, and seemingly normal people with closets full of secrets....

Other places worth checking out include Randsburg, Johannesburg, and Red Mountain. Red Mountain is a dump (but still San Bernardino County), but a few dozen people live there. Johannesburg is very nice, it is on the Kern side, but it is almost a functioning semi-ghostly town (it even has a store/gas/post office). I haven't been to Randsburg, but apparently there is some life there, and there's a place to get sarsaparillas.

[CrazyManCrazy]

Yeah why not? If there is any property for sale or rent, what's stopping you ? Well, maybe San Bernardino County will stop you. Before you plan to build anything, you must have water. I don't think they "allow" you to haul water anymore for new construction. So...you have to get a permit for a well and have someone drill it. This costs a bunch of bread. With the possibility of a dry hole. Or water that is unfit for human consumption. The County will mess with you at every step with building permits, land use permits, zoning, etc. Then there is getting services like electric. Unless it is already there at your property, you can expect to pay big time to bring it in. Then there are building codes....and it goes on and on and on. Septic systems with the percolation tests and the cost of the tank and leach field. On and on and on. Fire protection too. You may have to put in a large water tank and keep it filled, in case of fire.

I remember somebody telling me that Essex, California has places for sale. And remember many of these little spots are either homesteaded/privately owned, were under lease or agreement from the railroad or built illegally using mining claims.

You should do serious investigation within the county you choose to see what Hell and how much you will be fleeced by the county just to live and have a home there.

And there is also the federal land grabs and the Agenda 21 theories concerning folks who wish to live out in the boonies.

[CrazyManCrazy]

And...I almost forgot. These far out places can be just that...FAR OUT with a bunch of nuts and whackos living out there too. If you plan goes through, don't be surprised if all your stuff gets ripped off, over and over again and or your property gets destroyed.

[Brandon Graves]

Originally Posted by David Aguilar

Speaking of Trona, if you ever wanted to live in a post apocalyptic/similar to Detroit but desert environment, it may be a good choice. That is, if you can handle the smell, cross-eyed neighbors, regular occurrences of arson, and seemingly normal people with closets full of secrets....

Other places worth checking out include Randsburg, Johannesburg, and Red Mountain. Red Mountain is a dump (but still San Bernardino County), but a few dozen people live there. Johannesburg is very nice, it is on the Kern side, but it is almost a functioning semi-ghostly town (it even has a store/gas/post office). I haven't been to Randsburg, but apparently there is some life there, and there's a place to get sarsaparillas.

LOL at "seemingly normal people with closets full of secrets!"

[Brandon Graves]

Originally Posted by CrazyManCrazy

And...I almost forgot. These far out places can be just that...FAR OUT with a bunch of nuts and whackos living out there too. If you plan goes through, don't be surprised if all your stuff gets ripped off, over and over again and or your property gets destroyed.

I'll be sure to keep this in the back of my head as often as I can!

Also, if I may ask kindly, out of curiousity, how many of these small/ghost towns (I'm not exactly sure what to call them) have you lived in?

[AFtrEFkt]

Brandon, just move to Sky Valley or Morongo Valley. That's as far as your folks are gonna let you go, anyway.

[Brandon Graves]

Originally Posted by AFtrEFkt

Brandon, just move to Sky Valley or Morongo Valley. That's as far as your folks are gonna let you go, anyway.

Hey! I got's a several family members up'n Morongo Valley!

[CrazyManCrazy]

Brandon...Be nice, I may not only live in, but own one of those spots you are so interested in.

[Brandon Graves]

Originally Posted by CrazyManCrazy

Brandon...Be nice, I may not only live in, but own one of those spots you are so interested in.

Don't worry, I'll do my best to be sure not to steal your copper wiring, sink, toilet, etc., nor squat or vandalize your property.

[AFtrEFkt]

"I know where I can get a ball float!"