Homestead Location Advice Needed

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Hi everyone, (sorry the message is a little wordy)

I have an uncle that has a homestead outside Redding, CA in Round Mountain. I spent lots of time there as a kid and have always wanted to start a homestead of my own. Right now I am living in southern california (Orange County) and both my wife and myself are working. We are very fortunate that we bought are current house when the market was at its lowest and it has increased a significant amount (100,000+)in the last few years. I really feel that now is the time. My wife is going to have baby #2 in June and we are both feeling that living here is not the way we want to live.

My problem though is that I don't really know were I want to live.

I am looking for a place that isn't too hot (100+ summers)or too wet, I want the surroundings to be forested (I got to have trees), I don't mind snow but I would prefer (actually my wife) a winter that is somewhat mild, not living in month after month of harsh cold winter/snow ( I am willing to bend on this if it has everything else), has a decent growing season( my little girl just loves to garden with me, we have a little square foot garden in the backyard) and is within a 1-1.5 hr drive of a pretty decent size city. I am really active in rock/mountain climbing, backpacking and skiing so I was thinking about some place that is either close to some mountains or just above snow line or I don't know..... I was thinking some place in Colorado, Utah, maybe montana (too cold?), northen california. I have never been to the east coast so I have no idea what is there.

I am alittle apprehensive about Utah. I really think that it has everything I want but I am not mormon. My cousin just moved out of utah (SLC) because her kids where getting extreme amount of pressure from the other kids. Her kids felt so bad, not part of etc... that they both choose to convert. I don't want my kids to have to deal with that. I am a very open minded person, I would like to live around like people. I don't know, maybe it just had something to do with being in Salt Lake City. I really have no idea if it really like this, anyone live in utah and is not mormon?

I would really like to hear from others on places that you think might fit. Any and all input is much appreciated. I really could use a little help.

Thanks, sean

-- Sean Parker (sparker@sprintmail.com), January 25, 2001

Answers

Sean, congratulations on child #2 ! I know how you feel...it took us a year to decide where to relocate (we lived in PA)..our ideal was low taxes, Winter, but not too much Winter, warm, but not hot, trees, trees, and more trees, hills vs mountains, long growing season, and a place not overrun by subdivisions or eager to have them....I wanted to be within an hour or so of a large city, just in case I needed a fix of opera or a really snazzy dinner club once a year...I lived in Texas, Missouri,California,New Jersey,Maine,Massachusetts,Florida,Wyoming,New York,Oklahoma and New Hampshire...loved Maine (too cold for too long for us),loved Missouri (land too expensive near the cities now)..we decided on Alabama which surprised even us..We traded heat for everything else and we are so pleased to be here. NE Alabama has forests, ponds,rivers,hills..it reminds me so much of Maine without the long Winter..We are a little over an hour from Atlanta..hope you check it out! God bless.

-- Lesley (martchas@bellsouth.net), January 25, 2001.

My sister keeps trying to get me to move to Virginia for the same reasons you have listed. Her gardens always have a long growing season. And she was bragging that it was 65 the other day when I still have a foot of snow. The only thing she doesn't like is the clay but is thinking of making a pond now.

-- Dee (gdgtur@goes.com), January 25, 2001.

Good Morning Sean,

You may want to consider Virginia, however, closer to the mountains as its a bit cooler there. You would ahve the snow you'd like to see but not have to put up with for months on end. The growing season is fantastic for gardening here, except watch for red mud, clay soil, have to compost heavy. You would be near to the mts and have an easy access to the ocean for the occassional beach trips. The only drawback is that here in south central VA it gets a bit hot in the summer. Really humid too. Also; MD, PA., TN, KY and NC are other good choices. Oh.... better mention one drawback to VA; ticks and chiggers and those pesky copperheads and moccassins. So if you can tolerate living with those lovely creatures its not bad. Good luck with finding your homestead. Say..... I did get an e-mail a few days ago from a lady in Utah selling alovely log cabin with a beautiful barn and pasture. It appeared to be underground solar and was lovely. had solar ele back up, propane refrig and stove. if interested let me know and I'll pass on the e-mail to you with the pics. Take care and have awonderful day!

Bernice

-- Bernice (geminigoats@yahoo.com), January 26, 2001.


Hi Sean, It was fun reading your post, how exciting to be making this quest. I must say, I am from Michigan and can relate to the hard winter topic. I live now on the Lower Eastern Shore of Maryland and love it. We don't get much snow and the Ocean is right there. It is lovely and rural. No mountains, but you can find nice property with alot of trees. I wish you the best and know you'll find the best spot for your family. Karole The pace of life is SLOW.........

-- Karole (Biz3boymom@aol.com), January 26, 2001.

Hi Sean, good luck with your quest! I can imagine that it would be a hard choice, there are so many beautiful places in this country. We live in East Tenn. and love it. We have the 4 seasons, though the winters are not too harsh. Our average temp. for January is in the 40's. We do get a little snow, but what we get doesn't stay for long, just enough to make it pretty. Still have alot of forested areas, and we have a long growing season for the garden. We're just a little drive from Knoxville. Not a huge city, but they always have alot going on there. They have a really good Symphony and the University of Tenn. is located there. The Smokies are not the highest mtns. in the U.S. for climbing, but I believe the oldest, but there are plenty of steep rock formations to give you a challenge. The Park has great hiking trails with beautiful waterfalls and plenty of wildlife. (watch out for the bears!) The Park also conducts outside classes each year for different topics..identifying edible plants, Cherokee heritage, etc.. Gatlinburg, which is a small resort town at the entrance to the park, also has skiing avaliable. I think they make their own snow when mother nature doesn't co-operate. We don't ski, so not real sure. If you check out property outside of these areas, the land is still reasonable. Atlanta is about 4 hrs. away, Lexington about 3, etc...you can usually drive to a whole lot of places in a days drive. The local people are real nice and very laid back as long as you go with the flow. Good luck with your search. Hope you all find something that you love!

-- Annie (mistletoe@earthlink.net), January 26, 2001.


If you can take a month or so off, rent a motor home. Catch I-70 in the west and travel it all the way east. Then go down to I-40 and follow it all the way west. Periodically look at areas up to about 50 miles both north and south of these interstates.

What you described can pretty well be found in what used to be called The Bible Belt of the upper Southern states.

Bear in mind there is almost an inverse relationship between what many would consider to be ideal homesteading conditions and good employment opportunities.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), January 26, 2001.


Southern Oregon has about everything you want except the summers get pretty hot,over 100 for a couple of days anyway. Still there are the mountains,the coast,trees, mild winters, long growing season, etc.

-- Hendo (OR) (redgate@echoweb.net), January 26, 2001.

Definitely check out Western Washington, probably north of Everett to the border; maybe Skagit or Whatcom counties. Fits your description. The further east you go from the I-5 corridor, the less population...and closer to the mountains. Decent rock-climbing up here (although you may need to bring some pruning tools...or at least it used to be decent! I haven't climbed in 25 years!! Too many chalk marks....) Skiing is kind of wet, but some areas are decent...you can always run up to Whistler in B.C. for great powder.

As to cities, Seattle is huge, but you can easily put 100+ miles between it and yourself. Smallish cities like Everett, Mount Vernon, and Bellingham could be closer. B'ham has a university, plus it's close to Canada (talk about climbing!)Skagit Valley has some of the best soil and climate in the world...lots of seed companies grow there.

Good luck in your search. Oh, btw...you don't mind a little greyness or drizzle, do you? :-)

-- sheepish (WA) (rborgo@gte.net), January 26, 2001.


You might want to look around the Boise, Idaho area. Winters aren't bad here in Treasure Valley. We've had maybe a foot of snow this year. If you go a bit more north there's a lot more snow. Plenty of jobs, and if you stay to the north or east of Boise land prices aren't too bad. Most of the expansion in the area is off to the west.

-- Chris Stogdill (cstogdill@rmci.net), January 26, 2001.

Hi Sean. I think there are TONS of places in Utah that you would love! Why don't you look up "Utah" on search engines and narrow it down to a couple of locations that look good, then gather the details from there. SLC as well as Provo do have high concentrations of Mormons, but elsewhere around the state the percentage is around 13% (at least when we lived there). On the other hand, Mormons can be very family-oriented, service-oriented, and make great neighbors. I must admit here that I actually am Mormon, and I did also see the type of stuff your sister experienced. Sorry they had that happen :( There are also good places in E. and N. AZ (where we live). Best of luck in your search!

-- N.W. Whitlock (Casaflora@aol.com), January 26, 2001.


Hi Sean, Check out my more lengthy reply to "Good Place to Live?" posted on 1/26. Check out www.bestplaces.net. Type in your requirements and find the right place for you.

I lived in Los Angeles for many years and am so very happy I decided to get out of that rat race. Johnson City, TN is a growing community if you need outside work. A lot of firms moving here and it's right in the middle of rural areas. Mountains galore. Lots of fishing and hunting.

Another thought. Watch the weather channel for a few days and see how the weather patterns continue to develop in the same spots. That's one of the reasons I personally didn't choose Arkansas or Oklahoma.

Good luck in your quest.

-- Mary in East Tennessee (barnwood@preferred.com), January 27, 2001.


Are you looking to move in or out of California? Do you have family here that you don't want to become too far away from? It sounds as if you are in a good position to take you time and find your perfect relocation spot. I wish you the best of luck. There are so many lovely and wonderful places. We live right here in California. About 100 miles from Fresno in Mariposa Co. It is a small foot hills community that has worked hard at staying small. The town of Mariposa is about 1500 people but it's a very large county and there are other towns within the county. We are about 50 miles out of Yosemite Nat'l Park. In the park as you probably already know is hiking, skiing, camping etc. There are lots of other outdoors areas within driving distance to spend only one day if you like. Our county varies in elevation from about 1200 ft to well over 6000. You can pretty much take your pick. We live at about 1700 and most years we don't get snow. Heavy frost, but no snow. When we do get snow it usually only lasts a day. Summers are quite warm 80's to low 100's but after the sun goes down it's cool enough you don't have to run any type of cooler to sleep. The air is clear and very little fog. The closest big big city would be Fresno or Modesto. We usually do our heavy shopping in Merced. They have Home Depot, WalMart, Starbucks etc. and is only about 45 miles. Of course that depends on where you live in the county. There are lots of big acreages and small acerages available in all price ranges. We are starting our first real garden this year but have had good luck with growing most things that we have tried thus far - that is if the critters will stay out. We do have lots of deer that roam around and help themselves and gophers that eat from the bottom up. I am sure if you are interested in this area that there is lots more info on the computer, or if you have time bring your family up for a weekend and look around. My husband was born and raised up here and I have lived up here a total of 10 years. We are extremely happy with the area.

-- cindy palmer` (jandcpalmer@sierratel.com), January 27, 2001.

Thanks everyone for all the great info!!!

My dad is going to retire in April and is going to buy a motorhome to do some taveling with my mom. So, I talked to my wife and we have decided to take a major road trip (borrowing my dads motorhome) and go see the country. I have not seen much east of colorado so it should be interesting. In the mean time, I am going to be doing lots of research on the internet.

thanks for all feed back,

Sean

-- Sean Parker (sparker@sprintmail.com), January 27, 2001.


Asheville, NC area. Asheville is being called the San Francisco of the South around here. A varied cultural life (and I do mean varied - snake handling fundies to wiccan covens, punk rockers to bluegrass heroes) complete with a wide range of restaurants, theaters (movie and art), etc ad nauseum. Come one, come all (just kidding, no yuppies allowed). But really, it's a thriving, growing area that's just gorgeous in any season, milder than the eastern part of the state in the summer, but not as snow-bound in the winter as they are up higher into the Smokies. Come on out for a visit. It is a bit $$$, (which is why I don't live there) but worth it if ya got it!

-- Soni (thomkilroy@hotmail.com), January 27, 2001.

Best wishes for the upcoming baby! I used to live in So CA and have to say that REALLY miss the wonderful weather, family, & friends. My hubby is from Houston and he also misses the warmth! We have considered moving back to either place, but both are expensive, crowded, etc. Currently we are near Denver, CO. Winters here can vary alot. A few years ago we had a big blizzard and were stuck home for 3 days, last year was very mild with little snow, and this year has been COLD! Job opps are endless here, but housing is beyond expensive. I also love Utah, but have the same fears about the Mormon thing. Funny, many of my friends in CA were Mormon, but you hear all the stories about the non-Mormons being passed up for jobs, etc. I don't know if that's true or not. Right now my husband and I are really considering Oklahoma. The land prices are unbeatable and the weather is favorable for gardens.

-- elle (eagle-quest@juno.com), January 29, 2001.


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