Canada?

Kelly,
Can I put my two-cents-worth in for East Tennessee? We have a little snow - usually only an inch or two at a time, except in the mountains. I live in Monroe County, only about 45 minutes from Cherokee National Forest and the Telico Mountains. Certainly not the Rockies, but they get lots more snow up there than down in the "flatlands." I don't know of any place any prettier anywhere. Right down the road from our house is a rancher on 5 acres - I think they want $115,000 for it. Nice land, too. There isn't a lot of industry around here, but good-paying work is not impossible to come by. The schools are good, there are plenty of churches, and the folks are real nice. (But then, I've found that folks are nice every place I've been.) I'm not a real estate agent or anything, but if you like, I'll mail you a copy of our local Homes magazine with lots of local listings. Just let me know. I wish you the best in finding that perfect place to raise your family.

I'm in Virginia & couldn't be happier. Bought my 21 acre fixer-upper farm 8 years ago for under $200,000; am about 1-1/2 hours commuting distance to the Northern VA/DC area jobs; in a nice community where you don't always have to worry about always locking the door behind you. Lots of supermarkets & other stores available. I am VERY happy.

I think you just have to start doing some research, because you're going to find that everyone who's happy where they live is going to tout it as ideal. And everyone's ideal is different.

Finding a place to live is not really hard for a settler type (vs nomad) if you are willing to do some searching on the Internet and realize what you need vs. what you want. There are a number of small, about to die out towns, some calling themselves a city, that are looking for younger families to move in with kids. Some even advertise on the net, suggesting free land, mostly a city or town lot, for families with kids. The land is really not free since you must spend money to move on, or in. Some lots need a home, and there are restrictions on what is acceptable.

Near these same about to die out towns or cities are plenty of old farm steads for sale, but more often then not you end up dealing with a real estate agent trying to stay alive. Some times the local mayor, working for $1 a year, or a tad more, is your real estate agent. It depends on how dried-up the town has become for various reasons. In many cases the problem is no local work or industry, so income might be your first real problem if you move. Few are actually able to get by without some sort of self-made income reserves or business. That means jobs are few and far between in these towns, which helps to explain why they are dried up and loosing folks, so they are trying to find ways to reverse the process.

I live in a small community called Skaneateles, NY. It has a great school system; the population is around 8,000 in winter and 15,000 in the summer; it's near Syracuse and Auburn (larger cities - more to see and do if you want it); the lake is one of the cleanest in the nation; lots of snow in the winter; lots of farms and pretty scenery; low crime. My in-laws and some neighbors of mine had to get keys made for their front doors when they moved because they had lost the keys long ago and had never locked the doors! The housing market is in the seller's favor though. They generally start around $150,000 and go up from there.

Thanks for the input! We need a place that does have jobs, but my husband is willing to change careers for a better place to live. Our current price range will only allow us to spend $100,000 on a house. We would love to return to the New England area, but there is no housing in our range or jobs that my husband can do. We would love to one day try Voluntary Simplicity, but we just don't know how to do that. Thanks again. I will keep researching.

You might want to try www.hud.gov and look at the houses for sale there. They deal with forclosures on federal loans. The VA has a similar program. Could be a good way to get a descent house in a descent neighborhood at a very reasonable price. Both are nationwide, so you can pick the area you want. Other smaller non-for-profit housing agencies (the couple I can think of in our neck of the woods, for example, are Home Headquarters and Syracuse Model Neighborhoods)might be able to help you find reasonably priced houses as well.

Kelly,
I can promise you everything but snow!
I am currently selling my house for $100,000. It is on 4.5 acres. It has large gardens already set up, and a pond in the back. It's a 45 minute commute from Raleigh, NC. The house is in good condition, 1100 sq ft, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms. I hate to use this page to push real estate, but I need to sell this house, & it sounds like a good place for you.
We DO get occasional snow, just not much, & not every year...
Please let me know if you are interested!
-Beth

Hi Kelley,
I'm not far from boobery85. I live in between Syracuse and Utica NY. I love the rolling hills, the dairy farms and all the outside activities. We get lots of snow and it is a good place to raise kids. I, too , homeschool. I have to say from what I've heard from other homeschoolers who have lived in other states, NY ranks as one of the hardest states to hs in. But, there is affordable land, especially for the handy type. We just bought 15 beautiful wooded acres for 20,700. We are planning on building a strawbale house on it next year.
Anyway, Central Ny is a nice place to live. The taxes stink though:)
Annie

Beth,

Thanks for the post...we lived in NC for a while, but we really want the snow and cooler weather.

Annie and boobery85,

We looked at NY a year ago or so and found that the cost of living wasn't too bad, but we didn't find much for jobs. What kind of jobs are in those areas? I do know that homeschooling is horrible in NY, but nothing is impossible, so we would be willing to try. It would also put us halfway between my family and his...that would be nice.

Thanks again
Kelly

I don't know the line of work your husband does. Some of the bigger employers in this area are: Lochheed Martin (Syracuse and Utica), Welch Allen(Skaneateles), Tessy Plastics(Skaneateles Falls), Bristol Myer Squibb (Syracuse), Pyramid Development and Properties (Nationwide), State Farm Insurance (Nationwide), Niagara Mohawk (Syracuse ?), Con Med (Utica) to name a few. Other places that have good benefits are Syracuse University, Lemoyne College, Ithaca College, Cornell University, Hamilton College, Colgate University. Trying to get jobs at the universities is like striking gold. Check their websites. They'll have jobs open posted. The hospitals in Auburn, Syracuse, Oneida and Utica are always looking for help too. I don't know if any of these places are hiring but it's worth a shot.

Sorry for hijacking your post, Kelly, but I have to ask...how bad are taxes in Central NY, really? I've done a lot of research on rural acreage and have found that Central NY has what my husband and I are looking for in terms of distance from family (ours lives in Connecticut), as well as reasonable prices and good schools. It seems that income taxes are high, but what about property? Is it really killer?

BTW, for comparisons sake, I currently pay $3000/year for a small house on .18 acre in Connecticut (YIKES!).

Jill,
I pay a little less for may taxes, about $2500/year. My house is 1200 sq ft and I have a little over an acre of land. So long as the ancor business doesn't leave the area (Welch Allyn) the taxes shouldn't rise too sharply. I hear Syracuse is a little worse for taxes. I don't know about the Utica area, although Oneida County has 9.8% tax on purchased items (Zowy!). I hope this helps.

Not that I needed yet another reason for moving to VA from NY, but my taxes on my 21 acres are $1,300/year. Not to mention the unbelievably lower cost of everything else.

I would have to agree with east Tennessee, but I would include everything from I-24 all the way east to NC/SC/GA.

Especially the Crossville and Cookeville areas... And since you have fairly young children, I would have to say make it Cookeville. It's the western edge of the Cumberland Plateau. It's a small town with a large university 1.5 hours east of Nashville Tn and 1.5 hours west of Knoxville Tn. lakes, rivers, country, snow, and even some Amish folks too. It is a wonderful area, I better quit or I might have to head back, there or to Crossville...
Hey better look up around Sneedville/Johnson City/Rogersville/Elizebethton/Bristol/Kingsport areas too. And look into the Sequatchie River valley area too, very very nice place.
Go to the link for a freat page... so good I keep it book marked, very useful site indeed, with lots of links for your Sequatchie valley adventure

Here is a link that might be useful: Bledsoe Tenn. homepage

Kelly, maybe you should be more specific in terms of what kind of off site employment you and yours are looking for. Maine is pretty good, except that many Mainers do several different jobs, depending on the season. This ranges from those who clam and pick berries in the summer and cut firewood in the winter, to folk like a friend of ours who runs a gallery in the summer and substitute teaches in the winter.

Dan

Thanks everyone for the response. Currently my husband is an aircraft mechanic on military jets...but he is looking to change careers. We would LOVE to move to Maine or NH, but he has no idea what type of work he can get there. We are very confused about what to do and since our landlord is raising our rent in August we are more determined to move and buy a house.

Dan...I really like the idea of doing different jobs, but I know my husbands concern would be that he wouldn't make enough money to buy a house. All of his family is in NH and Maine, so I know he would love to go home, but we don't have anyone to stay with temporarly, so we would have to have a job and living squared away before we move. What careers are most successful in Maine...I would think claming, but we know nothing about that.

Just a reminder. If you like to travel and/or have people come and visit you might want to think of availability of major airports. To get to my place you have to stop at Dallas first and then fly here. At extra cost and about 3 hours waiting in the Dallas airport. Other wise it is a 3 1/2 hour drive one way to Dallas.

I've heard taxes in MN are high...but we pay $350 each year for taxes (was $18 twenty years ago)...

I can't imagine paying upward of 200 dollars per month for taxes...that's highway robbery...and tantamount to rent.

Kelly, does your husband have an A&P license?

If he does, anywhere close to a regional airport should have employment opportunities for him somehow related to aviation. And if he is looking for a new line of work... Any well managed manufacturing or industrial maintenance outfit or organization or department would love to have an A&P licensed person around, not so much for the license, but for what aquiring one involved and implies about someones aptitudes and abilities.

If he has not the license, that's fine too. He should have a gracious plenty of experience with hydraulics pnuematics and electrical systems from working on military jets to make him a valuable addition to most any outfits maintenance department. Have him look into all the grading and heavy equipment suppliers/contractors where ever it is you choose to look. And the state highway departments too. And hey... what highway construction contractor could use a good maintenance man? ANY of them!

Good Luck!

airports aren't important to us as we never travel and no one ever visits us by plane, so we can live without an airport. The things that are most important to us are affordable housing, family friendly, low crime, and snow. NH and Maine have all but 1 of those things and it is the one thing keeping us from there.

spunbondwarrior, nope no A&P license. I want him to get it but he has gone through the process yet. He only works on avionics systems on jets, so I'm not sure what other jobs would need a skill like that. He wants to change careers to a job inside. His health has been deteriorating because of being outside and hard pshyical labor. He really wants to work with computers, but without a degree he hasn't been able to find a job. But I will mention to him contractor work, because that maybe our ticket to another area and then he could work on a degree and move over to computers one day. Thanks everyone!

Come to Vermont. We offer everything you seem to be looking for- plenty of snow, tolerant people,reasonable property values(albeit high taxes),and good jobs in the right areas. Any large ski resort is always looking for mechanically inclined people for full time work. As an ex school teacher I know there is a network of those who home school. Good luck.

Kelly, sorry to be so slow to respond.

Clamming is not the road to riches, certainly. It's hard, frankly filthy work, and can close unexpectedly due to red tide. I understand that when it's good, the money isn't bad, but nobody does it full time year round.

We farm, but we're able to do this because we already have a house and no kids and we don't need to be raising lots of money. We do it because we like it.

Of the farmers I know (and this is small local vegie and meat production, not big ag) most have another job. These include a high school teacher, an accountant, several carpenters, one who does elder-care, and a horse logger.

Of the people on our road, there's a guy who builds floats and docks, one who does solar and alternative energy, a seasonal cemetary caretaker, a small garage mechanic (except he just died...), a truck driver or two, a farmer who does nothing but bale hay on other peoples land (old guy), a retiree or two, a lobsterman, and electrician, a couple who run a resort camp, a carpenter, a couple who have B&B cabins, a web designer, and another carpenter/farmer/furniture maker (semi-retired). There are a few others that I don't know what they do.

If reasonably smart and looking for work and able to retrain, my wife suggests that someone could do worse than become a radiology tech, or any other sort of health related tech. With that you could live anywhere. One friend of our is a pharmacy tech, and we know there's demand for that and it takes some, but not a lot of training.

Since we're coastal, there's a big seasonal difference between summer and winter populations. Our town is 45% seasonal residences. We have lots of tradesmen, yet somehow demand is still strong for good people in the trades. (Plumbers spend a lot of winter days thawing frozen pipes.)

Durring the summer there's lots of low skill work available in the restaurants and shops and grocery check out aisles. I hear our winter county unemployment rate is about 8%, and the summer rate is 2%. This is Hancock County, just east of Penobscot Bay.

Dan

Hello again Kelly,
"The things that are most important to us are affordable housing, family friendly, low crime, and snow." Central NY does have all of that. I have been thinking about the work situation, though. My husband is a union electrician and there are 300 guys out of work right now!!Yikes! But, Syracuse is trying really hard to get young, computer literate people to the area. Check out Syracuse.com and have a look around at what they are offering. It really is affordable,snowy and very family friendly. Let me know.
Annie

Except that New York's lake effect brings not just snow, but lots of overcast and gloom too.

Dan

Thanks everyone for the responses.

Ralph, I have wanted to move to Vermont since I saw the movie "Baby Boom".

Dan, That sounds so neat to be doing so many different things, but I know my hubby's concern would be money and health coverage. And I understand the health coverage, with 2 children that is really important. We may have to wait until our children are grown to do the types of things I would like to do. Thanks for sharing all that!

Annie, My hubby would love to get a job in computers. He is great with them, but since he doesn't have a degree I'm not sure how easy it would be to get a computer job. I will go check out the website..thanks

Hi, I live in central Maine and it meets all the requirements you are looking for. Housing costs are low, cost of living is low, low crime, and low taxes. Jobs in central & northern Maine are so-so. Here is a web address for State of Maine job banks & job listings.

Southern Maine doesn't have the rural atmosphere the central and northern parts of the state have. Most of the good paying jobs are there though. Loggers, truck drivers, paper mill workers make good money in the rural areas. I moved from So. Maine to central Maine because the area was exploding with growth!

Good luck
Pam

Here is a link that might be useful: Maine Job Banks

I'm sort of in the same boat, except that I don't have any kids. I want to move to Kentucky or Tennessee in a couple of years (after student loans are paid down, sigh...), buy some property, and sell fruit and vegetables from my house. AND I suppose that I'll need a part time job too. :) Lots of great ideas here. Anyone from Kentucky or Tennessee, is this feasible? Cheap land, easy growing? :)

I live in upstate Ny- low crime, low living expenses and I have a very lovely house which I bought for well under $75,000. However, having grown up with a summer home in Vermont, I have to admit there is just something more spectacular and clear in the Vermont landscape, although the Adirondak mountains of NY are close. In upstate Ny there are still great deals to be had, although the NYC people are gradually discovering more and more of it. My sister recently bought property in Vt, and it was terribly expensive. One good choice might be upstate NY near the Vt border. My mother lives in Kansas where she bought a lovely house for under $50,000! and has good clean living and midwestern kindness and common sense everywhere. If I were going to choose again, I might vote for Vt, but it depends on where your income would come from.

Hi Kelly,

I saw your posting on the garden Web homesteading forum, and would love to talk with you about a new TV series we're making.

We're the producers of the successful ABC series Super Nanny. We're now making a major new documentary series for Discovery, which is aiming to show the realities of taking on a new life in the wilderness. It's tapping into the escapism we all feel when we look out of our office window -could I lead a fully self-sufficient life in the country? - and then filming with people who are being courageous enough to make that move, and do it for real. It's all about the improved quality of life, and the challenges we must go through to achieve that.

I'd love to talk the series through with you, as your plans seem to fit in perfectly.

This will be a series of 3 x 1 hour programmes, with a different family featured each week - all will be leaving their life in the city to take on a new challenge and lifestyle in a remote part of the States. We are aiming to be filming later on this year, and film on and off all the way until next summer, so we can get a sense of the challenges - and rewards - that each new season bring.

Each programme will feature a local wilderness expert, who will be on hand to act as a mentor and guide to our featured families when they first move to their region.

We will also be able to help families who have always dreamt of moving to a homestead but are unable to for cost reasons. We'll facilitate the move to allow you to make the move and live the life for real.

It would be great to talk it all through - my e-mail is james.christiemiller@ricochet.co.uk or if you let me know the best numbers to call you, I can give you a buzz.

You can view all of our programmes at www.ricochet.co.uk

Many thanks for your time - I look forward to hearing from you.

Best regards,

James Christie-Miller

My husband and I moved from the hustle and bustle of San Francisco to a town consisting of 990 people here in Oklahoma. We purchased 40 acres for $29,500, which includes a 3 bedroom 2 bath mobile (temporary while we build our home). It is awesome here, so far we have had pigs (which provided lots of bacon) three horses with one on the way and three dogs. Something we could never do in CA, without paying a mint. We got 2-3 inches of snow at Christmas time last year - not sure what this year will bring. We love it and our kids are doing much better in the k-12 school here. Good luck.

Find Your Spot, is a great place to start! It is a lot of fun reading about all of the places they offer based on your answers to their questions. Here is the link... http://www.findyourspot.com/

I hope it helps you! Spencer, Iowa was one of many suggested to me.

Also, Northern Michigan (Houghton area) might especially interest you.

Best to you,
Joe

I just joined this group, so my answer for you is a bit old. You may look into northern Missouri. The housing is VERY affordable. Between 5,000 to 85,000. No tar shacks, but alot of fixer-uppers and better. No crime, storms seem to go around us (tornados). Taxes are less than 1,000 dollars mostly. Alot of home schooling here! Jobs are few and most have home businesses and on internet, farmers or retired. Mercer county is the best. May take awhile to get the city knots out of your tail, but then the friendly people and the mild 4 seasons and wonderful land, well it's close to heaven.
Good Luck, and do alot of internet searches.
Toodie