Suggestions for Rural Living

[ducttape45]

Earlier today I created a post entitled "When Evil takes over (Is rural living safer?)." The link is below.

When Evil takes over (Is rural living safer?)

It got a lot of comments, and I am very appreciative of that as it generated a lot of conversation. It also struck a cord with me.

As many of you know I am retired, forcibly so because of Covid/Long Covid. I have been searching for someplace to retire to, locally, with not much success. Housing prices are through the roof whether you're buying or renting, and of course everything else suffers from cost increases across the board.

But the reason for this post is find out from my fellow Freepers if anyone has suggestions for communities that offer a more rural setting for folks like myself. Heck, I'd even be willing to look at a tiny home community. I see a lot of posts from folks who describe rural locations but searching online for those kinds of places is almost impossible because Google algorithms always point folks in the wrong direction.

I really didn't know where else to make this kind of request as I really don't know of any good websites to look at. I'm hoping that ya'all can offer suggestions, and hopefully many of us who are looking to (kind of) escape the rat race can possibly find what we're looking for.

Thanks for your time.

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TOPICS: Miscellaneous; Society
KEYWORDS: prepping; rural; shtf; vanity

[FamiliarFace]

Has the location near your daughter not panned out? I know everything is crazy expensive. I will start to inquire around here.

[Robert DeLong]

Well, I think you need to provide some more information as to what you would ideally look for. Such as how rural you are looking for. The distance you are willing to be from buying at least groceries, and that kind of thing. What kind of climate would you prefer. Some like colder weather, some like warmer weather. Price wise you are typically going to dare better in southern states, and less populated states in the heartland states.

[Repeal The 17th]

Do you have a geographical preference?
(climate; travel distance to family; and such)

How far into “rural” do you want to go?

What conveniences are you willing to give up?

[ducttape45]

No, that place hasn’t worked out. The waiting list is terribly long and no one is leaving it. It could well be another year or two, possibly longer before they have any units open up. I will admit to this whole process to be very depressing. I honestly didn’t expect it to be this difficult.

[ducttape45]

I've been searching areas like Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Iowa, even South Dakota. It doesn't bother me to travel to get groceries.

I guess I'm hoping that there is a website or chat board that offers leads on rural places to retire to.

[Brian Griffin]

“rural”

Remember what the South African farmers face.

If you seek safety, a suburban neighborhood with cops allowed by Biden types to have guns is best.

I have a very nice cop going through an awful divorce on my street.

[BereanBrain]

When it hits the fan the cops will be useless

[hardspunned]

I live in a very rural area of Kentucky. The people are the salt of the earth. Crime is nearly non existent (mostly Harris “border czar” drug casualties). We have no contrived racial problems. Since the tobacco industry was destroyed, you very rarely see an illegal. Property taxes are to die for. Trust me, you wouldn’t complain about the relative cost of living around here. The great thing is I’m forty minutes from downtown Cincinnati and some of the best health care you’ll find.

It does get rather cold in the winter but very little snow. Summers can be uncomfortable with high humidity. Housing prices increased at the same rate as most of the country. They were so low to begin with that real estate costs now remain some of the most reasonable in the country.

We’d love to have you.

[Governor Dinwiddie]

If you are retired or out of work, get in your car an spend a month or two on the road. Don't use interstate highways; avoid cities; stay at local motels. Just drive where your whimsy takes you. You will find more nice places than you can shake a stick at.

[ducttape45]

I don't have much. I gave away or sold a lot of stuff at the beginning of the year keeping only what I needed to survive on.

Even though I live in a two bedroom unit with an attached garage, I only use one bedroom (the smaller one) and the garage is empty, as is the other bedroom. I can easily fit what I have into a small place.

As for family, only my daughter lives close by. My sons live in Florida and Hawaii, but they both be moving soon so who knows where they'll end up. Brothers and sisters live in various part of the USA.

As for how far into "rural" I want to go, I'd like find a small town/place that is far enough from large towns to not be bothered by the big city garbage, but close enough to civilization to be able to get supplies and have them shipped if necessary.

[FamiliarFace]

I’m sure it is depressing. It would seem that something should be able to be found in the area roughly near Lafayette. I don’t know for a fact, but I would think they’d have good medical there with Purdue being so close. Rural living isn’t far away from there. Have you looked in Brooksville? It’s a cute little town with rural nearby. I have no experience other than driving through it to visit friends.

I’ll keep praying that God works this out for you, sooner than later.

[ducttape45]

You know, I was going to mention that in an earlier post. Honestly that’s what I am so tempted to do. And yes, I would stick to smaller roads and avoid the interstates, drive through the small towns I would find.

[Chode]

big question with not enough data...

does it have to be / must it not be:

hot

cold

4seasons

mountains

shore

etc

at least what quadrant of the country...

[ducttape45]

I've looked at the small towns all around the Lafayette/West Lafayette area. There's nothing, now. Last year things looked promising but then the rental costs jumped $300-$400 a month this year and that put the kibosh on everything I looked at.

Thank you for your prayers and your kind words.

[Brian Griffin]

Last year I found via realtor.com that Rockford, Illinois, and York, Pennsylvania had good prices.

The pricing pressures on housing are enormous.

Last year you would have had trouble selling in high-end Baltimore. No more.

[ducttape45]

What part of Kentucky do you live in? What would you recommend? You can Freepmail me if you desire. Thanks.

[ducttape45]

I have that website bookmarked, but it (and many others) have not been very useful as of late.

[chrisinoc]

Did you ever look into the Quad Cities of Arizona, namely Prescott, Prescott Valley, Chino Valley, Dewy, and outlying areas? Population is about 150k. Average age is 50 years old. It’s a Republican 25+ area.

We do have an abundance of churches, retail stores, two hospitals, an events arena, VA center, restaurants, and auto related businesses.

If you like God, guns, cars, and dogs this area might fit your lifestyle.

[Governor Dinwiddie]

Just chatting about it makes me want to get in the car and start driving! A couple books which might interest you are "Blue Highways" and "Travels With Charley", by William Least Heat-Moon, and John Steinbeck respectively. When visiting a new town, the local cafe and local library are good places to visit.