# Best State



## Gene Backus (Oct 3, 2008)

What is the best state to start homesteading in?


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## JW Parker (Oct 18, 2008)

south central Missouri / north central Arkansas, but that is just me. I'm headed south to there as soon as posible.


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## Copacetic (Oct 18, 2008)

Gene Backus said:


> What is the best state to start homesteading in?


From Arkansas...best state in the union. lol We are starting our little homestead project in Arkansas. Lots of land available at reasonable prices.


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## TechAdmin (Oct 1, 2008)

Tough question. I would vote East Texas because the soil is fertile and the Winter's aren't that harsh.


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## Denny (Oct 14, 2008)

Dean said:


> Tough question. I would vote East Texas because the soil is fertile and the Winter's aren't that harsh.


I can work in other states and make more money, but then the cost of living outweighs that benefit. I can work in other states and make less money, but the quality of living sucks a big one *cough*Arkansas*cough* Texas is a happy median. It is also a state that covers many different terrian and living conditions. You can have big city or country rural. There's enough elbow room to get away from everyone or you can live a yell away from anyone. As far as resources for self-sustainment, I'll put Texas up against ANY other state. There really isn't much that any other state has to offer that could take me out of Texas.

All this coming from a boy, born and raised in California.


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## Copacetic (Oct 18, 2008)

Denny, my second choice would be either Texas or Oklahoma. I worked in Sulphur Springs east of Dallas a few years back on a little commercial project. I was there for a month. I was married in Dallas in 1990. My wife would love to be in Texas though.


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## FNFAL308 (Oct 17, 2008)

Born in LA and lived there for 44 yrs. Been in Texas in Spring 2 minutes from The Woodlands for a little over a year. I can't imagine it getting any better than this - God's Country for sure. But, the property taxes are straight from Hell at $450/mth. 

Keep in mind taxes before you move and compare closely. You can get cheaper - something to do with school districts. I haven't figured out the details on this yet and we did pick this particular subdivision for the good school.


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## Denny (Oct 14, 2008)

FNFAL308 said:


> Born in LA and lived there for 44 yrs. Been in Texas in Spring 2 minutes from The Woodlands for a little over a year. I can't imagine it getting any better than this - God's Country for sure. But, the property taxes are straight from Hell at $450/mth.
> 
> Keep in mind taxes before you move and compare closely. You can get cheaper - something to do with school districts. I haven't figured out the details on this yet and we did pick this particular subdivision for the good school.


I live in Ellis County, which is just the county south of Dallas County. I'm about 20 minutes from downtown Dallas. I live in a nice residential neighborhood and pay $110 a month for taxes.


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## Jerseyzuks (Oct 13, 2008)

FNFAL308 said:


> But, the property taxes are straight from Hell at $450/mth.


There are tons of people in this area (new jersey) who would LOVE to pay $450 a month in taxes


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## Copacetic (Oct 18, 2008)

The quality of life in **cough**Arkansas**cough**...lol...may not be the greatest, but my land here has property taxes of less than $10/year. That will be going up soon I am sure, but until then...


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## Denny (Oct 14, 2008)

Copacetic said:


> The quality of life in **cough**Arkansas**cough**...lol...may not be the greatest, but my land here has property taxes of less than $10/year. That will be going up soon I am sure, but until then...


I was just pickin' on ya, being a neighboring state and all. I think that Ar-Kansas is one of the safest and stable places to raise a family... as long as you keep the kids in private schools.


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## Copacetic (Oct 18, 2008)

I know Denny, me too on the kiddin'. We moved to Idaho for 3 years and will be returning to Arkansas this week for good. Made us realize how much we appreciate Dixie and the like. Texas is my second favorite sate since we are no longer in the South West Conference (college sports) GO HOGS!!! Arkansas is home and family. You are absolutely right, public schools are not that great. They own your kids. I am 2 semesters from a teaching degree in English, science/biology, and history and my wife has the music and biology degrees. We chose to start homeschooling when we return to Arkansas. We homeschooled them when they were all little and they all did really well in public school this past three years in Idaho. My father was an educator as well, so the decision to homeschool was not an easy one.


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## Deon (Oct 27, 2008)

I would say Texas as the winters are not that harsh here. That's my preference though, because I get cold easily and can't stand freezing my butt off!


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## Obligated (Apr 11, 2011)

*Ohio/Kentucky*

Hi, I live in suburban Ohio but have experience with living without running water, tv. etc and living off our garden and soup beans in the hollers of Kentucky. We are beginning our homesteading journey.

With two adult sons with families we are looking at land in Ohio and Kentucky. I would love to hear from anyone homesteading 50 to 100 acres in that area.


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## horseluv (Apr 12, 2011)

I grew up in jersey glad I left years ago


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## GreyWolf (Mar 17, 2010)

Taxes on my little farm in East Texas are not bad especially when you consider that there are no state income taxes here either.


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## Daegnus (Nov 12, 2010)

Montana's terrible, wide open country, few people around, loose gun laws, plenty of places to get lost in. Yup, horrible, wouldn't recommend it to anyone. Did I mention we're full up?


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## PopPop (Sep 14, 2010)

We are making our stand in east central Alabama and there alot of good reasons and some not so good. Land is cheap, taxes are low the growing season is long and the hunting season is longer. The climate is generally tolerable with the exception of a few days in summer when the heat and humidity can be pretty tough. The schools are lousy but that is true of most places. There are plenty of homestead possibilities all across the state. The jobs situation is horrible over much of the state. Yee Haw come on down!


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## worldengineer (Sep 20, 2010)

Virginia is personally my favorite, although NC is my second vote (got family with land in the no where zone). Lots of growing opportunities. Most vegetables and many fruit trees will thrive here. Animals do fine. We have all four seasons. Not just a summer and winter.

Schools are good in my area. Its up to the parent to teach the kid who to associate with.

Politiics- Our Governor and Attorney General are doing a good job. Gun rights are getting better and our cultural history is being respected. Currently a republican state, VA has a history of voting the opposite of federal majority.

Jobs- horrible, like the rest of the country. Worse the farther south you go in VA. Cost of living is drastically different. Depending on location. Go North (DC area) it takes a lot more to live.

PS don't live near DC. That would be the last place on earth I would want to live, New York City is a close second.


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## Jaspar (Feb 3, 2010)

Southern Iowa. Yeah, winters suck, but the soil is damn near perfect, good amount of timber and wildlife, there really aren't any wild animals that could kill you (maybe a rare mountain lion), low population, plenty of water, and the summers are pretty tolerant. I lived in Texas and there were too many bugs, snakes, criminals, and people. That, and it was incredibly hot. Other than that, I loved Texas, but I would rather make a go of it in Southern Iowa. :beercheer:


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## neil-v1 (Jan 22, 2010)

I can state in a most sincere way that the best state is NOT Massachusetts.


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## Emerald (Jun 14, 2010)

I have to say that if you have money and are retired and do not have to find a job then Michigan is a wonderful state that has plenty of water, great soils(you might have to work on them if you buy pine/oak woods tho) and most of the time pretty decent summer weather. Now the winters can be cold and snowy but if you prepair properly you should have too many problems.
The wild game is pretty plentiful(darned things tend to invade my garden all the time) fishing is pretty good too.
Worst things-we do get some intense storms here and there lately. Our taxes are about $85 a month unless you live in a big city.
I hate to say this tho--I LOVE MY STATE bad and good I don't wanna live anywhere else.


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## Ridgerunner (Oct 27, 2008)

The best State would most defiantly "The of State Mind"


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## Asatrur (Dec 17, 2008)

450 bucks a month, oh sheep sh!t. In Colorado near Denver we only pay about 200 a month.


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## Clarice (Aug 19, 2010)

I have lived in MO and now live in AR. They are both great affordable states to live in, but I do believe the Ozarks are a bit over rated for growing crops. So many stones. Raised beds are the only way to go there. The people that are orignally from there are friendly from a distance. They sell their property to outsiders because there really isn't that much $$ floating around for the locals, but they really resent the invasion. If you do plan to buy there please never tell a local "back home" we did it this way or that way. They will invite you to go back home.


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## nomadjanet (Mar 28, 2011)

*Not texas*

Texas is not good . We don't have beautiful warm beaches :beercheer: We don't have mild winters :2thumb:. We don't have wide open spaces :wave: We don't have the hill country & its vinyards  We don't have a low cost of living  and besides it gets hot here and it does not get hot anywhere else. :scratch


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## HozayBuck (Jan 27, 2010)

*Best Place........*

As you can see I list both Montana and Texas as homes... I spent almost 40 years in MT... and love it... still do and still keep my residency there... my winter digs are in East TX..
I grew up in Okla...lived in Calipornia for 10 years.. Maine for a year Alaska for a year settled on MT

Having said this.. Montana is not an easy place to live if your trying to survive.. Winters are very long , very cold and it takes tons of fire wood to keep warm if there is nothing else.. growing season some years is on a Monday or maybe a Thursday... true story folks..I'm not trying to scare you off... another thing you need to know is that as hard to believe as it is..MT is turning into a Liberal bastion ... and has been for years and getting worse.. why I can't say but try to get some good gun bills thru the state house and they stall out in committees...and stay there.. even most of the GOP types are RINOs..

Eastern MT is more conservative but really barren country.. not lacking in beauty but just dry and flat and hard to make a living in...

I just spent several days in AR with a lady friend who is looking for land up there... what I saw sucked! sorry folks but hell even the realtor we talked to showed us a map of how to find his listings but didn't go with us... he did warn us about the folks living out there..another person the LOM knows who lives in AR said they wanted to sell but couldn't find a buyer because the rural areas were full of Meth labs.. and as a former LEO I gotta say it looked like it.. where there wasn't junk yards surrounding trashy trailers was all thick brush.... 
I've been in a lot of places that sucked bt AR is top of the list..my son lives there and fits right in... nuff said
I think Oklahoma.. it has the most gun friendly laws of any state... the people are friendly .. not so in AR...

Growing season in South east OK is very good ..East TX is outstanding.. thats just my 2 cents worth... but I'd think long and hard about AR..


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## NO2ANWO (Mar 22, 2010)

mn_homesteader said:


> 450 bucks a month, oh sheep sh!t. In Colorado near Denver we only pay about 200 a month.


oh sheep shit indeed In WV my taxes are 330 a year on 23 acres


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## Frugal_Farmers (Dec 13, 2010)

*East tennessee*

After travelling extensively around the US and the world, we decided to plant our roots in EAST TENNESSEE. Here is our top 3 for why we picked East Tennessee.

1. Rural folks are down to earth, ingenious inventors, have generations of country skills, and will do anything to help others. Sure their are exceptions to this rule, but not many. We have built a network of friends how have taught us the traditional mountain way of living, sharing, trading and bartering.

2. Cost of living is extremly reasonable. We enjoy living just above the poverty line. The simple life is the good life.

3. No State income tax. (although there is a tax on food)


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## Halfway (Nov 26, 2009)

Daegnus said:


> Montana's terrible, wide open country, few people around, loose gun laws, plenty of places to get lost in. Yup, horrible, wouldn't recommend it to anyone. Did I mention we're full up?


Nothing to see here folks, move along.

:beercheer:


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## adaptivesurvivordotcom (Apr 15, 2011)

*North Carolina*

North Carolina has a lot to offer. From Mountains to Piedmont to the Coast, you can pretty much pick your poison, and the soil is plenty fertile with enough rainfall to grow most anything you could want. (I say that, but I live in Virginia) I'm been around the homesteading/ self-sufficient living ideology for a little while now, but am just recently learning how to transition and implement it into reality. It would seem to me however, that the simplest way to begin homesteading, might be to just stay local to where you currently are, especially if you have been there for a while. I would think you would be light years ahead knowing the climate, what grows, what doesn't, and what the state regulations are for things like vehicle inspections, taxes, and weapons. Of course, some of those things may be reason in themselves to move, but I am trying to minimize as many variable as possible as my family makes the transition.


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## HELIXX (Jan 2, 2011)

What about MO.?


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## Jimmy24 (Apr 20, 2011)

Well, don't none of ya come to Mississippi, you wouldn't like it here....:nuts:

Trashy trailers, meth labs and drug crazed nut jobs...:gaah:

Course been in 37 states. Lived in 6 different ones, TX, CA, WY, NM,FL and MS. And have seen those same things in all of them.

Here in MS we may always rank last in everything, but no where else would I want to prep in and have to make a last stand in.

We have low taxes, yes that means roads are not as good, but govt doesn't stick it's nose in, like other places.

We have a *LONG* growing season. About 8 months for warm weather veggies. Fertile soil. No shortage of water.

Mild weather most of the year. South of I-20 only frosts a few times during the winter. Just make sure you have low chill hours fruit trees.

Largest population of deer per acre in US. Lots of creeks, rivers, ponds and lakes, plus 75 miles of the Gulf of Mexico.

Stay north of Hwy 26 and hurricane damage is less. Survived all of them since '65.

Low population density.

Nope stay out, MS is not the place to be for sure...

Jimmy


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