what's the best state to live in?

Floridian

I've been to many states in this great nation. Admired all that they had to offer. Wyoming is beautiful, Colorado has some nice scenery, but both locales are too cold and far from relatives for my wife's liking.

Currently live in Florida. Been here most of my life. Good all-year growing weather, but not as much wildlife for hunting purposes if it came down to that. Rarely see any deer in the area. No shortage of gators though.

The NE is scratched off the list. I don't think I could handle so many liberal neighbors.

Virginia is also like that a bit, but less so in some of the outskirts of Virginia. I like the Shenandoah Mountains. Any thoughts on Virginia?

 

Outside of DC you have a mixed bag of urban / suburban areas and their associated politics.

I'm in NC where are politics are getting more liberal by the day. This is a democrat locked state similar to NY. That was ok when the state was mostly ag and textile oriented. Back then, Dems acted conservative. As it became more populated and urban (the last 15 years or so), these same dems started shedding any pretense of conservatism and showing their true nature.

In contrast, VA state govt. is much more conservative. I'm under contract to buy some land in VA, west of Richmond. That area is so rural that if you were dropped in by helicopter, you would have a hard time guessing you were in VA. If you can find one of those population "heat maps" online, you will see the area of which I speak is one of the least populated of the eastern states.

 

Sadly, more of my time is spent pushing a lawnmower than frolicking nekkid.
Though I suppose I could combine the two :0

 

That's what I have seen so far. 30 minutes outside of DC and its more of the beltway mentality. But go an hour to Front Royal where homeschoolers are in abundance and many families are community oriented and its a whole different story. Took the family for some drives through there and did the Skyline drive. Love the scenery and the people. It was so appearant how different things are when we went back to our hotel near DC.

I'll have to look for one of those maps. If I were to transfer to a different office, my current employer would require me to be a bit closer to DC. But what you describe sounds like a great place to visit since we're so tied to the eastern states (family/work).

 

Just keep in mind that rural = poor in this part of the world. It's also not as pretty as the mountains. All of that means low cost / acre too. For my situation, it fits the need - really depends on what you're looking for. (I doubt you'll find any good Italian food

 

Hawaii... :0)

 

I personally like the mountains of Virginia, but would also trade the scenery for water-accessible, game-available, fertile, less-rocky land. The Italian restaurants might not be around, but then again my wife's Italian cooking is the best I've had (hence why I've gained ~25 lbs in 5 years of marriage). I tell her we need to make venison meatballs like my grandparents used to make up in Pennsylvania when I was younger. At this point, she's just getting introduced to all of these survivalist/prepping discussions, so she hasn't bought on to the though of venison yet (nor has she even had an opportunity to try it). I tell her she's missing out.

With as good as she cooks, if I can get her to warm up to venison, I'm going to gain even more weight!

But without getting off topic, let me circle back to my initial comment here. How are the land characteristics in the area you're scoping out? How would you think it compares to some of the mountenous/hilly regions in northern VA west of DC?

The thought of owning a large piece of land is exciting. There's just something within men that see it and yearn to produce something from it.

 

I have a friend in Ashburn, but I've never paid much attention to what the land is like out there.
I'm in NC and the property we're contracted for is about 2 hours away. The land is very much like central NC.
Very fertile with tall trees. A lot of red clay - some areas are naturally poor (rocky, sandy, pale colored soil), but good land isn't hard to find. The trees grow tall with an abundance of pines.
Mostly rolling, but only slightly. You don't often find clear running rocky streams as in the mountains. The streams and brooks tend to look like slow moving muddy canals.
Tons of wildlife.
Last year I visited a piece of land about a half an hour away from what we're looking at now - I couldn't believe the amount of bear cr*p! Deer tracks all over our land and turkey signs nearby.

In this part, you can get cutover land for about $1600 / acre. It will be nothing but dense brush, but if hasn't grown in too thick, you can plant it in pines for ~300 / acre - then it will produce some income for you over the next 30 years or so.

Keep in mind that this area is about 5.5 hours away from you.

 

Ive done a lot of traveling over the years but never been to Hawaii,hope to one day visit Hawaii and maybe we can share a few beers Bro.

 

Deal!... We'll go camping, fishing... haven't been hunting in quite a few years... campfires... and tall tales....

I still think Hawaii is just about as good a place as anywhere...

 

Sounds good to me Bro.

 

Good signs indeed!

The price is certainly attractive! Forgive my ignorance, but can you explain how pines would become a source of income?

Yeah, that's a downside. In an emergency situation, it would undoubtedly take much longer than a few hours drive. Not sure if there would be anything nice in Florida where reaching it from where we presently are wouldn't be too tough and also would have the natural resources to sustain us.

 

Somehow I thought you were outside of DC.

Many people plant Loblolly pines on their vacant land as a source of income. They sell the trees to a timber company over the years.
After about 15 years, the stand can be thinned and sold as pulp.
Then at about 30 years you can harvest the whole lot.
Over a 30 year time frame you can't expect much more than about 2,500 / acre between two cuttings, but there is little maintenance needed and you can do this on a small parcel of 20 acres or more.

 

Don't the islands rely heavily on food imports? How diverse and extensive is the natural diet of the islands?

Byte

 

It's been populated at least since 776 AD so I imagine one could survive.

 

I COULD be outside of DC if I were transfer to another office in my firm. Central Florida at the moment, but my wife and I have looked at Virginia for some time now. We've been praying on the matter and asking for God's guidance to show us whether we should move there (or elsewhere, or stay put). If it's meant to be, it'll work out that way.

I understand now. So it's a long-term investment to use otherwise unused/unworked land. I'll look in to those pines to learn a little more. If we were going to be away from the property for extended periods of time, this sounds like an option. If I were living off of the land, I might want that space for gardening / livestock.

Thanks for the information! I'm learning a lot on here.

 

Other than all of the environmentalist rules and regulations and state of commefornia politics that have infiltrated this great state, it is one of the most beautiful places to live. The only other place I think I'd rather be is Alaska.