to move or not to move that is the question?

I thought of ourselves 25 years ago when we had young children. We lived in suburbia...houses close together, schools going down hill fast and not so nice neighbors. We just up and moved to the mountains of PA. We literally just opened a map on the kitchen table one night and dropped our finger on a town and moved !! Left our house to sell empty...husband left a good job..I was a stay at home Mom...and $1000 in our pockets. We thought we were rich and on an adventure. And that it has been !! Wouldn't have changed it for anything..well maybe a few things but always about the $$ factor. Never regretted doing it though. Wish we had done it when our girls were younger..they were 11 and 13 years old at the time. My thoughts about your situation is...you do have a hundred acres. That is wonderful..WOW !! With your wife leaving to retire in a few years couldn't you home school your children and sort of just..dig in...and leave the world behind?? I know we all have to come out of our cocoon sometimes..but that might be a thought. OR...take the road to adventure. I have always said if you don't like where you are..change it !! If you never do it you will never know will you !! I certainly wouldn't worry about your age with young children..who's business is it anyways..The moral fiber in the rural country ?? I think people do know more about you in a small town. You would be surprised !! I find for the most part people are honest but you will always have the dishonest person no matter where you live. You just have to beware of them no matter where you live. We don't lock our doors or worry about things being stolen. But there have been houses robbed in our county. Just had 2 deputies shot and killed by a local person in the next county over when they were there to handle a warrant or some legal matter. Things do happen in the country too. But yes..for the most part I find people friendlier and more helpful when you need it. I hit a deer coming home from work one night at 1 AM. It never entered my mind to be worried when a strange man stopped to help me. Perhaps in the city I wouldn't have opened my car door for him. You just need to be careful and go with your feelings about people. I wish you luck in no matter what you deceide. I love adventure and would move again in a heart beat !! You have your family with you and that is the most important thing. You can be happy no matter where you are. Good Luck !

It seems that one of your biggest concerns is the school system. That would probably be my priority unless I was prepared to homeschool. Lots of good information on the net about quality of schools, ratings, etc. Crime is another factor - state almanacs have lots of figures on this. There are also good books and magazines about good places to retire - quality of life, healthcare, etc. Do your research and you will find an area that will suit your needs.

What I would warn against is the green grass syndrome. The grass is always greener somewhere else. I know, I've experienced it. Seems that nearly every place has good and bad points. Most areas, even idyllic rural locations and towns have their fair share of hoodlums, crime, drugs, etc. A move will often just trade one set of problems for another. Good luck in your search.

Steve, About the ND property. Some clues here as to what might be wrong. First of all if Virginia says it needs fixing, it really NEEDS FIXING. Second the wells. A little odd they are hauling water instead of fixing the wells. Third the sump pump in the basement. (and probably not good for much) This property is in the Devils Lake area and they are having the worse flooding in years and years. It's really bad there and isn't going away. The lake probably isn't a "lake" as you know it. It most likely isn't deep enough for fish and freezes to the bottom in winter so don't count on fish. Ask! Your kids are likely to be either driven (by you) to school or travel a LONG way on the bus. More likely by you. With what you can get for your property there you can do a lot better if you are just looking for a homestead and not a farm or ranch. ALL property looks a LOT better in photos than when you see it in person. Even the photos we took ourselves to show how bad a place was didn't show up the real mess. Ask about water (drinking quality), and water (basement) and have all water checked before buying. Check into the schools as to distance and not just quality. Check to see if they are in danger of closing and consolidating. Check how far medical services are and how far you have to go for simple things like a nut or bolt. How far to get some milk? Are you prepared to live where you might not find a sitter if you want to go out somewhere? Have you ever been to the Dakotas? East river is having areas of real bad flooding - west river is into drought.

Ohio;

Your thread interested me because my daughter and her family just moved to Ohio in February. For them it is just temporary untill he can get transferred back to "God's Country". Which, of course,is Arkansas. (Just kidding, please don't kill me)
I have researched the homeschooling laws there and they are do able but do involve some hassle. One thing I might mention, if you decide to homeschool your children that alone will open up a whole different world than you could ever imagine. As a rule, you should be able to pretty much have your pick of nice people that are willing to help. Of course, there will be the bad eggs, just as there are in life. Just throw them out and concentrate on the good ones.
Your farm sounds like a dream come true to most people. I would really really think about it before I up and left it.
Arkansas Transplant

Ohiosteve said:

I think one of the big reasons I dislike this area is because I spent many years as a truant officer for the aforementioned poor school system. I saw things that
I never dreamed existed in this area. I mean dirt floors, incest-yes incest, gross
negligence by soooo many parents. I'm beginning to get the idea that maybe every area has it's dark side.
Whiterock- I think you are right in that populr culture will seep into every nook and cranny of our society.

Click to expand...

Ohiosteve,

For goodness sake you should stay in Ohio otherwise what would your name be? (Kidding)

Have you read any of Wes Jackson's book "Becoming Native to this place?" In it he talks of his state Kansas and how it was once thriving and how it is now a shadow of it's former self because the residents left (for a variety or reasons) and the things that made the area special (the community) couldn't survive without the people. Or of the Dakotas and how they were able to support more people with a better lifestyle before the white man took it from the native Americans. The thrust of the whole book is that the American way of conquering someplace (and using it rather wastefully) then moving elsewhere is probably not the best (especially since there's not an unexplored western frontier to keep moving to anymore)

It sounds to me like you've got a great place where you are. The big issue seems to be schooling. Have you read any of John Holt's unschooling books? One of his points is that by not going to school in a completely age segregated public school system the unschooling student will be better socialized by having opportunities to work with people of different age groups and experience sets. Helping at the local charity, apprenticing with a tradesman of some kind, asking the librarian for help looking something up etc. etc.

I think the truant officer would be a tough position to judge the community on. Wouldn't you see the same or worse at that job wherever you moved to?

Is any uprooting experience a good one? Maybe but maybe things would have turned out OK if you'd have stayed too.

That's my $.02

Thanks

Steve,

Whereabouts are you located? Our farm is in Carroll County. A lot of people in that area homeschool so I wouldn't rule it out.

Personally, I don't think you are going to find too many "remote" places these days that don't have new people moving in.

You have enough land that you have some elbow room. I think about the improvements you have and how long it will take me to have them (such as a greenhouse) myself. I'm sure you appreciate how much work you've put into your place.

I've spent time in all the areas you mentioned and I don't think you'll find any stronger moral fiber in one spot versus another to speak of.

Mike