You completely bypassed southern oregon. Medford, Grants Pass (which is a conservative area) has all the shopping you need and a good climate to grow food.
@@geo-metric You are 100% correct about them being meth towns or drug havens more to the point they are drug invested and dangerous locations. Not a good place to move too.
@geo-metric we absolutely have a homeless, fentanyl, and meth problem. We have Mexican, Chinese, and Bulgarian cartels here growing weed. But it's better than the Willamette Valley.
Life-long Oregonian here. I would also add the importance of looking minutely into the land-use laws of any property under consideration. I hear about things people are able to do in other states that would never be allowed here. The agriculture laws seem to favor the big landowners. Little 20 acre, single family parcels can be hard to come by. And don't assume you can build a 2nd home for a grown child or elderly parent. Even if you can get a zoning exemption for a hardship issue they can make you render it uninhabitable when the person passes so you can only use it for storage. Not much freedom here. I might also mention that gardening can be a challenge even in the "wet" part of the state because we, also, can go 2 months without any real precipitation. Most of it comes in the late fall through spring. And all that moisture can make it hard to keep up with dry rot etc. I also remember at least one cool, rainy August where the tomatoes didn't ripen. Then they baked on the vine in September. Also, the politics stink because the high population urban areas outweigh the more conservative parts.
What does Curtis mean by "woke" and how is it relevant to homesteading? Also I'd say making those circles 50 mile radius is a big L, all three of those cities get downright rural outside 10 miles, maybe 15 for Portland. The Willamette Valley is by far the most fertile lane in the state and an arms reach from those cities is the best place to look. Yes it's expensive but all land in Oregon is expensive.
Curtiss puts it succinctly. Many laws & regulations are being put into place in areas that have been taken over by woke ideology that actively suppress small farms & homesteads.
I homestead 30 acres outside Klamath falls. I think not mentioning grants pass, Medford and Klamath falls area is a miss. Price are good. Weather is moderate. Politics are good as well
Nice job man. I think you were focusing on the amenities a little much. Anything we can't get in town we just order online. The only time we go to Portland is for business or maybe the airport. Any small town will have 90% of what you need
Water “rights are bad everywhere or coming to a town near you, have you seen Idaho? It’s literally just the same game/ plan, different time, different names, once you see it, you can’t see it. Just have to be creative and think outside the box. 🤗
I live in Southern Oregon, and love it!! .... Except ... lol ... it's TOO dry in Summer, the water rights issues, now they want to shut down small farms, and it's got a growing homeless problem ...
Only wind turbines are up in the gorge area that is it. How big of a nearby town do you want? You can get most things you need in La Grande or Pendleton in the NE, if you are up by Pendleton you can also drive into the Tri Cities Washington easily and they have everything, its over 100k. If you live in Central Oregon Bend is over 100k and has everything. If you live in SE near Ontario and they do not have what you need its a short drive to Boise. The only truly isolated areas are South Central around Lakeview and Burns areas or John Day valley area or Wallowa valley. At one point your pointing towards Ochoco National Forest area talking how isolated it is and "barren", the farmland and ranchland to the South of that is lovely and well watered with thousands of springs and a easy drive to Bend. As for Willamette Valley a ton of it is very rural farmland and ranch land. You are right about very high prices, tons of Californians have moved and are moving to Oregon causing home prices and rental prices into the obscene area. They settle other than Portland into resort/retirement communities on the North Coast and Bend, for price reason alone I would avoid the North Coast. The SW Oregon area, South of Eugene has been a hot bed for "survivalists" going back to the 1970's. Eugene is woke because its a college town, Bend is because 80% of its population is newcomers from California or Portland but 15 minutes outside of town is cattle country.
This is 💯 correct I live in Eastern Oregon, and it's not that hard to find what you need in Baker City or Hermiston, depending on what side of the mountains you live on.
Central OR would be the last place Id homestead off grid. I live in Redmond. If you have water rights, canals can be turned off or restricted on drought years. Wells are drying up. Much of the east side can get freezing temperatures any day of the year. We had a freeze just 2 weeks ago. Plus, it’s highly populated. If I could afford it, I would off grid an old property around Elkton south to wolf creek.
We are to inherit a good bit of land in the middle of the “no go zones” once my father in law passes. It’s hard for us to decide whether or not to keep it or sell and purchase something somewhere else. We currently live in Arizona and I would prefer the high desert, but that also has its own challenges. The land in Oregon is beautiful and would be great for livestock and large gardens. We are just not a fan of the politics in the area. Selling the property there would likely get us a lot more elsewhere, but my husband grew up there and thinks it would be good to keep it. Tough decision and hopefully we don’t need to make it anytime soon.
You are awesome for these videos. I have lived in Michigan my whole life and am moving to Nashville for a job. I'm excited for West Virginia and Kentucky.
Do you really need more than One Million people to be considered a city? Spokane has over 460,000 people and you call it a town. There are too many people here now!
I live in Central Oregon and I can say it's priced out. My home has more than tripled in price in the last 12 years. Water is a major issue here, even if you have water rights. Oregon is mostly conservative East of the Cascade Mountain Range, but there's not enough people to offset the big cities, so, it doesn't mean anything politically. No windmills here, but some solar panel farms, small scale compared to other places. Cost of living here is high, making it difficult for young adults to get started. We homestead on dry land, only because we bought before the boom. Great views, few bugs, and low humidity make it a nice place.
I’m in an area you suggested. Two neighbors with acreage are trying to sell. No luck in months. Things are good but going into the cities has become depressing.
Your 30,000 ft view is generally accurate, but your smaller details are inaccurate. You are correct that the political climate is liberal because Portland, Eugene, and Bend have enough population to control everything. However, if you get 20-30 miles east or west of any large town in western Oregon, you’re surrounded by conservatives, and rarely more than an hour from anything you need. Yes, it’s expensive, but that’s a relative issue for many. I grew up here, I have children and grandchildren here and any property I buy will have to be here. If you can afford it, the biggest cons are land use regulations. Generally speaking, any rural farm or forest land cannot be decided down below 20, 40, or 100 acres if it hasn’t been divided already. Same applies to multiple dwellings, For instance, a 30 acre plot is zoned R20 and has one dwelling, you’re not likely to be able to put a second dwelling on it because you can’t get two 20 acre plots.
Had a gorgeous farm in Boring/Damascus but was quickly getting encroached on by growing suburbs, bullying, rules, greed and “wokeness.” Had to get out fast. Outside of Ashland area, nothing in Oregon was interesting to me after that. Terrible governor, etc.-but it’s all the over now.
@@JamesBlazen where you getting your salt from Curtis in a long lasting shtf??? These mid west states i guess can hike to utah and mine salt or live close to the coast…
I have some thoughts & analyses on CO, including W Slope. I think one of the most challenging aspects of the W Slope is water. Water rights are messy to begin with, then add fracking of headwaters (high water extraction along with toxic waste in ground, surface, & waste water), dependence on irrigation companies, & piping/stealing of water for the ever expanding Front Range sprawl. At least some of the ditch companies have given fair warning of early shut offs in drought years. A good thing with the irrigation is the terrain making for some excellent gravity fed planning. Another challenge is cost. Land & housing costs are skyrocketing out here, especially in river valleys. With more money moving in, regulations that destroy small farms are increasing. Most of the CO climate is terrible for sustained plant-based agriculture. Silvopasture in river valleys is a good way to maintain resiliency, but in other areas like temperate grasslands (considered the most endangered ecosystem on the planet) & sage steppes, some people don't get deep enough into the observe & interact 1st permaculture principle, then proceed to do something stupid like kill all the rain-making prairie dogs & try to plant a food forest or put in row crops. Most of the state is best suited for properly managed grazing. Ideally utilizing arid-adapted ungulates & ruminants. Bison are best. In the non-native realm, yak, goat, Mongolian camels are better suited to this climate than cows, but even cows are better than plant agriculture because they can be grazed with natives (even though there are many people who aren't willing to learn how to work with the native biotic communities). Designing for passive & active solar systems is a no-brainer in CO. Some brilliant work is being done with greenhouse design here. If one moves here & doesn't utilize the sun, they are just another one of the clueless zombie hoards.
I checked on those desolate areas you're talking about and there seems to be enough rainwater and snow to catch enough water to live on if you can even catch rainwater in Oregon!?!
Last I saw, you can collect rainwater off your roof in Oregon. In Washington, it's illegal to collect any rainwater! The state believes they own all water above and below your property. 😢@duded2268
