The Oil City Plan
Readers suggested a topic on alternative life choices. “There has been some discussion of the ‘oil city plan’: that is, save up, buy a cheap house cash, homestead for veggies, work a McJob for walking money, and generally live a low-level life. How about some discussion on building a checklist of how to determine a suitable location for such a ’strategic withdrawal’ and the other planning needed? And how it relates to ‘post-materialist,’ ‘threshold earner’ lifestyles?”
A reply, “There are quite a few groups trying to putting Oil-City-like plans together. Community Solutions is a sort-of eco community that they want to build in a post-peak-oil Yellow Springs, OH (near Dayton). One of the more organized homesteading movements is Backwoods Home Magazine. Personally, I like the foothills of the Appalachian mountains, which encompasses quite a lot of the US. Anything south is too hot and buggy, anything north is too cold, anything west is too dry.”
“I admit, if I really wanted to, I could probably go on the Oil City plan, but I’m deathly afraid to pull the trigger on it, at least now. Also, while people claim to want to unplug from the system, that system gave us good medicines and flush toilets and cars and hot showers and electricity and pesticides to help the crops, not to mention computers and internet. I am not quite willing to give that up.”
One said, “Friends of the family did the ‘back to the land’ thing. They were very conservative Republicans and they had more than a little bit of contempt for the hippies who were also surfing this trend. They were very offended by the hippies’ lack of a work ethic. They just wanted to hang out and party. What they didn’t want to realize is that going back to the land is a lot of hard work.”
“OTOH, my friends were the types who worked for a living. They did their ‘back to the land’ work after hours. Fast-forward to the end of the story: My friends got on in years. I’m told that they sold the homestead and moved back into town. I heard that their reason for moving was that they needed to rest.”
Another added, “I have been thinking about this topic for a while - not so much for me as for my descendants, because I see myself as a casualty in a SHTF situation (too old, bad joints). My criteria in choice of location:”
1. Climate - decent rainfall, temperate.
2. Susceptibility to natural disasters - tornado, hurricanes, earthquakes, drought, wildfires.
3. Proximity to population centers - not too big.
4. Susceptibility to man made disasters - pollution, nuclear plants, riots, militias that could evolve into warlord type strongmen.
5. Traditions - democratic, self-sufficiency, community, propensity for cheating/stealing/violence.
6. Potential for sustainable power generation - wind, water, sunlight.
“No area is without risk. Some risks are more manageable than others.”
To which was said, “I pulled this one off about twenty years ago, and it was far easier than I thought it would be. My requirements were that the entire PITA would have to be less that what I was paying in rent, that any mortgage would have to be paid off within ten years, and that I’d have to have the place self-sufficient in that time. I looked for title to reliable water sources, plant-able (though not necessarily tillable,) acreage, and a climate that would support a wide variety of food crops I could grow and harvest myself. My income would eventually have to come from my efforts on the property. And it had to be within a day’s drive and back of Los Angeles.”
“I started looking on the perimeter of the area. The western coastal boundaries were heavily populated and expensive– so I looked to the other side of the valley and found a geographic area very similar to Santa Ynez for about a tenth of the price. There I bought forty isolated acres of fenced, raw land with an excellent well and a small, decrepit-but-serviceable double-wide already on it, and went to work.”
“A few VERY important considerations if you’re buying raw land with plans to build yourself. (Eventually, I built the house I’m now in on the site, but that’s a whole other adventure.)”
1. CHECK OUT THE MINERAL RIGHTS AND EASEMENTS THOROUGHLY –don’t rely solely on the title company and DEFINITELY not the realtor. Go to the county recorder’s office and research it yourself. Talk to your county commissioner AND the planning commissioner for your property.
2. BUY AS MUCH SURROUNDING LAND AS YOU POSSIBLY CAN to reduce the likelihood of someone buying on your border and putting in a barking dog-breeding operation. Or an ATV/motocross track. Or a community pot farm.
3. NEIGHBORS!
4. ACOUSTICS!
5. COUNTY GOVERNANCE (or selected enforcement of same.)
6. And if you possibly can, live (or at least periodically camp,) on the land for several years before you build on it so you get to know the wind patterns, the seasonal variables, your insect and animal tenants, site considerations, and accessibility in adverse weather.
7. Buy from the third owner. (The first fences, grades, and puts in a road– then goes broke and sells. The second puts in a water well, electricity, septic, outbuildings– then goes broke and sells. The third puts up a house– then goes broke and sells. That’s where YOU come in….)
“Finally, and I can’t stress this enough: Insinuate yourself into the old-timer’s network down at the general store or the local bar and grill (often one and the same,) to learn the intricate history of the local feuds so you don’t get caught up in them or inadvertently offend someone you shouldn’t. If you’re looking for local labor to help build your place, the grapevine is an invaluable resource of who NOT to hire. And for all the question about what not to plant, how not to build, where not to drill, who not to trust, all you’ll have to do is ask, because someone has already made that mistake for you and will be glad to bend your ear.”
“Everybody stay cool and hydrated out there. Currently the lower level of my little ‘green’ house is a cool comfortable (no air con here,) 64 degrees F.”
And finally, “We pretty much followed your plan. Fortunately we did well on selling our house almost at the bubble peak so we’ve been able to do everything comfortably for cash. 120 acres of mostly hilly West Virginia foothills with a 7 acre plateau up top where the 1800 square foot concrete block house is sited. Free gas (we own half the mineral rights) and a water well as backup.”
“The first big vegetable garden went in this spring…..”
