Quick opinion survey- Distance from a major metro area?

Discussion in 'Back to Basics' started by Falcon15, Sep 27, 2010.


  1. Falcon15

    Falcon15 Falco Peregrinus

    The Falc and his family, if you did not know, have been contemplating the purchase of a new plot of real estate. My quick question to all you monkeys is this: What, within reason, would be a decent distance from a major metro area? Consider a TEOTWAWKI or SHTF situation where the city dwellers start mass exodus from their now defunct or defective urban center, and they start seeking rural farms etc for "hoarded" food or livestock. Think post WWI Germany.

    I have decided on my property, and it's distance, ease of access (for nessecary runs, legal work, and such), etc. I am asking for other people's opinions to see if my descision is about average, or not. Additionally, it is to get the brain matter into gear. Like when your teacher would give you a sentence, and tell you to write a story. Basically, fellow monkeys, my family and I are headed for the proverbial hills and I was wondering what you guys thought would be far enough out...
    [ghrit] I'm anticipating the replies. . .thanks in advance for humoring me.
     
  2. BadgeBunny

    BadgeBunny Monkey++

    When I bought my house 10 years ago the area to the immediate west of me was considered rural. Fast forward to today, it is now the fastest growing suburb of the major metropolitan area I live in.

    There is plenty of land in this area that 10 years ago was completely undeveloped and considered "rural" that is now covered with strip malls, hospitals, apartments, etc.

    So, what I guess I am saying is no place is "too far out" because 10-20 years from now you are likely to be back in the 'burbs, unless you are way, way out.

    However, I am happy for you and your family. Hopefully those things we talk about on boards like this will never come to fruition and all will be right with our country. And if the worst comes to pass, well then, you will be better prepared to handle the storm than most.
     
  3. Falcon15

    Falcon15 Falco Peregrinus

    60+ miles from the nearest metro area is our soon to be location. about 30from a small town (I'm talking one traffic light, for when they drive cattle through small). I figure at the current rate of suburb growth we'll have maybe 20 years, and by that time we can move 100+ miles from the nearest town.
     
  4. bnmb

    bnmb On Hiatus Banned

    I'm thinking about 75-100 kilometers...even special forces would have problems walking that far quickly and mounting a strong attack. If we're talking about ordinary people, that distance is enough to be off the immediate danger, and chances are that it's not very likely that ordinary people could organize in a large group and sustain it walking that distance....However, if vehicles still exist, there's no safe distance...unless you're on top of the mountain, away from roads and paths, and your house is underground bunker...there's just no good answer here...too many variables...
     
    DKR likes this.
  5. BadgeBunny

    BadgeBunny Monkey++

    That sounds an awful lot like what we are trying to do. We are fine for now, but sometime within the next couple of years we will start looking in SE Oklahoma. It is our hope to be debt-free, off the grid and settled in before he retires.

    After that all I plan on doing is being a country version of a Stepford wife. ;)
     
  6. Gator 45/70

    Gator 45/70 Monkey+++

    My secondary B.O.Place would be a production platform in the Gulf of Mexico,Having plenty of fish,watermaker's,natural gas to run the generator's and easy to defend against ''zombie's''
     
  7. Falcon15

    Falcon15 Falco Peregrinus

    They will also be the first place a pseudo/new government or foreign power will try to seize. Ill stick with my ranch with solar powered water well, livestock and the 300 yard kill zone around it. Oil is power bubba. Trust me, I work in the petro-chem industry, oil is power.
     
  8. RightHand

    RightHand Been There, Done That RIP 4/15/21 Moderator Moderator Emeritus Founding Member

    I have to agree with BadgeBunny.

    Back in the 1990's. I had some friends who moved from metropolitan Minneapolis out to the farming community of St. Michael about an hour out of the city. A developer bought some farm land, including hayfields and had built about 50 houses on postage stamp sized lots. St Michael was a very small rural community with only one stop light, only community grocers, gas stations and farm store. By 2000, the population had doubled to about 9,100 and by 2010, the estimated population is 15,000. The husband works for the Twins baseball team in Mpls/St. Paul and what was originally an hour commute has become 2 hrs as the freeways have become so crowded.

    I'm pretty fortunate in that I live in a multi-generational family farming community and have a good deal of property myself so I can live fairly privately. But......venture 15 miles and the populations is quite dense with a lot of new homes built in the last decade. I have no doubt that the building will resume.
     
  9. Falcon15

    Falcon15 Falco Peregrinus

    Thank goodness the Lord built Texas B-I-G. Plenty of space to stretch out yet.
     
  10. BadgeBunny

    BadgeBunny Monkey++


    LOL ... true dat!! :D Although I have to admit that I think anything JUST north of the River is God's country! [peep]
     
  11. RightHand

    RightHand Been There, Done That RIP 4/15/21 Moderator Moderator Emeritus Founding Member

    And Connecticut so SMALL. Reminds me of a tradition I had back in my boating days. I had a 36 ft twin engine Trojan and on the first trip out each spring, I would toss an enameled medallion I had made during the winter over the side. The medallion said "Protect us Oh Lord for thy sea is so great and we are so small"
     
  12. melbo

    melbo Hunter Gatherer Administrator Founding Member

    I recently read something somewhere that mentioned 2 tanks of gas. The idea being that some motorized refugees might have a full tank and a 5 gallon can in the trunk. I think that's a little bit more room than you really need. I suppose you should look at what main veins would the golden horde attempt to drain from. Make sure your not on the route out.

    I think that as things continue to tailspin down to 3rd world status, the exodus will be slow. I already think it's begun: I know a lot of people that are living with friends or family or parents again. If you live in an urban area and you have no job and are in jeopardy of losing your house/apartment and your choices are dwindling, you might try to go 'home'.

    Barring some cataclysmic event, the collapse will be (has been) in slow motion and most will not (have not) realized just how far it's progressed. I really think that waking up one morning and discovering that the world ended while you slept is mostly Hollywood with a few exceptions.
     
  13. ghrit

    ghrit Bad company Administrator Founding Member

    As a practical matter, an hour out from small lot developments isn't too bad, especially if the last couple miles is a not well traveled dirt road. (Further is better to accommodate suburban sprawl.) As a wish, a full tank of gas would be better, say 350 miles with the last 50 on dirt roads. Unlikely around here, and my location is something of a compromise to accommodate some other requirements.
     
  14. Falcon15

    Falcon15 Falco Peregrinus

    Well, I have to say, even a ranch needs some access to the city. I know this is a highly personalized question, like SHTF guns, however I felt it a good question for everyone, to start the brain stewing.

    We will be more than an hour out on good road and another 30-45 out on a piece of bad real estate. 300 plus yards of dead flat terrain and no trees...plus an elevated platform (ostensibly for watching herd to observe for predation) with a 360 degree view. My little fortress. I cannot wait to be there full time. [mex] Besides, if you look like you don't belong, you are a predator, especially if you are headed my way. You need to be going there on purpose. Sooooo.....[gun]
     
  15. ghrit

    ghrit Bad company Administrator Founding Member

    Encampment, WY. 'Bout as far off the beaten track as you can get.
     
  16. melbo

    melbo Hunter Gatherer Administrator Founding Member

    Funny. I think you can only get 22 miles away from a road in the continental US. Maybe in yosemite? QS would know
     
  17. dragonfly

    dragonfly Monkey+++

    Where I live now, I used to hunt here back in the mid 60's.
    I moved here in the northern most part of Phoenix back in December 1994.
    Now the city has moved and annexed it's way some 7 or more miles past me, up the major highway. What used to be desert, is now all tract homes and industrial parks....
    I bought my "B.O." land 150 miles from where I live now.
    Even that area may soon be all bought up.
    The closest town ( NOT city) is about 15 miles south east of me. That is 45 minutes driving time. The roads are a bear in dry weather and wreak havoc on all vehicles...Motorcycles do NOT stand a chance on them. winter is a definite NO go, if you do not have really aggresive tires and a 4 wheel drive!
    We replaced all the front suspension and all 4 tires on our Bronco recently, plus the U joints, bushings and such. Today ,the entire exhaust system had to be replaced after just 1 year! Tomorrow, the hubs, front bearings, and motor mounts get replaced!
    The closest real city is at least 35 miles to the east or to the south. The largest are over 60 miles east, and south. The local town has a population of only 400.
    I chose the area due to the terrain, and it's isolation from most people. With heavy tree coverage, it's almost impossible to even see and know when someone is living out there. ( even if you were to sit atop the western mountain and look straight down towards me!) Only by air is there any real way in, unless you know the roads ( like spiderwebs all over the desert) and have a sturdy vehicle to access the area. Locals moved, and relocated, and tossed a lot of the road signs over the years, to keep outsiders from venturing into the area!
    We have a mountain to the northwest of us, a mountain to the northeast of us, a canyon on the entire south end....Only 1 road in and out, unless you own a helicopter, or, are a mountain goat. ( Horseshoe shaped)
    It's not so much the distance for us, as the ability of others trying to negotiate their way around and into the area. We are located directly center in a 1 mile square/section of land, consisting of some 240+ lots/parcels of land, 2.0 to 2.4 acres each. The tree coverage is dense enough that you can only ride atv's on the roads ( dirt paths) themselves. Recently, a friend of our's up there had his wife break her leg, while driving an atv down the road....Big nasty rocks! I nearly took the entire front suspension out of my 1989 Dodge Van, a B-250, 3/4 ton, that has great ground clearance....I did not expect to have the roads tear everything out! It's really bad on anything we have tried so far.
    I am not concerned about the towns local population, ( although they are a bit looney!), as we have established a system where there are people all over the place out there, and they can see any traffic coming in or going out, at any given time. An early warning system! We all keep in contact with cell phones for now, and have all set up specific channels on cb's, to keep in contact.
    Neighbors can be good, even though we are separated by a minimum of some 4- 4 1/2 miles from the closest ones!
    We can get to a few towns and smaller cities, in about an hour to an hour and a quarter, one way.
    So far, it's working for us.....
     
  18. Falcon15

    Falcon15 Falco Peregrinus

    Not distance, speed matters. If the road is bad, unimproved and basically crap, it takes forEVER to drive even 1/2 mile, add to that the high average amount of dust kicked up, the plume is visible for, well, miles.
     
  19. melbo

    melbo Hunter Gatherer Administrator Founding Member

    Agreed. I should have quoted ghrit. He was talking about WY
     
  20. Falcon15

    Falcon15 Falco Peregrinus

    I really have to say it seems to be a general consensus (not surprising) that we all have long term SHTF scenarios in mind for our actual or ideal B.O.L. Are we all just oddly paranoid? Not by half, I should think. I think of this, and other survivalist/prepper forums as Boy Scouts on steroids. Texas has its advantages and disadvantages, as does any other state. Drought can be a real biznatch and tornados in some areas are, well, problematic. However, it is a rather large, undeveloed state in most areas, and has a huge diversity in its biomes within very short distances.
     
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