Best place in California to live off the grid?

James Colbert wrote:I am not sure where the above two posters have been looking for land but I have found plenty of land for reasonable prices that is not desert. That being said you can get a lot of desert land in Cali for cheap. By reasonable prices on the none desert land I mean 1 - 2k per acre. Check out "landwatch" the site allows you to narrow down your search by property size, price, and county. Everynow and then you will see a 20 acre property for 40k.

Here is one in Lassen: http://www.landwatch.com/Lassen-County-California-Land-for-sale/pid/200468566

another http://www.landwatch.com/Lassen-County-California-Land-for-sale/pid/289002716

This is after 2 minutes of looking. California land is expensive but there are deals especially if you don't mind going up north or down south lol. Seriously consider the desert land I believe that there is a thriving permaculture community in Joshua Tree and prices around that area are reasonable. I am thinking of buying up some desert land and rehabing it into an oasis over a few years before actually living on the property.

leila hamaya wrote:^^^^^^
yeah this is true, its really very expensive in most places, and oregon might actually be the best place to live in california!
southern oregon is actually just like northern california, but without the hype and without the cost...its the same bioregion though, same kinds of trees, same conditions as the most northern part of california.

theres also a lot of weird things that happen here, its like a bubble, really, theres no where with similar issues and ways. it feels like a different country than america....

most people who live here do not seek regular employment, and theres not much to be had any way, whether they are trust funded, grow pot, made their money elsewhere and then moved here....or theres some people who have some independant businesses and crafters and artists. just in the time i have lived here it has gotten much more expensive, and the kinds of people who have been moving here have changed, so its become much more conservative in the time i have been here. its still pretty much freak central though =)
but previous to it becoming freak central, it was actually very conservative with a lot of loggers, and of course theres the history of the miners.

i have lived here for over ten years now, in the most northern part of california and somehow just keep managing to inch along and find situations...in small cabins, cheap rentals, work trade...theres some of this to be found here and some communities too. there arent a lot of situations like this though, or the ones that are here are usually rather closed, or the situations are just weird and off balance, ime.
again theres TONS of pot growers, and the issues that this creates for communities are mighty strange and IMO not very healthy for the larger community. i personally dont mind people who grow a small amount respectfully, but that isnt really what most people are doing, though...there are some people out here who are into growing food, some CSAs and farms- there are definitely people outside of that world- but its pretty epic and strange if you are not used to it! its also made the real estate, rentals and land prices, and especially the economy, weirder.

i personally do not want to live in the desert, but yeah i guess its true theres some desert like land with nothing on it for cheap in some spots.

the best places i have found in northern california, as long as you like being in really remote location and isolated, "middle of no where", is trinity, shasta, and siskiyou counties. theres some cool areas around shasta, and this is one place where theres desirable land for not as much money, like near weaverville and hayfork, and other places like dunsmuir.

futher up north in the remote parts of trinity and siskiyou there used to be more inexpensive situations, i knew some folks years ago who had extremely cheap cabins, very rustic. and not many years ago heard about people buying raw land for much cheaper, incredibly cheap. i suppose it helps to know people, you have to get to know the people and you can find deals. theres a few good networks of people who are involved in the department of fish and game, and wildlife kinds of work, this is one way people network into the communities.... because if you are qualified you can get paid work in this way and get to know people. people will sometimes also hire you to do clearing brush and tree work here...odd jobs and this is actually the only kinds of jobs you can get, at least in the really remote parts.

but a lot of the communities are somewhat closed, so it takes a while to make good connections. the best people hide out in the hills and hardly never come to town ....but if you can hook up with something more like owner contracts, or meeting some folks who will sell you some of their land (which is actually hard here because its hard to subdivide land here)...but if you can hook up with something like that you can still sometimes find affordable land...or situations where you can caretake or work on land for people, make some kind of owner contract, and live in a rustic cabin.

though even these areas have gone way up in price, but its truly the middle of no where with no stores, no services of any kind, no gas stations etc. like hours of driving on crazy dirt mountain roads to get to even a small store, kind of remote. most land here has rivers and streams on it, you cant hardly walk very far without bumping into a huge river.

as far as whatever legal issues, i think everywhere here has fairly strict requirements, theres also a lot of weird things here with all that throughout all of california. theres certainly people who do unpermitted things all over, and you can somewhat get away with a lot just because people dont care to notice...and because its considered more acceptable to do alternative things. alternative things are basically the norm here. =)
and if you are willing to jump through the hoops, its probably more possible to get alternative systems seen as legit.

but technically it is fairly strict, you need permits, etc, and actually theres a lot of weirdness with this, so be careful if you are going to buy cheap land. a lot of it is flood plain, in some places you cant drill wells, etc...

Stacy Witscher wrote:I think that it really depends on what you are looking for. For land with a home and some outbuildings and/or fencing and 5-10 acres, I've found the Grass Valley area (CA) comparable in price to the Medford Area (OR). While I'm still planning on taking a trip to look at properties in both areas, I'm leaning to California for a few reasons. One, diversity - Grass Valley is closer to an area with diverse ethnic groups. Two, rain - Medford area doesn't get much rain. Three, property taxes - as I age, my property taxes won't increase as much in California as in Oregon.

There are other smaller things that irritate me about Oregon, like having to buy hard alcohol at a special store, and not being able to pump your own gas (although I've heard this is changing).[/quote

I own land in Nevada City, Near Grass Valley, North Tahoe and Truckee just 30 minutes away. There is a stream that runs through the property next to the unfinished Tiny Home with two sleeping lofts. I decided not to live there after retirement due to disability. This land has been my love for over 20 years. It is 2.234 acres and a solar site. Plenty of trees and shade but cabin is in the sun.
I am selling it for $149,000.
If there is interest in this property contact me at lorrie.ptmsystems@gmail.com

Thanks for your interest.