Please help! I need land! And wisdom!

Hello! I currently live in Atlanta, Ga, and I am DESPERATE to find land around me (it can be outside of ATL, no problem), because I'm just feeling so stuck and want to build my earthbag/cob house asap! I have a friend who also wants to build a little cob home with me, so we would build ours next to each other.

I am getting really discouraged because land is so expensive, but maybe there's a community nearby that has land for tiny homes and community eco-living, so I would appreciate as much wisdom as you can possibly give me.

This has been my dream for so long and I just don't know the next step to take on how to find land to build it on!

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this, I appreciate it so much.

Elise

Hello Elise!

I can't really help you, myself, but these are some places you could look.

The Fellowship for Intentional Communities has a posting of ecovillages in Georgia.

In Atlanta, Shades of Green has an office and they might be able to get you in touch with people interested permaculture and earthbag/cob building. Also, This Cob House might be useful people to talk with, too. There was also a few previous discussions on permies about permaculture farms in Georgia, permies in Georgia, and Georgia greetings. These could be places to start making connections.

The Homestead Atlanta and Tiny House Atlanta might be good places.

Other places to connect would be Shared Earth, Global Growers, and Meetups Atlanta, GA.

The Worldwide Permaculture Network may also be a good starting point.

A few times in my life I have simply walked away from my previous life, and started a new one in a new place. A new life that more closely aligns with my core values. That sort of thing really works for me.

Joseph Lofthouse wrote:
A few times in my life I have simply walked away from my previous life, and started a new one in a new place. A new life that more closely aligns with my core values. That sort of thing really works for me.

How do you walk away and start a new life? (I need wisdom like this dearly, too, with my impending you're-on-your-own situation coming up fast.

)

Dave Burton wrote:How do you walk away and start a new life?

You ignore your fears, cultural conditioning, and counsel of your friends and family, and you go someplace else and do new things in new ways. If you do it enough, you learn to relish the adventure.

Joseph Lofthouse wrote:

Dave Burton wrote:How do you walk away and start a new life?

You ignore your fears, cultural conditioning, and counsel of your friends and family, and you go someplace else and do new things in new ways. If you do it enough, you learn to relish the adventure.

I haven't done this permanently.... but I've done it for periods of time. It's always awesome and you get to meet lots of new people and do lots of new things. Just be careful of evil people.

Have always relished the experience and some days I wish I could just walk away and completely start over. I'd keep my tools and a few small things... but there is so much I feel like I could do without right now.

As for the OP.... you are in what I would term an "extreme" situation. You live in the big city, yet you want to be in what I might regard as a small town or small community type living situation. For myself, I live in a small town with a big enough garden to tinker in for right now, enough space for right now, so I'm relatively happy at the moment.

However, you're in the big city... you might want to consider places like Dancing Rabbit if you just want to walk away. If you can put together $2,000 or even a bit less, sell everything you have (assuming you don't have anything worth keeping in the country or can be found in the country- IMHO that is very precious little- ) have a few clothes in your car and maybe a couple basic cooking tools (a 10" pot works great for a single grilled cheese sandwich as well as a pot of soup).... you can do it.

Elise, I'm assuming you are a female, so when men tell you to go live in your car and Just Do It!  they don't understand the differences women face.  I have a very independent sister who tells me all the time the world is more vulnerable for women, and they have to take very serious steps to stay safe.  Men feel they can fight off a man who decides to be aggressive, probably don't even think about it much.   When men get approached by a strange man, they probably assume friendship.  When a woman gets approached by a strange man, she has to wonder why, and it's not usually a positive thing.  Some drifters/loners keep track of who lives where and who is living alone and who is not.   Do not assume that because Getting Back to Nature appears to a wonderful, basic way to go, that it always is.  

Trying to live in any vehicle, a car, motorhome, camper without land to put it on is real pain.  There are amazingly few places to park a vehicle and stay there, so it's a constant search for a place, and a safe place.  And you won't be the only one.  If the economy is not so great, or everything is very great and expensive, there's always a crowd of people living in their vehicles at the side of the road, in parking lots, or on remote roads.  Fringe dwellers are probably not something you want to come in contact with, especially since you will only have your car or motorhome or tiny house, which identifies you as a single woman alone in that vehicle.

Buying land is an art in itself.  Look at the threads at this website about buying land.  It's not easy, and it's crucial to get it right.

The sanest way to try this is to work hard, save money, research, research, research land or a small  house (not a mobile tiny house) that already exists.  Have a nest egg that not only pays for your basics, but that can be savings in the bank for down times.  Developing a blank piece of land can be very expensive.   Go camping every weekend you can, and live "off the grid" in a campground and see if that's okay with you.  First find out how much dirt, bugs, wild animals, hauling water and trying to get light and refrigeration you want to spend time doing.   How much shopping for ice, looking for bathrooms, cooking on a flaming campstove that could set your tent on fire you feel comfortable doing.  Obviously, do not use a flaming campstove in a tent!!

Above all, try not to be impatient.  These things don't come fast and easy.  If you focus on what you want, and if you plan for a few years, travel around with your plan/dream in mind, you will find it and be ready when the opportunity arises.   And see how many of your friends hang around while you do this, that's always an eye opener!

And for what it's worth, I would build a cob pizza oven before I lept into building a cob house, and see if that makes you happy, or has you pulling your hair out with how much time it's taking.   If there is anybody you can find with a cob house or shed you can actually go see and ask them about, you could learn a lot.

Cristo Balete wrote:Elise, I'm assuming you are a female, so when men tell you to go live in your car and Just Do It!  they don't understand the differences women face.  

Easy to forget. Not specifically related to land/cob but coolworks.com has a lot of opportunities. Being a male and extremely hard of hearing and doing this is a pain in the ass as well. Have slept in church parking lots because they were safer.

Hi there, did you ever find what your looking for. If not , let's chat some I may be able to help. I've lived off grid for awhile now. I'm a veteran. Hoping for a change in life myself.

Hi Elise,  Coweeta is just 2 1/2 hours from Atlanta.  I often go visit my son who lives there.  I have been trying to find folks to help start up a community on the property that I have owned for 20 years, but without much luck.  I've hosted many folks over the years short-term.  I want to find folks who would have a longer term commitment to community.  Coweeta is off-grid, has a well-established organic garden, trout pond and much more.  I would be happy to talk with you about possibilities.  You can email or call me: coweeta@gmail.com or 828-342-2137  paul