HJL,
I have been reading your page for years. The wife and I have decided that it is way past time to get out of Kalifornia (we live way out in the desert). We originally looked at the Redoubt areas. I quickly learned that my body simply could not handle the cold weather. I wish I could but it is too painful. We are now looking at East Texas. (Not Austin) I was hoping you may know somebody that could write an article or provide more information regarding warmer climates for places to retreat / homestead/ ranch. Your Redoubt would be my first choice, but my body just cant handle the cold. Thanks for the great Blog and God bless. – R.
HJL’s Comment: I’m not aware of any in the east Texas area. I do know that there is a redoubt like movement in the Ozark mountains. Look up Pastor Joe Fox on YouTube to see some of his stuff talking about that. He is not the only one in that area, but I am familiar with his work.
To R,
You may want to look at Arkansas. While we were formerly a solid Democrat controlled state, in the last ten to fifteen years there has been a major shift towards Conservatism here. I’d suggest you look at the western third of the state from Fort Smith down to the Mena or Dequeen area west of Hot Springs. Beautiful country, land prices are low and most people have the self-sufficient attitude. Your money will go a lot further in Arkansas than in Kalifornia! There is some snow most winters but it does not linger and we have four genuine seasons.
When looking at land there, think about potential flooding as some canyon bottoms there are susceptible to take flooding. If you like any outdoor activity ( other than snow skiing), this is the place for you.
We’ve lived in the south for 40+ years. We are in zone 8. Make sure you put your home in the woods for summer shade. A silver metal roof will help deflect any sun that hits the house. Upgrade your insulation for summer heat control. The nice thing about the south is that you have almost 2 full summer growing seasons. If you get your crops in the ground in early April, you can plant a second round in June for many plants. Some of your garden plants will need shade cloth when it’s over 85 daily – like tomatoes & sweet peppers. We garden year round – most fall/winter crops make it through out winter with little more than a frost cover. Fruit trees do very well here, get them in the ground before you build. We had a wood stove in a former home and it will run you out of your house in the winter. A small one would be best – or just a wood burning fireplace. Good luck with your move and make sure you find a place with a good spring fed pond.
East Texas is a good area to look. Stay East of Canton and well North of Conroe.
Joel Skousen’s book, Strategic Relocation, should provide some good information on that region as well as the Ozark’s.
I grew up in deep east Texas and I am a sincere prepper. East Texas is prpbably the best Redoubt area there is. Weather is excellent, good rain, best gardening, lots of forest, good hunting, sincere conservative people, guns welcome. However, if you have the California mentality do not even think about comming here.
No worries there. I DO NOT have the Kalifornia attitude. I was raised there but I have never fit in. It is my home state and i felt a need to fight for it and the peoples rights but now i feel like I am fighting a losing battle. I have decided to vote with my feet and just get out.
Thank you all for your wonderful comments and advice. It seems like I am headed in the right direction. The wife and I are currently sitting in a motel in Tyler, Tx (operating base) exploring outlying areas. We are spending all this week looking at property and talking to the people. We have wandered from Texarkana to Palestine and a little further south. Once we get away from the cities, we are finding wonderful land and even better people. We are going to make this happen, so once again, I thank you all for your advice.
Robert, if I knew how to get in touch with you I would help you get started. I would know almost immediately if you would make a dependable prepper. I know where in East Texas to look for good land, I grew up near San Augistine and have a remote bug out place that can withstand the evacuation hoards from Houston. With some inside help you could find a pretty/safe place to live. Best of luck.
Robert, I recently advertised a 20 acre “preppers paradise” on survivalblog realty. It includes an off-grid cabin with a basement and propane generator, a 2 acre pond stocked with perch and florida bass, and is in a great area. Comes with a tractor. It’s still available, if there is a way we can be placed in contact……
I have been in East Texas for my entire life and prepping for years. I have 47 wooded acres with a live stream, two BR home, deep well and large garden area. The weather is hot in summer and mild the rest of the year. Texas is gun friendly and independent minded. I built my home and drilled my well without any required permits or inspections. We have no State income tax and the last 26 acres I purchased was $2,400 an acre covered with timber. Where I live the population density is 28 per square mile. Stay away from the cities, interstates, gulf coast and you should be fine.
Robert B. Come to Tyler county, your close.
I grew up outside Texarkana it was a great place in the 50 s and 60 s but too much population for me plus I had a cabin in the woods that was burglarized repeatedly. Plus every time Houston or New Orleans gets flooded the have nots get sent North. I was a cop in Texarkana and Dallas and have been in Montana six years my cabin here has never been touched almost no crime in rural areas.
Robert, you and yours will probably be welcome and happy just about anywhere in Texas outside of the cities. Even some of those are still pretty good choices. North Texas away from DFW is really good, small towns, people that know how to get along with each other, etc. Rain can be a problem in drought, but we just weathered 6 yrs of it, and we’re ok. Texas attitudes are pretty good.
East Texas has the right culture, but there are too many nuke targets. Please note this map. http://www.ki4u.com/nuclearsurvival/states/tx.htm
The safest places in Texas with the cheapest land is n the Big Bend region. If you enjoy the desert, then your place may be in Big Bend Country.
Coming from the Palestine area myself, I’d advise you take note of the numerous prisons in the area. Depending on what you’re foreseeing for the future, you may want to account for what becomes of the inmates.
I would also add that should you be looking to own land,mineral rights can be separated from the land rights. It is not uncommon for oil and gas companies to own those rights, and for them to come poking around when the price is right. Maybe more my area, but it does happen.
Contact George Ure at george@ure.net. He has 29 acres in east Texas and runs the urbansurvival.com website. An out of the box thinker.
Currently live in Berryville south of Tyler about 2 blks from Lake Palestine. Kids grew up so I could finally get out of Austin, great in the 70’s wouldnt give you a cup of spit for it now. Lake Palestine is one of the cleanest lakes in Texas. Plenty of good water, lots of game, if you cant grow whatever here…give up. Nice climate 9-10 months of year with 2 months of humid heat. Few liberals to screw it up.
We have been to Texas twice looking for a relocation site. I would like to see an article about the different types of agricultural designations, the expected areas that will explode with people as the predicted 13 million more people move into Texas in the next few years. We, too, are fed up with Kalifornia but knowing what to look for in land, water and safety is pretty overwhelming. At this point we are focusing on Erath and Comanche counties but would love to hear pros/cons about rural Texas counties.
It seems with all these people from California showing an interest in moving to Texas it might be a place to avoid in the future. No offense to right minded Californios intended.
Agreed. And no offense to Conservative Californians (all 3 of them lol), but it seems every time Californians “have had enough” of their lousy liberal bastion, they exit, invade, and then appropriate a new area that they turn into a new California (see: Colorado, Washington State, Oregon, and metro Redoubt areas like Boise)
My daddy’s people are all in Texas. If we relocate there the whole state will feel the shift to the right!
And don’t forget our neighbor to the south, Mexico. Living in a state that borders another country has its benefits and detriments, all depending on how you see things moving forward. TX and the old south will also have Gulf access for what it’s worth.
The piney woods of E. Texas is a great area, however stay away from Shreveport, La. It has a SAC (Strategic Air Command) Base (Barksdale AFB) and certainly is a target.
Oh… I live in the Texas Hill Country. Take a look there.
I’m in San Antonio now. I’m looking at the Brady/Mason area- far enough from major cities and nice small towns. Not much growth, if any, expected. Good water, BUT prone to drought, like most of Texas. Stay away from IH 35 corridor. It’s getting WAY overpopulated, and too many liberal idiots for us. Waiting to move ASAP.
Use Google Map imagery to take a look at all those hundreds of tanks, APCs, attack helicopters, etc parked along North Avenue in Fort Hood (Killeen, Tx).
I may be wrong but seems to me that when FEMA starts drafting people for the labor camps, Texans might as well bend over and grab their ankles. Tanks can’t travel through swamps, up steep mountainsides or through thick forest — but on open flatlands, they move like manure through a goose.
One 50 cal round through a Ford F150 pickup truck and the “militia” will melt away like snowflakes.
Think about the Tri-state area of Ohio/Kentucky/West Virginia, too. Politically conservative with low land costs, easy access to fresh water & arable land, fairly abundant game (whitetail & turkey) & far enough from large cities (Columbus, Cincinnati & Lexington) to be defensible.
About a decade ago, I too moved South b/c my body could no longer handle northern winters. We live near the Texas-Oklahoma state line, also called Texoma. I was pleasantly surprised to discover 2 states w/ relatively small state govt’s & low regulations, both big on gun rights & low taxes. Texas has no income tax, & OK has very low property taxes. Rainfall is an average of 40-45 inches per year. Winters are mild. Summers are hot. Watch out for areas of high poverty that have much drug abuses.
I would avoid getting within 150-200 miles of the Gulf of Mexico, as that area is subject to hurricanes. Also avoid South Texas which has border issues.
I’ve seen the maps referred to on nuclear targets and wind patterns for probable fallout. I’m in Michigan. The targets listed look like they are for decommissioned air force bases and air national guard bases. The only meaningful ANG base in this state is Selfridge in the lower peninsula near Detroit. The 2 in the upper peninsula are former B-52 bases, now county airports with much shorter runways. The one in Alpena is also a county airport once an Army Air base, and currenty has only 2 ANG training aircraft.
Since these maps are 20 to 30 years old, I don’t see those parts of the state being targets. As for the wind/fallout map, in the case of an all out nuclear war, the radioactivity will spread globally anyway. Maybe if you lived permanently in Antarctica you might survive.
Maybe instead we need to get a petition going at Whitehouse.gov to get our nuke bases moved out of the USA completely.
Robert, You should consider the Ozarks in SW Missouri, our weather is mild, rarely snows, and Jan temps average in the 40s. No flooding, no earthquakes, no nukes, no wildfires, we do have occasional tornadoes, just locate S of the 1-44 corridor. Although we have St Louis and KC, the entire rest of the state is RED. All the elected State government is red, Trump won by 18 points, we do have one Dem US Senator, but she is up for re-election in 2018 and hopefully she will be gone. We have a long growing season also, and with my greenhouse we grow all year long. Take care
Check out Rains and Wood counties just north of Tyler. Been here for 24 years. Lots of good spots. Truth is that there are not many places safe from an all out nuclear attack and Texas is no exception. Good luck.
Robert B, I’m impressed by your forethought and diligence to search out the best areas. God bless and best wishes on your relocation.
I worked in the Bay Area and in Sweden in the tech industry, while living in Austin for over 20 years. I’m originally from NE Texas. About 5 yrs ago, I started looking at land to leave Austin – at least a bug out location. I even went as far as checking islands in Chile for sale. In the end, I came back to NE Texas. This is going to be a serious stronghold when it breaks down. It’s the right spot to relocate – dare I say that it’s a better option than the Redoubt. Terrain is the biggest risk, but there’s a lot of forest. This area is all about who you know.