Category — LAND

This December will be 4 years for us living 100% off grid, I can tell you it’s been quite the adventure, my only regret is that we didn’t do this earlier. Let me recap what we have been doing these 4 years…

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Paladino: Fighting the Utilities

Buffalo developer Carl P. Paladino has filed separate lawsuits against National Grid and Verizon over what he claims are outrageous charges for moving utility lines and poles to accommodate new businesses.

Describing the utilities as “sick with greed,” Paladino says he has no choice but to take legal action because the state’s Public Service Commission has failed to hold “monopolistic” utilities accountable.

Paladino,a GOP politician, claims the utility companies refuse to detail how they arrive at prices when running lines to a newly constructed building or reconfiguring service to renovated properties.

The refusal, Paladino says, indicates the utilities have something to hide.

“In both cases, there has been collusion, overbilling, mis-billing and fraud,” he said. (more…)

Homesteading, it’s a buzzword that means different things to different people, back in the day, it meant getting land for free as long as you lived on it and improved it for x number of years. It was a way to get people to move west (in the USA), back when travel was slow and painful, even dangerous.
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Whatever next?

He sold his life on eBay and travelled the world – now Ian Usher has bought his own Caribbean island.

Situated just off the coast of Bocas del Toro, in north-west Panama, Mr Usher’s private tropical getaway has no name and is undeveloped.

The 47-year-old, who hit the headlines in 2008 when he sold his Australian home, car, job and friends as a package on internet auction site eBay after splitting from his wife, bought the 2.2-acre island from an anonymous British ex-pat for an undisclosed sum.

It was purchased by Darlington- born Mr Usher for less than $50,000 (£30,000). (more…)

Better without the Towers

Help persuade National Park Service (NPS) to block massive powerlines across Everglades National Park.  Our voices are definitely being heard.

The deadline for electronic submission of public comments is next Monday, July 25th, at midnight.  Comment form is here:

http://m1e.net/c?86992467-OI.yp3JDVmPx6%406643204-IJ3mSNbgWPMxo

Some things to consider with regard to submitting comments.  Everglades National Park contains remnants of a completely unique planetary ecosystem.  In addition to being the first “biological park” in our nation’s history and by far the largest designated wilderness in the eastern United States, the park is also a World Heritage Site, an International Biosphere Reserve, and a Wetland of International Importance.   (more…)

Many ways around the law

As the numbers who cannot afford a conventional home continue to climb,there is greater interest in living off grid as a solution to the housing crisis.  The problem is that property developers sit on available residential land, making it unaffordable for groups of ordinary people to get together and live somewhere pleasant.  Sure its always possible to move to some god-forsaken windswept piece of moorland or desert, but living off the grid should not be so miserable. Here is a summary of the rules and how to get around them: (more…)

The ultra-conventional Zillow web site has given the thumbs up to off the grid living, featuring a dome home in its pages.

The home, from Monolithic domes is just 320 square feet – cheap to heat cool and maintain, but amply priced at $74,000, given the cost of similar homes in the area.

Monolothic dome homes are made by inflating a balloon and then smearing a PVC coating on top of that.

The dome is in the Taos area of New Mexico, feature in my book OFF THE GRID – Inside the Movement for More Space Less Government and True Independence in Modern America. (more…)

Easier to manage than 5 acres

As I traveled the US writing my recent book OFF THE GRID, I was also looking for an off-grid place of my own – at first in Northern California or North Carolina, or Kentucky, but latterly I have homed in on West Virginia as a place to suit my needs.

I want somewhere that I can use to get away from the relentless 24/7 media cycle, ads, facebook, twitter feeds, traffic, fast food and slow food – the grinding pace of modern life. (more…)

Hannah on horseback - this could be you

Hi everyone at off-grid – I was wondering if you’ve ever considered relocating to another country? I’ve recently moved to Ecuador and have a goal to be off-grid and living self-sufficient in the very near future. I used to own horses in the U.S. and would love to find equestrian minded people to live in our community. (more…)