Posted: Thu Mar 16, 2006 11:03 pm Post subject: Moving to the South
Thinking a little about Peak Oil, if you can handle the heat, moving to the southern states wouldn’t be a bad idea. I am talking about somewhere with plenty of water and rainfall.
As gasoline and natural gas become more expensive, life in cold weather will become extremely tough.
At least in warm weather, no gasoline I can find a job close to home and ride a bicycle. When electric bills get too high because air-condition, I open the windows and let the heat gets in.
In cold weather, you can only ride a bicycle for so long, the same for housing without heater.
Posted: Thu Mar 16, 2006 11:07 pm Post subject: Re: Moving to the South
What if the weather doesn't stay the same as it is now? Look at how wacky the weather is already. We have record droughts in some places, record floods in others. A winter so warm it's downright scary. And the hurricanes.
Posted: Thu Mar 16, 2006 11:54 pm Post subject: Re: Moving to the South
Ache wrote:
In cold weather, you can only ride a bicycle for so long, the same for housing without heater.]
It's not the cold weather that gets bicyclists, I live in Chicago, and people ride here in all sorts of weather. In fact, there is a die-hard group that cycles BECAUSE it starts snowing.
http://www.bikewinter.org/events/snowbiking/
The Santa Rampagehere
and a list of happenings for winter bikers, classes..
here
Biking, with proper clothing keeps you very warm. It's a lot of fun. It's just that you may not know what that driver behind the wheel of the SUV yakking on the phone is up to..that is if they are paying attention to you. You have to take bike defensiveness courses if you live in the city, where biking is always known as a "contact sport".
Joined: Feb 26, 2006 Posts: 99 Location: outside of consensus reality
Posted: Fri Mar 17, 2006 1:17 am Post subject: Re: Moving to the South
yeah im from Richmond Va and I now live in Huntington WV. We moved because of the crime, peakoil and the fact that there is 7 firearms for every man woman and child in WV. concentrated in the hands of the few but here nonetheless. (no i cant find you the quote) its not northern up here but not southern either. Im saying the south's social problems arent worth the trouble. or the pittance of good (arable and out of the way with biking possible) land. seriously the cops didn't come for over 2 hour of a roving gunbattle in richmond. not some pretty boy crap either. 7.62x39 12 guage, and 9mm carbine crap on bicycles even. people in a town with NO jobs and no future. I laugh at people up here in Huntington who talk of crime. wonder what the "got my gatt, 2 'clips' and 10 packs of ramen in my cubbord" are going to do when tshtf? im just saying hit the mtn ranges and find a small town and integrate. look for industrial decay that INCLUDES good bus lines from the 70's rail and/or river access. think coal and rednecks. be amophic and pick up personalities. you can be friends with these people. they arent that different. the information gap is wide but they have handed-down wisdom. good community values and most of the used-to-be small cities in the appelacian mts arn't racist ect...... integrate. dont go down past south carolina. seriously too many packed pop centers already on the economic edge. also too many suberbs and exurbs everywhere. dont hit total boonies cause thats where the scarry rednecks live. racists and or fundimentalist religionists. not enough resources anyway unless you can seriously be TOTALLY self sufficient AND defend it. hope it helps,
Joined: Feb 26, 2006 Posts: 99 Location: outside of consensus reality
Posted: Fri Mar 17, 2006 1:25 am Post subject: Re: Moving to the South
oh yeah and about the bicycle, cheaperthandirt.com has great deals on goretex ect. get it. it lasts get the USGI ECWSII stuff and get the poly-pro thermals as well with a good dose of wool thrown in. spend 300 bucks. mittens baleclava's, ect
no weather is not suited for bicycles. get the gear, lose the car if nessessary. this stuff lasts. we ride down to -8F. and up to 2 inches snow (no ice i can afford to take a cab, walk whatever with the money I save on carshit all year round) people in Alaska get special snow tires for mtn bikes and several have ridden the ididerod(*sp- i know I suck) on specially outfitted bikes.
dont be a wuss.
Posted: Fri Mar 17, 2006 1:42 am Post subject: Re: Moving to the South
Leanan wrote:
What if the weather doesn't stay the same as it is now? Look at how wacky the weather is already. We have record droughts in some places, record floods in others. A winter so warm it's downright scary. And the hurricanes.
The weather is the weather. It will always change.
Anyway getting dry on the SouthEast is as highly likely as snowing on July.
I am from the Caribbean, I grew up with hurricanes. Earthquakes and Tornadoes are by far worst
Hurricanes are overrated from the media. The problem with Florida is that houses are made of sheetrock. With concrete roof houses wouldn't be so weak. Also people in USA don't like to evacuate.
Also you can always move to a place let's say 1 hour off the shores so the hurricane will get you weaker.
I can live without aircondition, that's not so fundamental in my life. The last 2 years the engine of my Tercel was so small that I could not turn on the AC at the same time.
For cooling of the house you need some big trees covering the roof.
Living in the NorthEast, I used to bike with tempetures below zero, when I was poor and did not have a car. It's fun if you stay for just a little while , if you speed up or take a long ride you really are gonna feel the coldness.
"Kunstler also believes the South may have some "cultural" problems if the economy tanks. Think angry vigilante groups."
When PO hit us, people from the North will become as savage as people from the South.
Last edited by Ache on Fri Mar 17, 2006 1:49 am; edited 1 time in total
Posted: Fri Mar 17, 2006 1:56 am Post subject: Re: Moving to the South
magician wrote:
oh yeah and about the bicycle, cheaperthandirt.com has great deals on goretex ect. get it. it lasts get the USGI ECWSII stuff and get the poly-pro thermals as well with a good dose of wool thrown in. spend 300 bucks. mittens baleclava's, ect
no weather is not suited for bicycles. get the gear, lose the car if nessessary. this stuff lasts. we ride down to -8F. and up to 2 inches snow (no ice i can afford to take a cab, walk whatever with the money I save on carshit all year round) people in Alaska get special snow tires for mtn bikes and several have ridden the ididerod(*sp- i know I suck) on specially outfitted bikes.
dont be a wuss.
--fr coyote
How far can you get let's say with 5 inches of snow ?
You are better off biking on the sand.
Posted: Fri Mar 17, 2006 7:58 am Post subject: Re: Moving to the South
Well, I've been away for a while, mostly just lurking, but this post drew me back .... had to comment...
Quote:
dont hit total boonies cause thats where the scarry rednecks live. racists and or fundimentalist religionists
I think the south, and the boonies, is just fine, thanks. Having lived here almost all my life, I can tell you that the winters can get cold, the summers very hot, and the humidity can make you wish for AC - but people lived here for generations without the AC, and I figure they can again if they need to.
Our rural community is very small, very cohesive, and full of good people. Some rednecks, some very religious, and probably even some racists - but I don't know of any. The majority don't fit neatly under those labels, though. I don't label people - just jars. The folks around here are just good neighbors. However, if you're planning to come to the south, or the boonies, with preconceived notions about the people who live there, you'll probably be better off somewhere else anyway....
From your neighborhood boonie-dwelling-scary-redneck-racist-fundamentalist-religionist (according to magician's definition),
Kathy
Posted: Fri Mar 17, 2006 8:09 am Post subject: Re: Moving to the South
What people have forgotten about living in the south:
a. Before the TVA (cheap power) and John Gorrie (air conditioning), a lot of it was marginally habitable (Houston, Dallas, Tampa, Jacksonville).
b. Before advanced mosquito abatement and sanitary sewers were put in during the WPA days, malaria, dysentery, yellow fever and typhoid were frequent killers, and epidemics were common. This was not as common up north where the cold tended to kill a lot of this stuff off.
c. The soil is marginal most everywhere. Soybean yield in GA is about half to 1/3 of what it is in IA.
d. It gets windy sometimes.... like about 135 MPH a couple of times per year if you are someplace like Panama City.
e. Water: Most of the places in the country that lie on limetone aquifers have (until it is depleted) a source of water about 100 feet away at all times (straight down). In the non-Aquifer regions, much more difficult to find ground water. Better be good at well witching (finding underground streams) or rainwater collecting.
f. Culture: Much has been written and said along these lines, except to say that if you respect them, they will respect you. You will never be one of them, but the whole place was founded on the idea of live-and-let-live so it's OK as long as you mind your own business. Go to a truck stop the first week, and buy a POW-MIA flag. No one can possibly object to somebody who has a POW flag. Also, pick a good southern college football team, one with a lot of recruiting violations, and get a hat at the same truck stop. Drag it behind your car and wash it a few times before you wear it in public. This will be an automatic conversation piece wherever you go, and you will be accepted.
There are places with high elevation that are far enough south to get out of the stupidly cold weather, but high enough to avoid the stupid heat and humidity. A lot of these places are pretty pleasant, ample trees for wood supply, water findable, people friendly, no tornadoes or earthquakes. We looked up Pickens County SC in Wikipedia the other day, and there are only 85 men for every 100 women, so this might be the place, if you are not picky... You did not say if you are male or female, and I cannot tell you what these extra 15 females look like.....
Joined: Sep 02, 2005 Posts: 2876 Location: In a Nigerian compound surrounded by mighty dignataries
Posted: Fri Mar 17, 2006 11:30 am Post subject: Re: Moving to the South
Nik's right about Arkansas. A little north of SE Arkansas you see a lot of boomers near Mena/Hot Springs. I plan to retire on my 10 acres in Rocky which is 8 miles west of Mena. My dad will retire in Pine Gap in 2 years. The Ouachitas are very similar to the Smokies and Southern Appalacians. Nik is also right about poverty in Arkansas. There is a unspoken resentment towards Texans retiring there and buyng up all the land in the 80's to the 90's. Now boomers from Jersey are going there. Something else about Arkansas. It's split down the middle politically. Neither predominatley red or blue. I remember going camping on Halloween weekend before the election in 2004. For every Bush sign there was a Kerry sign right next to it. _________________ In other words, it's a huge sh*t sandwich, and we're all gonna have to take a bite.-from Full Metal Jacket
Joined: May 14, 2005 Posts: 2125 Location: Along the banks of the muddy Mississippi
Posted: Fri Mar 17, 2006 4:25 pm Post subject: Re: Moving to the South
Colorado-Valley wrote:
Kunstler also believes the South may have some "cultural" problems if the economy tanks. Think angry vigilante groups.
Kunstler is going to be very unpleasantly surprised when his little Paradise turns out to be every bit as nasty.
Ache wrote:
When PO hit us, people from the North will become as savage as people from the South.
Exactly.
Our fellow monkeys can be quite cruel when the chips are down whether they speak with a southern drawl or a mid-Atlantic twang.
Believing anything other than that is just wishful thinking. _________________ “Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves.” (Ted Perry)
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