Looking for Rural, Peaceful Land/Property in Ohio for 'Simple Things' Living (Columbus: mineral rights, sale)

[GardenWanderer]

Hello City-Data Forum!


After saving up for years, we are looking to move into a place where we can live for the rest of our lives. Although we have some builders in mind, we would be fine with purchasing land with a home already in place so long as it wasn't a huge renovation project. Though we can't call ourselves "homesteaders," we do have the skills and have extensive organic gardening capabilities that we would like to roll-out on our own land to really make the effort to be as self-secure food-wise as possible.


We have made a list of our most important needs:

1. A cost of ~140k (willing to go less if just land, but depends on utility access and cost to run out internet)
2. Off-grid capabilities (willing to expand upon later; doesn't need to come with land/property)
3. Internet access (me and my wife-to-be work remote)
4. Acreage to plant (we aren't doing animals or livestock though)
5. Not too swampy (for growing and flood protection, but I know lots of Ohio is floodplain)
6. Safe and respectful neighborhood that values both community and individual property (we don't want things just walking off property and respect others personal rights of property)
7. Zoning that allows for small, but not necessarily tiny homes (400-800 square feet if we were to build)

That's about it. We aren't worried about city jobs because we work remote, and we aren't worried about schools because we don't have children. The reason we want a place smaller is because we're looking to power it easier off-grid like with solar. We plan on using propane as needed though. We would also be interested in composting our own waste rather than using septic, but we would like to have access to running water and have no qualms with paying for a well.



Any help with counties, townships, or places in general would be more than helpful.

[gobucks86]

Not sure if these would work, but as I mentioned in another thread for someone else, both Ada and Bluffton (and surrounding cities) offer great rural living opportunities. My friend owns a farm in the Bluffton area and really enjoys the living out that way. I'd certainly look into them! If I had it my way with my fiancée I'd be out in those areas for sure. Plenty of land, both big and small, and very rural and quiet. City amenities aren't took far away in Lima and Findlay (25-30 min away) if needed.

[GardenWanderer]

That sounds like something to look into for sure. If you happen to know, would you say there are any areas in those two places you mentioned (and their counties) that you would avoid and why?

[ferraris]

Take your pick. Ohio has 88 counties and probably like 83 of them have places that could suit your needs.

Is there anything that pushes you to a particular region of Ohio? Family or friends to be near? A desire to do any "big city" things occasionally without it being a big road trip? A need to be by an airport? Any strong preferences on weather or geography (flat vs. hilly, wooded vs. prairies, etc.)?

[bellhead]

Originally Posted by gobucks86

Not sure if these would work, but as I mentioned in another thread for someone else, both Ada and Bluffton (and surrounding cities) offer great rural living opportunities. My friend owns a farm in the Bluffton area and really enjoys the living out that way. I'd certainly look into them! If I had it my way with my fiancée I'd be out in those areas for sure. Plenty of land, both big and small, and very rural and quiet. City amenities aren't took far away in Lima and Findlay (25-30 min away) if needed.

I grew up in Lima, Bluffton & Ada would fit the bill along with anywhere in NW Ohio, Putnam county being 30 minutes away from Ft. Wayne is also a good option.

My only advice is make sure your well water isn't sulfur. My grandpa had sulfur well water, & I couldn't get adjusted to it when we visited them.

Another choice is climate, Ohio splits around Dayton, North of Dayton is more temperate in summer with less humidity, South is hotter with more humidity but has milder winters. My milder meaning you don't drive on packed down snow for a week after a good snowfall. South of Dayton snow is usually gone after a day or two.

[GardenWanderer]

Originally Posted by ferraris

Take your pick. Ohio has 88 counties and probably like 83 of them have places that could suit your needs.

Is there anything that pushes you to a particular region of Ohio? Family or friends to be near? A desire to do any "big city" things occasionally without it being a big road trip? A need to be by an airport? Any strong preferences on weather or geography (flat vs. hilly, wooded vs. prairies, etc.)?

Ohio has truly been a lovely place, and ideally I'd want to be in the state for the rest of my life.

There is nothing social pushing me to a particular region of Ohio. I have no family anywhere in the state or really any support network that I require outside of internet for our work. We aren't drifters though, haha. We've just always come from very small families (she and I). The only think that we're interested in is the lifestyle of being able to perform what was listed in the OP and to be increasingly independent.

As far as geography and proximity, we aren't interested in air travel, especially with this corona virus stuff going on. We also don't need any "big city" things; it's just not us. We don't mind there being some wood on our future property, but ideally we'd be able to have some space for large-scale gardening. While I wouldn't call it commercial farming, I would certainly love to make some side income where I could regarding the sale of excess, but it isn't a "must." I would say this eliminates mountains, too.

What I've found is purely the people that make or break a place, no matter where you are, Ohio, the USA, or the world. Hence having a community that respects that sort of "space" of their fellow man is truly invaluable.

[GardenWanderer]

Originally Posted by bellhead

I grew up in Lima, Bluffton & Ada would fit the bill along with anywhere in NW Ohio, Putnam county being 30 minutes away from Ft. Wayne is also a good option.

My only advice is make sure your well water isn't sulfur. My grandpa had sulfur well water, & I couldn't get adjusted to it when we visited them.

Another choice is climate, Ohio splits around Dayton, North of Dayton is more temperate in summer with less humidity, South is hotter with more humidity but has milder winters. My milder meaning you don't drive on packed down snow for a week after a good snowfall. South of Dayton snow is usually gone after a day or two.

Could you elaborate more about the sulfur? The places we looking at might require the drilling of a deep well. Therefore, we might have to deal with this.

[gobucks86]

Originally Posted by GardenWanderer

That sounds like something to look into for sure. If you happen to know, would you say there are any areas in those two places you mentioned (and their counties) that you would avoid and why?

Not that I know of to be honest. I've been out that way to visit my friend and hang out, but from what I've gathered, it's many small cities/towns that are all pretty safe and such. Each place we've ventured into felt safe, just a nice small town rural feel. I don't have any ins or outs about specifics, unfortunately. There may be some places that are better than the other for reasons, I'm just not sure. Maybe bellhead can chime in. My friend has lived in both Ada and Bluffton and loves the way of life (again he owns and operates a small farm at this house/land). And I really enjoy it out that way. And basically, if those two cities don't peak your interest, there are SO many other small rural cities/town surrounding them, such as Ottawa, Columbus Grove, Pandora, etc. Many of them have their own small little downtowns and such. It's nice too because you can buy/build a house with as much land as you desire.

Based on your criteria, I feel that area of NW/Western Ohio fits the bill pretty solidly.

[WRnative]

Personally, I enjoy rural areas with great ranges in topography. E.g., the region around Bellefontaine, especially to the south from memory, in western Ohio is drop dead delightful IMO.


I'm also very fond of the central Ohio region centered around the Mohican region. See discussion at link below. Visit Malabar Farm State Park, including Mt. Jeez. Drive Route 603 from Charles Mill Lake north of Malabar Farm south to Route 95 and then 95 to Fredericktown. At Ankenytown, take a detour and visit Knox Lake. This region's easy access to I-71 offers easy day trips to Cleveland and Columbus, perhaps for medical treatment at Ohio State, Cleveland Clinic, University Hospitals in Cleveland, etc.



https://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g...Day.Trips.html



While areas in eastern Ohio, also located in the Allegheny foothills, are very beautiful (e.g., visit The Wilds near Zanesville), I'm very concerned about the massive fracking wastes injected under high pressure into the region by recent Republican regimes. IMO, there's reason to believe that this is a massive environmental time bomb posing a great risk to the region's aquifers. You can find threads in this forum discussing the problem although they are several years old.

[GardenWanderer]

Originally Posted by WRnative

Personally, I enjoy rural areas with great ranges in topography. E.g., the region around Bellefontaine, especially to the south from memory, in western Ohio is drop dead delightful IMO.


I'm also very fond of the central Ohio region centered around the Mohican region. See discussion at link below. Visit Malabar Farm State Park, including Mt. Jeez. Drive Route 603 from Charles Mill Lake north of Malabar Farm south to Route 95 and then 95 to Fredericktown. At Ankenytown, take a detour and visit Knox Lake. This region's easy access to I-71 offers easy day trips to Cleveland and Columbus, perhaps for medical treatment at Ohio State, Cleveland Clinic, University Hospitals in Cleveland, etc.



https://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g...Day.Trips.html



While areas in eastern Ohio, also located in the Allegheny foothills, are very beautiful (e.g., visit The Wilds near Zanesville), I'm very concerned about the massive fracking wastes injected under high pressure into the region by recent Republican regimes. IMO, there's reason to believe that this is a massive environmental time bomb posing a great risk to the region's aquifers. You can find threads in this forum discussing the problem although they are several years old.

I am not aware of the ecological situations in all of the counties in eastern areas of Ohio. I've seen a lot of people retain mineral rights to the land or home that they are selling; I thought that it had something to do with people interested in the possibility of the revival of the petroleum industry. Would you say that Western Ohio would be a more peaceful place to move?