Medieval villages

[JSinMO]

@JSinMO and @Eugen We actually do have unincorporated townships here - mostly in Northern Ontario and the Parry Sound area (the near north - lol) They are areas with really low population density and don't have the tax base to pay for people like building inspectors - even the fire departments are mostly volunteer staffed. There are news stories of people trying to set up "Medieval Villages" https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/ ... -1.6355689 where investors with $$$ buy a big chunk of land and then turn around and sell or lease small plots to people who want to escape the city and build their own tiny homes and cabins. Locals get upset because there isn't the infrastructure for what effectively becomes a subdivision or staff to make sure things are being built properly to keep people and the environment safe. If you were building in an unincorporated township - the structure still has to meet building code standards, and the county health department will inspect the septic system - but since there are no building inspectors - it's buyer beware if you purchase something already built

We are way too crowded in the southern part of the province to have room for this sort of craziness...

@RoamingGnome I hope you don’t mind that I copied your quote and put it here. I didn’t want to keep adding to @Eugen thread with this conversation.
You’re absolutely right. We are in the same situation here with low population density. Our county is 685 square miles with a population of 18,000. To put that into perspective the county 50 mile south of us has an area of 593 square miles and a population of 405,000! So yes we have a low tax base.
Our house was built to a high standard and to accepted code, but I’ve seen a lot of places around that I would be scared to sleep in! Buyer beware is right! Its really incumbent on the person doing the building to do it correctly.
I found that article very interesting. In my honest opinion it sound’s rather ill advised. Those of us that choose to live in rural areas know there are some different skills sets that you really need. To the point of services. We have all volunteer fire protection, the fire department is comprised of my neighbors. I volunteer on emergency management for our area of the county. With out the inhabitants taking care of things our selves we would all be in trouble. If you’re seriously injured your only option is to be airlifted out by helicopter here. If we had these “villages” popping up here we would be in trouble. You really need to be rather self reliant and have the knowledge to back it up. Don’t get me wrong, I learn new things all the time, but I grew up in a rural area so it’s no big deal to me.
My gut is thinking a lot of the folks moving into these “medieval villages” from the article won’t make it. One accident, one fire, one bad winter, or when they actually experience the work involved to make a go of it they’ll be done. Kinda one of those things where it’s easy to romanticize it but hard to do it.

I welcome anybody to move into my neck of the woods, just leave all the city crap back where you came from. We’re all here because we don’t want to live that way!

Wow, I hope you guys don’t mind my Friday night rant/ramble!

[RoamingGnome]

No problems @JSinMO with making this a thread of it's own... I feel a little guilty if I hijack a thread and go off on some tangent... (Sorry @Eugen - I'll agree Medieval Villages have very little to do with your progress on the Case/Davis trencher backhoe... which is awesome by the way... )

We intend to sell our home in the city this year and move "up north" to the property we bought 2 years ago. I joke with friends that it's in the middle of nowhere, but still relatively close to everything. It's a different mindset from living in the city and I think that is where a lot of medieval villagers / homesteaders are going to have their reality checked when plans go sideways. Our choice seemed to offer reasonable compromises, - access to a major road, 15 minute drive to a variety store / gas station, 30 - 40 minutes away from a couple of small towns and just over an hour drive to a major city. We do have to deal with township bureaucracy , but have been relatively lucky so far with the people we've dealt with.

Our new place is the first stop in our early retirement plans, but we understand as we get older a time will come when we'll most likely have to move back to civilization for our golden years (most likely when we shouldn't be driving and should be using public transit to get around) Having built a home that was built properly and given the building departments rubber stamp of approval in the process should make re-sale a lot easier. I wonder if the "villagers" have really thought about the future and made long term plans or just jumped at the first chance they saw to get property at an affordable price and were lured in by dreams of back to nature, eco-friendly green living.

There is a disconnect between levels of government here, where the Province isn't really following through on managing resources for everyone, especially in the north where fewer people = less voters = less reason to listen to the municipalities that are concerned about unregulated growth outside their immediate boundaries. There are always discussions about taxes that are too high and limited resources for a host of government services - back to nature and communal style living is great, as long as everyone is doing their bit... the hard part is balancing everyone's needs. Sometimes it's easier to pay your taxes so you can pay the people to do the dirty work you don't want to do...

My ramble/rant for a rainy Saturday morning...

[Harry]

I have lived in the same residence fir over 40 years. It was always a fairly rural area with a lot of farm land yet close to conveniences. I’m one mile from the Erie Canal and one mile from a major route yet no natural gas and no sewers. So most homes have oil, propane or electric and septic systems. There were only six homes on the street when I moved here. When I tell people where I live some say oh, I know where that is I used to go parking with my girl friend there back in the day! Needless to say many homes have been built here since the time I moved here. Today there is maybe only three or four vacant lots available. Many are owned by the person next door to give them extra room to breathe. Much of the farm land will stay that way because if the cost to run natural gas and put in sewers. I try to do the right thing and contact the town building inspector when doing projects, but many do not. If they do confront the negligent people they just fine them and they get to keep what ever they built. In stead of running it by the planning board and them telling you no, you can’t do that. I’m going to dig a small pond with my hoe and move the dirt to low areas this summer. Guess what? I’m not asking for approval. Behind me is a 40 acre of farm land who I know the owner very well. So no problem there. Sometimes the municipality’s can be a PITA. Harry