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What in the world is happening to America? Are there still places in America where liberty and freedom are respected, where taxes are low, where regulations are not suffocating, where the people are friendly and where Americans can be free to live an independent lifestyle? In a previous article entitled “What Is The Best U.S. State To Move To If You Want To Insulate Yourself From The Coming Economic Meltdown?“, I asked readers what they thought were some of the best places in America to move to for people wishing to ride out the coming economic collapse. Well, the response was overwhelmingly negative. Readers were even highly negative about states that have been very popular for “independent thinking” Americans to move to such as Montana, Idaho, Alaska, Washington and Colorado. So are there any “good” places in America left? Or is America in danger of turning into one gigantic hellhole?

The truth is that a substantial number of Americans can see what is happening to our economy and to this country and they want to get out of places such as Los Angeles, New York City and Detroit. Life in many of the biggest U.S. cities is becoming increasingly difficult. Rampant unemployment seems to be everywhere and more Americans than ever are finding themselves having to take government handouts just to survive. In most major U.S. cities the housing prices are ridiculous, the traffic is horrendous, crime is starting to rise and taxes just seem to keep increasing year after year. Not only that, but in the event of a total economic collapse, many U.S. cities will descend into complete and utter chaos. Just remember what happened to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. When Americans start running out of food most of them will totally lose it.

But even if a total economic collapse does not happen any time soon, an increasing number of Americans are seeking to embrace a lifestyle that is more independent of the system. The truth is that it is really hard to grow your own food or gather your own water if you live in or around most major U.S. cities. More Americans each year are discovering that an “off the grid” lifestyle has a lot of benefits.

So are there still places in the United States which are accommodating to those seeking to live a more independent lifestyle?

Well, readers of this column have had negative things to say about areas from coast to coast. Of course some of the comments may be attempts to scare “carpetbaggers” off, but many of the other comments seem like very honest assessments.

The truth is that “the grass is not always greener” in another area of the country. It can be incredibly difficult to pick up and move to another state – especially if you do not know anyone there.

The following are excerpts from recent comments that readers have left about states where they have lived….

Alaska

Ron:

Alaska, it takes a special person to live there, outside of Anchorage. The Californians fit right in there in that piece of crap town..If you live in rural Alaska GET READY FOR MAJOR COLD, -30 TO -50 OR WORSE, short growing seasons. June to Sept, the gardens cant be planted in the ground until like July, as the soil is too cold. The water coming from the well is 34 degrees. So hot houses are used and above ground gardens are quite common. Gas now is from 3.75 to 8 bucks depending on where you are, other than Anchorage. You have to heat 9 months out of the year usually. Bugs are plentiful, especially big ass black flies and mosquitos.

Paul:

Take advice of others and move to Seattle, Mississippi, Idaho or get a boat in Florida. But for God’s sake DON’T come to Alaska. I demand you remove Alaska from your list. Alaska cold, no light, no food, no nothing……..stay DOWN THERE! Especially if you are an Environmentalist, it is not what you see on Discovery Channel. You’ll just end up starving in old bus or eaten by a bear.

Sutton:

Don’t even think about Alaska. Locals outside of Anchorage don’t like strangers moving in and Anchorage is like a little Seattle. When the economy collapses Anchorage will be a hell hole. If you’re a hippy, environmentalist type……….you are/will be the least liked; many want to shoot you now.

Montana

Ron:

I have lived all over the country, and was raised in Montana. I can assure you, the small towns are very clannish, detest Californians because of their arrogance and affinity for posted signs.

Tekroanin:

warning stay away from montana… the locals here and their kids prey upon the new fish here and their kids! how long you’ve lived here is BIG with the locals and the even post it in the paper! buy a gun if you move here and let your neighbors know you have it! they will or their kids will harass you and rob you here… stay away from west glacier and columbia falls montana. WHITE TRASH! AND METH HEADS AND ALCOLHOLICS DUI’S! NO LAW HERE! COLUMBIA FALLS POLICE DEPARTMENT IS USELESS! FLATHEAD COUNTY SHERIFF OFFICE IS CLUELESS AND WON’T DO A THING ABOUT PROPERTY CRIMES! IF YOU MOVE HERE LOCK UP YOUR PROPERTY AND BUY A GUN! PERIOD! “LOCAL” CRIME IS BIG HERE UPON THE NEW FISH! YE’ BEEN WARNED!

Idaho

Danger:

Idaho is full of skinhead, methhead types who are VERY territorial. If you are not a native, you will get hurt.

D.L.:

Tried to move to Idaho once with teaching job. One job I was turned down for (Kooskia) and the other job I turned down (Cor de Lane) because of its proximity to neo-Nazis and white supremists (aka FBI moles).

Derak:

Idaho is full to the brim w/ hostile provincials with absolutely no sense of fashion. Stay away. Too much snow.

Washington State

CountryTek:

Do I need to tell you that this is a Nanny state? Like the Seattle liberals, the politicians all have a very elevated sense of entitlement. The voters have been in tax revolt status since the bunny huggers have killed farming and fishing on the West side, the boom & bust cycle of the economy has become aggravated. If they succeed in killing the timber industry, it will only get worse. The Boeing Company has moved their headquarters out of Washington state, and has sworn that they will build no new production facitlies here, due to the antagonistic taxation and regulatory environments. Many smaller businesses have followed suit. I’m looking for them to drag the “Will the last person leaving Seattle please turn off the lights?” billboard out of mothballs soon. I can’t wait. We need to drain the cesspool. As for me, my people were pioneers out here. I have roots and don’t feel much like moving, but if it gets much pinker around here, I just might. Where will I go? Someplace I can breathe free.

Bill:

I live in western WA near Seattle and make the best of it – decent gun laws, no income tax. Over the past 2 years I’ve been hot and cold about the radical step of becoming an expat family. Until it looks like we can’t go on anymore I’m staying right here. Still, taxation is becoming very onerous. I now pay $706/month in property taxes (large view home) and when I study accounts of expats in Latin America soaking up the sun, exercising, growing amazing food, and paying $30/month property taxes, it is very tempting. America has become a very, very unhealthy place to live with adultered food/water and loads of uncertainty and stress. People here are self centered, rude and often quite hostile. Just drive I-5 between Tacoma and Seattle a few days a week and observe the underlying rage and sheer stupidity. I won’t even ride my bike anymore because people want to literally harm you with their vehicle for no particular reason (medication rage perhaps?). There’s some great people around, but greatly outnumbered by sheep and ‘me-first’ and shallow consumer types. This area will be a slaughterhouse if SHTF given the number of gangs, illegals and entitlement folks. Honesty, I wouldn’t rule out survival cannibalism should the worst case transpire.

Arkansas

Reddog:

Do not choose Arkansas. We choose Scott County Arkansas because of the low population (12,000 in entire county, large number of churches 63 in county and beautiful scenery). Over 40% of the people here are on public assistance of one kind or another and the people are extremely clannish. There is a huge drug problem here (people selling their pain medication and meth labs) the police have paid informants who continue to commit crimes while being paid by the county to inform on other people. There has not been any large drug bust or labs taken down in the eight years we have lived here. The only place to work in this county is Tyson which pays 9+ an hour. The sales tax in this county is 9.65% on non-food and 5.65% on food. Real estate taxes are increasing rapidly. Arkansas is a anti-business state, they do not want out of towners to come here and open businesses. Choose another state, the people here have not desire to improve themselves, life for their families or the future for their children.

Colorado

xroads:

If I could afford to leave Colorado I would. It has turned into California East. I came here 20 years ago to get ready for what is happening now. In the 90′s we had an influx of Californians that has ruined this state. I chose my property very carefully, water, ability to grow (with greenhouse), proximity to a decent sized city with good hospitals and shopping but far enough away so as to be in the country. My wife and I did everything right but failed to take in the changing political climate. Don’t make the same mistake we did.

A Dodgy Bloke:

Interesting you may want to stay away from Colorado, over the last several years we have had people from California move here in hordes. They are creating what they have fled from here we have just elected out own version of Moon Beam as Governor.

Wyoming

Car:

Stay out of Wyoming! It is always windy and a bunch of crackheads! No jobs above minimum wage.

Chris:

Areas near Yellowstone would be deadly if the caldera goes supervolcano (maybe next year, maybe 1000 years). Be more than 600 miles from that thing.

California

Californian:

We Californian’s suffer a lot of bashing – it’s well deserved. Please keep in mind, that we’re not all leftist/socialist/bleeding heart crybabies. Some of us would like to move and wouldn’t want to see our state’s policies follow us. Some of us love guns and low taxes and despise social safety nets. I look at my neighborhood and can count on one hand the number of us who actually work. Disability has become a career move here. Sad, really sad. Unfortunately, I’m not sure any place in Amerika is immune.

Michigan

S. Barringer:

I notice that Michigan is not on the list. Most likely because they tax everyone to death here. If you’re not losing your home or business this month, you will be in the future. But, residents are wising up and saying no to new taxes, even for so-called “essential” services like police, which is not really essential if you have the sense to know how to defend yourself and what you have. Many counties and townships are saying no to paying for police departments, and they’re closing down. People are moving out of this state like crazy. I’m going to have to start tracking where they are moving to. This used to be the car capital of the world; now it’s just another ugly industrial wasteland.

Texas

Comitatus:

Borders Mexico, a lot of wide open spaces, very hot summers, sparse water, little rainfall (the amounts vary), currently being invaded from the south by illegals and from the north, west and east by those who have lost their jobs in states with high taxes (read California, Michigan, New Mexico), takes time to learn to farm here (unusual soil properties), assasin bugs, coral, rattle and copperhead snakes, coyotes, mountain lions, poisonous spiders (you get used to them all over time) many areas very rocky and sparsely wooded.

Maine

Aedan:

Maine? There are no jobs here. A great place to “bug out” to but remember it is very cold and snowy in the Winter. Gasoline and heating oil are approaching $3, taxes are high, the infrastructure is crumbling, the state deficit is one billion dollars, the Maine Dept of Transportation is 750 million in the hole.

Vermont

Mike:

I live in Vermont. Unless you are of a Libertarian/Anarcho Capitalist persuasion. Please stay away! This state is hard to live in and requires a lot of self sufficiency. I like it that way and don’t really want to see any more whiney city dwellers move here that want to remake this into the New Jersey of the north.

Nebraska

Strider:

Having spent two years there while in the military, I recommend against Nebraska for three reasons: 1) most residents have a vocabulary of exactly three words — “Go Big Red!”; 2) very nasty winters; 3) income tax is a percentage of federal tax. So if the current rates expire and federal rates jump next year, state taxes will jump in tandem.

Virginia

Claire:

The grass is not always greener somewhere else. I tried moving to the VA mountains. Wonderful climate in the Shenandoah Valley but land is astronomical, even a trailer. All the ultra-rich from DC area fled there and lots of alphabet gov’t agencies. There are NO JOBS, period. Nada. It’s ‘Wally Mart’ culture. A bunch of fat, ignorant drunks with no skills. You can’t even get a car fixed. Rent and utilities are less than many places but state tax is high. Health care barely exists. It’s a mean, narrow-minded rabidly fundamentalist tribal culture that hates outsiders, especially Yankees. You may find yourself in danger, not only from the local cops, but your own neighbors. Believe me, no one will help you. I have lived many different places and also other countries, and VA is the meanest place I ever found. They are vengeful, sneaky and backstabbing, even with their own relatives. (I grew up in W.Va. Now, I see why they split off.) If you are a stranger, then they will gang up. I gave up after a few years and went back North where I still had friends and a support system–that is the most important thing.

So what do you think? Are there any decent places left to move for Americans who are seeking to live a more independent lifestyle? Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section below….