Good luck, Ardenwizard. If I were a bit younger I'd be on the lookout as well. I suspect Tennessee and South Dakota would be on my list to look in to. It seems every place the commies haven't totally infiltrated are either unlivable or getting expensive. As people escape the commie states and run to what's left of Free America the cost of getting free is going way up.

not spam. Living in a blue state and got to get out. Its a big state and i have to narrow the search

Finding your own Utopia is an effort for certain. I grew up in the NY Catskills and retired with a state pension back in 2000 at 50. We moved to Florida, Mid State just below Ocala, and it only took us northerners six months to know we can't take the constant heat and humidity so we again moved back northward and landed in KY on the border of WV. We were much better suited to the weather there and found the mountains and hills much more to our liking. Too bad we found the local people were still fighting the civil war and many were about as ass backward as we had ever seen or been around. After less than a year and 2 hard moves we went right back to my NY Catskills upbringing and found a nice place here that we love. Yes, the politics in this state of NY suck but where we are is 100 miles NW from NYC and about as red as any other place we have lived. Taxes kill us and the summer Citiots are a PITA but for 9 months out of each year we are pretty much left to our own. Taxes, Politics, Health Care, Climate and most of all the local folks all play a very large part. We drive 20 miles to shop in three directions and in three states, NY, NJ and PA but home is where our hearts are and most of our family is gone to the bunker above so we stay to ourselves with a small group of like minded friends and hold our nose with taxes and politics. Winters here can be hard and cold on my 71 year old bones but I don't do any better in the heat in the south. Having the freedom to just stay home and not needing to go anywhere in bad weather is a big plus. Power does go out for days at a time but I am well prepared and we generate our own when necessary. We often ask ourselves, If we had a huge bank account, where would we go? We usually just say, right here and screw the rest of this ridiculous world while keeping our powder dry.

wizard, I have a buddy building a house out there now... I lived in the Boca Raton of TN (LOL, Fairfield Glade).
The ~10% Sales Tax will shock you, and income tax on businesses, but not people.

If you go down by Chattanooga and then up 111 (US 27 -> 111).
There are areas like my buddy found that are EITHER in or CLOSE to Mennonite
communities. (He was looking for: Well water, and Septic).
He bought > 50 acres. It's rough land. Has a home, CELL service is only AT&T. Internet is NOT fiber.

But the guy next door is a goat farmer. The Butcher works with the Pig Farmer and the local guy with the Cows...

Tons of property out there. But as my buddy is learning... It takes about 5 years of life experience in the arena to have a "homestead". His wife is amazingly helpful. She makes homemade makeup, etc. They have chickens, but no eggs yet.

You have to build up trust with the locals.
It's a 60+ minute drive to lowes. There is a local hardware store (for the community). But it's like 1/10th of an Ace Hardware. Works in a pinch.
Not for bulk.
Horse and Buggies are real!

Losing power for a day or so happens.
My buddy realized being close to a big mennonite community was a huge bonus.

The word SECLUDED comes to mind.

I went to 12 schools in 12 years, but felt most at home in New Mexico, but ti has gone pretty liberal. Second favorite was Whyo., where I thought freedome would never die, maybe nto. So here we are in Ohio, on a property with neighbors who are mostly elderly or military conservatives, and 200 trees with much wildlife. That is utopia, untl some politician gets into the idea of seizing framland to bury CO2! I have helped fight French windfarms from coming to nearby village, fought putting housing under high tension lines with ELF rays over bedrooms, so I am ready to hold the fort and gith to the ultimate depopulation by elites takes us down.

Coming from California I feel like I have a special, somewhat valuable perspective on this. Many, many of my friends have escaped Commiefornia. We've scattered in multiple directions. I've gotten very good feedback from those who have gone to Tennessee. Some have gone to the Carolinas. One family to Georgia. Some to Idaho, Texas. One close friend settled in central Oregon (commie state) near OSU and loves it. I'm in northern Nevada and really like it a lot. Was about to look for a home near Melbourne, FL. One of our fellow Gulchers here lives there and gave good feedback.

Northern Nevada is great if you have a little cowboy in you, enjoy open high-desert landscapes. Don't tell anybody this...But, there is a lot of rhetoric out there that NV is liberal. After being here a couple years I've come to figure that that's a cover. The place is very Libertarian, for better or worse. It's on the western edge of "flyover country" and the winters can get very cold at times. No state income tax so now I make almost as much working part-time as I did full-time in California. Using the ole noodle...

Consider “The American Redoubt”. Google the term if you’re unfamiliar with it and read all the good material out there discussing it. I Also recommend the book Strategic Relocation by Joel Skousen. He’s put some thought into it for a long time. A key concept is not to make your decision based on current political status. Texas and Florida are just “another box of ballots under the table at 3am” away from turning blue. Look at REAL factors such as the ability to live self determined with a high MTH (Mean Time to Harrasment). Many tout the advantages of The Ozarks. The same thing that makes it attractive also makes it a magnet for undesirable mindsets when things break down. Figure out how to live where no one else wants to. You can live a life of freedom in a blue state if it’s too much trouble to come mess with you. Or, they don’t even know you’re there. In days past our ancestors could just pack up and move. We no longer have that option. We must adapt to different methods. I’m not saying location doesn’t matter. One cannot expect to live a liberty filled lifestyle in NYC. But mindset has more to do with it.

And think Climate…..I live in Northern Michigan (I’m sure agent Smith has already figured that out) recently in my little part of the world I’ve experienced some (parasites) attempting to extract resources from me….(theft) just like the bugs around here….one good hard freeze does more to cutting down their numbers than any amount of bug spray ever could. I’m ready for summer to be over. Once, in the before times, my “group” decided we would sponsor a Cuban family seeking political asylum. The father said somethings that Trudeau’s uncle Raul didn’t like. Long story short…. They arrived feeling very “entitled” let’s say. After the first winter they disappeared. Never said “So long and thanks for all the fish.” I heard he ended up in Miami. She took the kids and actually went BACK to Cuba! She was that used to having everything given to her. Needless to say….I will NEVER EVER commit to an undertaking like that again. I do enjoy using it as a steaming pile of virtue signaling shit to rub liberal acquaintances noses in. Put it in the category of “what have YOU done for “the struggle”?” Hahahahahaha

My friends and family grew up in a landscape of wet snow and ice, -22F happens. (Yes snow can be wet at subzero temps. It’s some kind of travesty of physics that happens here.) We are fine with it. The wind blows around here in the winter and we lose power for 3-5 days. It’s an inconvenience but not the end of the world. Those with disabilities aside…..if you’re a lazy slob you tend not to thrive in this environment. Not alot of homeless shelters up here they all bunk with friends and family as it should be. There was a guy bumming around town harassing shop keepers. He said he needed money for a bus ticket south. We offered to buy him one and take him to the nearest bus station. All of the sudden he didn’t want to go south anymore. Also if they are a dishonest piece of shit we all figure it out pretty quickly and limit our dealings with them. If you’re used to cold weather I’d recommend Idaho. Otherwise anywhere by the NE Corner of Oklahoma should serve well.

Also in OH, born, raised. Have lived in 4 states and for sheer livability, WA State has it hands down. Except for an entire west-side-of-the-mountains gone to crap.Michigan is good, away from the bigger cesspools, Alaska is wonderful if you have a LOT of stamina, Ohio has some beautiful, remote spots and rural areas that I love. Tennessee property prices are phenomenal in the mountains, but watch those "no HOA" ads. The communities do have rules included in the deeds such as home size, and a yearly road maintenance fee. Find one that has 'no restrictions" and a good piece between neighbors. Some neighbors log their 5 acres...or more...