My backyard garden

[NutmegYankee]

17. It depends on the region for cost of living.

I live in the Eastern Uplands and it’s not terrible out here. I have a 1/3 of an acre and 1500 sqft house plus full basement for a less than $900 mortgage. Basically as you move away from the coast and the Connecticut river valley, the costs and population plunge. It’s not middle America housing costs, but I’m 2 hrs from Boston and New York and I can get down to the coast in 19 minutes. Since I’m an engineer in the shipbuilding industry, the coasts will be my working career home.

The terrain is pretty. It’s low ( <800 ft ) rolling granite/schist/gneiss hills with rocks everywhere due to the glaciers from the last ice age. And it wants to be a forest, and must be actively maintained to avoid reverting to one.