Land

Consider this: a T-bone steak from a Manhattan grocer averages $15.52. In Harlingen, Texas, the cheapest place to live in America, the same steak goes for $8.34.

If you are going off the grid, or even if you are already off the grid and wanting to trade down to somewhere more affordable – this article is for you.

There are numerous dimensions to measure cost of living, and most places that score low on some measures score high on others. The most obvious is property; more sophisticated is the ratio of earnings to property. Then there is the cost of a basket of household products

We followed the AARP (association of retired people) whose magazine based their list on the price of property, and the taxes levied on state benefits such as pension and social security:…

IN REVERSE ORDER

Kiev, Ukraine

As Eastern Europe’s crucial center for industrial, educational, scientific and cultural development; Kiev boasts of a diverse means of economic sustenance since it doesn’t depend on just one industry. Although it is a middle income city and poverty is evident in other parts of the country; Kiev virtually has nonexistent slums which is pretty good for such an inexpensive place to live.

Bogota, Colombia

Bogotá is the most populous city in Colombia with 7.3m inhabitants as of 2010. Because of its numerous universities and libraries, Bogota became known as “The Athens of South America”.…

Melody Key, a six-acre island in the Florida Keys with a large home, was pulled from the auction block recently and is subject to private negotiations, as its owners try to ramp the price.

Fisher Auction Company had announced a November auction for the island, attracting media attention around the world. Now the marketing strategy has moved on a stage.…

Plans to create a low-lying zero-impact, off-grid villa 
originally designed for a Californian hillside amidst the rolling fields of Wraxall in South-West Britain have been given the boot by narrow-minded local politicians in North Somerset.

The property, designed by the late architect Frank Lloyd Wright, had been proposed for land at Tyntesfield Springs, Somerset.
However the planning application attracted opposition from Nimby neighbours. One online objector branded it an unwelcome ‘museum piece’, adding: ‘A design from the 1940s is not what a contemporary and innovative eco-friendly architect would propose.’

It has been proposed by Dr Hugh Pratt, a Wraxall and Failand parish councillor, who had obtained the rights to the design from the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation after eight years of negotiation.…

A green campaigner’s plans to develop eco-friendly houses powered only by the sun and wind have been thrown out by the High Court.

A judge rejected Stephen Scrivens’ latest bid for planning consent to create his blueprint for houses of the future.

Mr Scrivens’ plans to build a self-sufficient house at Longberry Farm, Bethersden, where he lives, had already been rejected by Ashford Borough Council and two government planning inspectors.

In a test case ruling, Mr Justice Collins said that, despite a European directive setting a target for all new homes to be “nearly zero-energy” by December 31, 2020, energy considerations did not constitute a “trump card” when it came to planning consent.…

A British farmer has built a house for just £150.

Using an ancient building technique and materials he found in skips, Michael Buck, 59, built the ‘cob house’ at the bottom of his garden in the Oxfordshire countryside, reports the Daily Mail. Info on HOW to build a cob house at the end of this article.

‘The house is built from locally-sourced materials and apart from the glass they are biodegradable, said Michael. ‘With proper maintenance it could last forever but it would also naturally return to the Earth if it was left alone.…