The lovey Berea, Kentucky landscape

Why Berea, Kentucky? We have moved from a landscape dominated by midwestern open skies, corn and soybean fields, very low population densities, and cheap living to an area of mountains, rocks and creeks, small college towns, and… cheap living, too. Dancing Rabbit (in Rutledge, Missouri) is sort of a hotspot in a cultural vacuum. There are no building codes and living is pretty dang cheap, but that comes at a certain cost, too. Northeast Missouri is not known for its progressive edge or counter-cultural activities, except for what you yourself create. While the tri-communities (Dancing Rabbit, Red Earth Farms, and Sandhill Farm) and the Possibility Alliance of La Plata, MO attract lots of very interesting folks, these communities are basically the beginning and the end of the eco and progressive edge (or whatever you want to call it) in northeast Missouri.

What we’ve discovered around Berea, Kentucky is an area with equally limited (or no) building codes and cheap living, but with many other very significant perks, as well. Here’s a distillation of what has attracted us to re-settling here on the edge of Appalachia.

Life Around Berea, Kentucky

In the interest of keeping this interesting and relatively brief, I’m going to describe as concisely as possible what I consider to be the most attractive aspects of the Berea area, and why I think it’s ripe for a homesteader’s paradise, pursuing natural building and growing your own food, and living a relatively abundant lifestyle.

• Land. Berea is on the edge of the Appalachian mountains — isn’t the “edge” one of the most important aspects of permaculture? You’ve got everything from open, rolling land to mountains, hardwood forests, rocks, and springs and creeks, all within a small area. The landscape is quite diverse and importantly, relatively free of industrial agriculture. (Industrial ag is not “efficient” except where it is much more flat — like the midwest)
• Climate. Surprisingly, both the winters and summers are milder than what we are used to in northeast Missouri. Average winter lows are in the 20s-30s, with little snow, but quite a bit of rain. Summer highs are more likely to be in the lower 90s, instead of pushing 100+. The mountains provide a nice buffer, and tornadoes are less likely here than on the open prairie. Average rainfall is ~50 inches, a very healthy figure. (It’s about 35 in northeast MO.) It is wet and humid, but you can’t have it all, ya know?
• Water access. Wow, this is huge for us. Seasonal and even year-round springs are not uncommon here in the mountains. I never truly realized the unbelievable value of such an asset before. There are many properties that have a nearly limitless water supply. Best of all — the water is clean, with no filtering necessary! (Thanks again to a lack of big ag and geography.) This area has some of the best and cleanest water left in the country. Compare that to the need to either dig a well or catch your water elsewhere, both of which are not always a guaranteed prospect. I suspect solid water access will becoming an increasing concern in this time of rapid climate change. The value cannot be denied.
• Culture. Berea is home to Berea College, a pretty radical liberal arts school that has never charged tuition since its inception in the 1850s. (Students work 15 hours a week in exchange for their education.) It was the first interracial and co-ed school in all of the south, and to this day, the school maintains a progressive bent and dedication to social justice and service. Needless to say, progressive-minded folks tend to find their way here, and best of all, many stick around. The school offers a host of free events to the community, including music and speaking events, many featuring fairly big names. We saw Vusi Mahlasela of South Africa play in the spring (for free), and Vandana Shiva gave a talk at the college sometime this year, too (for free). There are at least several other annual music and arts festivals, and the area is home to a number of craftspeople, musicians, artists, etc.
• Community. Although there are currently no functional intentional communities, the area is ripe with organic community. The population of Berea is a mere 14,ooo people, but within the surrounding area you’ll find many homesteaders, artists, musicians, builders, food producers, activists, DIY types, and happy, lively people. In just the short time we’ve been here already, we’ve discovered a big penchant for potlucks and work parties. I think the scale of the population here lends itself to cooperation and intimacy, too. One person leads to the next, and there is a a tangible sense of informal community amongst these folks. Along one road alone just 15 minutes outside of Berea, there is a permaculture farm, a cob building school, community center, an outdoor music festival venue, a raw dairy herdshare program… I mean, how can it get much better than that? (Those are all separate entities, by the way.)
• More: there seems to be plenty of support for local food, alternative building, alternative spirituality, the concept of ecological and social sustainability, and diversity, too. Though the area is mostly white, the college and town are fairly diverse, especially relative to other areas of Appalachia. It’s awesome to be around more people of color and folks with different lifestyle choices than the typical straight, white culture of rural America. The cost of living is low here, many counties are free from codes… yea, you get the idea.

Needless to say, I think we’ve found a very compatible area across the board.

Image credit: berea-livegreen on flickr