Absolute Cheapest Place To Live "Modestly" Modern?

[TripleB]

Where and how is the absolutely cheapest place one can live in the US that is modestly modern. By this I mean:

1) No roommates. Not renting a room in someone's house. Complete privacy.

2) Running water, decent hot water for shower, electricity, access to at least 2Mb/sec internet via DSL/Cable or 3G cellular

3) Be no more than 5 miles from a moderately stocked grocery store.

4) If living in a trailer/RV, then located where a tornado/hurricane won't destroy you.

[MediumTex]

Where and how is the absolutely cheapest place one can live in the US that is modestly modern. By this I mean:

1) No roommates. Not renting a room in someone's house. Complete privacy.

2) Running water, decent hot water for shower, electricity, access to at least 2Mb/sec internet via DSL/Cable or 3G cellular

3) Be no more than 5 miles from a moderately stocked grocery store.

4) If living in a trailer/RV, then located where a tornado/hurricane won't destroy you.

How about Detroit?

Here is a little 3 bedroom, 2 bath place on a large lot for $3,299.  You could grow a lot of food on that lot as well.

[craigr]

Where and how is the absolutely cheapest place one can live in the US that is modestly modern. By this I mean:

1) No roommates. Not renting a room in someone's house. Complete privacy.

2) Running water, decent hot water for shower, electricity, access to at least 2Mb/sec internet via DSL/Cable or 3G cellular

3) Be no more than 5 miles from a moderately stocked grocery store.

4) If living in a trailer/RV, then located where a tornado/hurricane won't destroy you.

How about Detroit?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVDDYQlmq0w

[stone]

http://www.examiner.com/country-living- ... fect-match

I'm fond of techno music. Detroit is the spiritual home of techno music I guess: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underground_Resistance

[TripleB]

Detroit seems interesting, primarily because no one wants to live there.

That property's property tax seems exceedingly high for the $h!thole that is Detroit. Even if the city assesses it at $27k, the property tax is 5% of value. Clearly it's not worth $27k or this guy wouldn't be trying to sell it for $3k.

I've also heard the local government in Detroit is ridiculously corrupt. My concern is that if I want to leave, I may have to pay someone to take the property off my hands. If you leave a house uninhabited and then your crackhead (literally) neighbors leave garbage on your lawn, then the city will take it away and bill you several hundred dollars cleanup costs.

Can I really grow a decent amount of my own food in the backyard? It's a 0.1 acre lot. It gets really cold in Detroit so I imagine the growing season is only a couple months each year.

[stone]

Is this for real Can you really go to jail for growing vegetables on your own land in a Detroit suburb? What about the land of the free etc etc?
http://abcnews.go.com/US/vegetable-gard ... d=14047214

Julie Bass faces the prospect of going to jail for what she's growing in her front yard.
The illegal growth is tomatos. And zuchinis, peppers and other edible and what normally would be legal plants.
The officials in Bass' hometown of Oak Park, Mich., have charged her with growing "vegetable garden in front yard space." If convicted, she could spend up to 93 days in jail.

[stone]

Something more positive about growing food in Detroit.
http://cskdetroit.org/EWG/markets_programs/the_farm

Earthwork's gardens consist of approximately 7 gardens spread over 20 city lots spread within a 2 block radius of our headquarters. We don't garden outside of that space. We do however provide technical support for gardens all throughout the city. Though are involvement with the Garden Resource Programs we are able to provide support for gardens all throughout the city of Detroit.

What are economic opportunities for urban agriculture? 

We see the economic opportunities for urban agriculture as very fruitful, particularly in Detroit. While we know that many see Detroit as a perfect opportunity for large scale agriculture to take place we prefer to think it the perfect place to develop and agriculture-based city. Contrary to popular belief, we do not want to see the whole city turn into farmland. It's actually our hope that small scale community based farms can seamlessly fit into the urban landscape, creating jobs in the community and improving access to food for all residents.