[wheresmyusern]

is it just me or is homesteading becoming popular again? jerry brown is retiring to an off-grid ranch. off-grid ranches, homes and homesteads are becoming more popular. locally grown greens are more popular which flirts with homesteading and is totally different from the centralized farm model of the past. and me and a lot of people ive known all seem to have come upon living away from the city, growing a little food and keeping some chickens, as an attractive prospect. i think this trend may grow into something much larger

[closeparen]

The growing popularity and declining cost of solar electricity and wireless telecom probably have some effect on the imagination, and are driving down the level of austerity it requires. The hacker community may be more interested in living "off the grid" now that we wouldn't necessarily have to leave our toys behind. Rooftop solar, Powerwall battery, electric car, Ubiquiti wireless mesh with the neighbors... it has a certain appeal.

[CalRobert]

I love cities, and think that for the benefit of humanity, we should encourage more people to live in cities. It's one of the only ways to live a low(ish)-carbon relatively comfortable lifestyle.

However, on a personal level, I have been investigating homesteading as a hedge against climate change and possible damage (I hesitate to say collapse) to civilisation. I'm not sure being in a city during crop failures and rising seas is a great idea. Then again, I'm also not sure being on arable land without adequate defense is a great idea either.

I wonder if there's a more general anxiety about whether we can rely on the systems and infrastructure that provide us with food, power, water, etc. and that manifests itself in a desire to ensure we can provide for ourselves (though I worry that sense of assurance is illusory).

[zokier]

I definitely feel a trend going on for small-scale agriculture. But unlike in olden times where it might have been a way to reduce a (lower class) family's grocery bill, now it's more of a hobby for rich boys that probably in most cases does not make any economical sense.

[aldoushuxley001]

Small scale agriculture is actually very profitable if you do it right. I know farmer making $100,000/year off half an acre within city of Vancouver, and while that's definitely a bit of an outlier, shows that it's very very possible to have profitable small scale agriculture. In fact, most of the big farmers I know are drowning in debt. Sometimes scale is a burden.