[nullc]

In the US you can buy land at quantity for, say, ~$1k/acre in places where there aren't people/infrastructure/etc...

There is no shortage of land in the US. There is a shortage of land in a few high density areas. But increasing their density makes them more attractive.

I don't think it's reasonable to make the pioneer comparison-- if you want to do what pioneers did and build something from almost nothing in the middle of nowhere with great effort then there is still an analogous route open to you.

[EVa5I7bHFq9mnYK]

There is a lot of land for $100/acre. The main problem with that land is there is no water.

[nullc]

Indeed, though at $1000/ you can be proximal to subsurface water at least... Perhaps not enough for intensive agriculture, but absolutely enough to live.