Relocating on the East Coast

This guy is a religious wing nut, but some of his ideas have merit!


ADMIN Correction: Complete credit given to: http://www.thesurvivalistblog.net/redoubt-of-the-east/

The East Coast Retreat  Dilemma

By Joel M. Skousen,
Green = Opinion of Hipster

Author, Strategic Relocation North American Guide to Safe Places

Many people new to the preparedness field often get exposed early on
to the writings of survival blogger and author James Wesley
Rawles (Patriots and Survivors). I have a great deal of respect for
Rawles and the work he has done to get America motivated to prepared for
very difficult times.

His books and tactics, however, often revolve around a civilian
military style response to both government tyranny and social unrest
which is beyond the capabilities of most people. In addition, Rawles now
promotes a related concept for retreating called “The American Redoubt”
which consists of 3 states and parts of 2 others in the West which he
feels are the only areas ultimately defensible, where Americans can and
should make a final stand for liberty and survival when things really
get bad.

His American Redoubt includes all of Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and the
eastern parts of Oregon, and Washington. He envisions this area as a
focus point of collecting fellow patriots who want to survive and
forging them into a “Biblically-sound (F-THAT!) and Constitutionally-sound silver
local currency [community] that will give it unity (read religious control).” These five states
he selects happen to be also highly rated in my book on Strategic
Relocation, though I expand the selection to include Utah and Western
Colorado as well.

But ultimate retreating to the safest areas is not within the reach
of all but a few, and is not without serious compromise in other
important factors. I’ve consulted with people for 40 years and most just
can’t just pick up and leave where they live and relocate to one of
these 7 states in the far West? Does this mean no one else survives the
major wars and social unrest that are looming on the horizon? Not at
all.

As a relocation specialist and designer, I found safe retreat
locations and helped clients develop high security homes in every state
of the union and you can too. The concept that anyone caught East of the
Mississippi River is doomed is only partially valid and highly
exaggerated. It is based on the fact that the largest concentrations of
people are East of the Mississippi, and that high population densities
are your greatest threat in a severe crisis where food and public
infrastructure fails—when even good people will be forced to pillage for
survival.

To be truthful, the US coastal plains east of the Appalachian chain
of mountains is the most dangerous area in America since that is where
the overall concentrations of people are the highest and where the level
of individual preparedness is the lowest. The areas west of this first
chain of mountains will become the general destination of choice for
people fleeing the East Coast. Because refugee flows will flow
exclusively westward, Rawles condemns it as unsuitable (at least as to a
military-style standoff) clear up to the Mississippi river and beyond.

But for the vast majority who intend to survive without directly
military confrontation, there are a much wider set of alternatives. When
you understand the principles of retreat location siting, and learn to
avoid the flows of refugees (who will take fairly predictable paths out
of the major cities), you can find relative safety in many rural
forested and elevated areas in the East. It won’t provide the same kind
of long-term safety as places farther west, but you can survive. The
closer to population centers in meltdown, the greater the risk of having
to deal with the more criminal type of looters. And that will happen
near any major metro.

But the reality of all this is that few will find the perfect
solution. Each person has to prepare as best they can given each
person’s limited resources and abilities to relocate. That’s why I
concentrate so much on contingency planning in Strategic Relocation
knowing that few people can just “up and move” to the safest locations.
Many who have done so have underestimated the costs. I know from long
experience that self-sufficiency if very expensive and people
underestimate the skills needed and overestimate the savings from
self-sufficiency. In short, quickly exhaust their savings and end up
moving back to civilization. That happened a lot of people leaving jobs
and buying rural during Y2K.

Let me give you an example of the general choices for people on the
East Coast. The first line of retreat is that chain of mountains to the
West—we’ll call it the Appalachians generally, even though you might
know it locally as the Catskills, Berkshires, Great Smokeys or Blue
Ridge mountains, etc. These are the most convenient retreat sites for
most people because they are closest to the suburban areas in which they
live.

Having a retreat within an hour or two has its advantages in terms of
access and service of the construction process, but it also has the
disadvantage of being closer to the actual threats of social unrest that
will flow out of the major cities. These refugee flows will concentrate
on low valley roads going through the mountains as people head for
other known cities first. When they find no refuge in those other
cities, the concentrations of flows further west will diminish as people
drop off due to fatigue, hunger and discouragement and start foraging
locally. That’s where the danger of a site close to danger comes in:
eventually, desperate people will make it to rural homes and cabins even
in the mountains.

Only those, who are located out of these flows, and not visible from
main roads will have a chance of evading major confrontations. And, even
then, I recommend a strategy of providing concealment underground so as
to avoid armed confrontation whenever possible. While I don’t have the
space in this article to cover all that I’ve written about as far as
retreat areas in the East, I will give a review of the highest rated
areas relatively within a day’s drive.

Redoubt of the East

The first range of mountains can give you significant safety, but you
can achieve a significantly higher level of safety going beyond the
Appalachians to the high plateau regions of Tennessee and Kentucky. This
massive and relatively un-populated area is called the Cumberland
Plateau—most of which falls within the state of Tennessee. A narrow
section goes north into Kentucky but much of that is part of the Daniel
Boone National Forest, where you can only buy land near the edge of the
plateau.

Tennessee is where the most land is available on the plateau. This
state is a famous battleground state with deep conservative sentiment
and lots to offer in terms of lifestyle: great music, horse country,
good growing climate and fine people. TN gets my best rating for a
retreat state in the East. Land is relatively cheap and there is no
income tax. Garden potential is good, there is lots of forest land
within a tankful of gas from many large eastern cities.

I consider the Tennessee Cumberland Plateau the “redoubt of the East,”
and it is my highest rated area for retreats near the East Coast. In a
meltdown of the social order, by the time refugees get through the first
mountain range and the numerous mountain rifts that
confront them—before seeing the 1000 foot high Cumberland Plateau, they
will be highly motivated to stay on the valley floor with its promise of
food and civilization (the lure that keeps people on the march). There
isn’t much agriculture on the plateau (though it is fine for growing
garden crops) nor large communities so there is little draw for refugees
to make the trek up those slopes. What highways do lead up to the
plateau cut through steep valleys and gorges and are fairly easy to
block off to restrict access.

The two major cities that are closest to the plateau are Knoxville
and Chattanooga. Both are very nice cities with fairly good economies
that can support those who can relocate but still need to stay in the
job market. The southern plateau areas are about an hour from
Chattanooga and the northern areas are about the same distance and time
from Knoxville. Interstate 40 cuts across the plateau and links
Knoxville to Nashville. You should give it a wide berth.

The best area for those coming from Virginia and states to the
northeast is the plateau area north of I-40 ranging from the Catoosa
Wildlife Area on up to the Kentucky border where the Big South Fork
Recreation Area is found. You have to avoid the Oak Ridge nuclear
research site on the Tennessee river valley floor (a prime nuclear
target during war), but the northern part of the Plateau along highway
27 from Wartburg to Winfield gets you far enough west and east of the
threat area to be safe. The northern plateau area has two or three
pockets of federal land which makes a nice backdrop for a retreat,
especially if you find running water on your land.

The southern plateau south of I-40 has an even larger land area and
is only sparsely populated. There is a small town in the middle named
Spencer, but I prefer the broad forested lands further south near
McMinnville, which the closest full service valley town to the plateau.
Highway 111 and 8 get you down off the plateau to the East or West sides
of the plateau for shopping and jobs. Check out this area and you’ll
find there is considerable safety in the East. There is hope.

Joel Skousen, is the publisher of the World Affairs Brief, a weekly news analysis and commentary service online at www.worldaffairsbrief.com  Mr.
Skousen’s books (The Secure Home, and Strategic Relocation—North
American Guide to Safe Places) are showcased on his website www.joelskousen.com

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Comments From Survivalist Blog

this makes for good reading…as much as we make fun of you
easterners…this is a great plan..I have several friends in this part of
the world and they love their Tennessee mountains and their old Kentucky
homes…as for the Western states mentioned, lots of snow in  those
winters up there, and it is a pretty tough place to live if you don’t
know the rules of the forest up there, a lot of greenhorns buy up in
Wyoming and the wind gets to them…lots of desolation……lots of dreamers
headed that way and mucked up some pretty decent places…the
californication of Montana and Idaho…(no offense to my Cali bros and
sista’s) .there are places in the midwest that can also service
folks…the weather does get dicey at times with snow and such, but if you
are the type to have no real problems with the snow in winter, states
such as minnesota, nebraska and parts of kansas can be a life saver..as
for me…I am a westerner and will stick to my little bit of heaven on the
south oregon coast…

I think everyone has got it wrong when it comes to retreat areas in the
East. Most of the herd will stay put – waiting for help from the
government, in places they have grown up in and are familiar with.
Humans have a tendency to stay put. By the time they realize that no
help is forthcoming and their food situation becomes critical – it will
be too late. The roads will be chocked with abandoned, out of gas
vehicles and with no gas, no food, limited water, limited shelter- they
will not make it very far. The average ( mostly out of shape) person
will not be able to walk very far, especially with children or the
elderly. It will be a horrible situation on the open roads. I believe
that even semi remote retreats in the East will be fine as long as you
are not near any major roads. The one caveat here is that the few that
do make out and away from the major urban or suburban zones will be the
most determined and vicious ones. The ones who have escaped by preying
on others for their vehicles, food, shelter, and water. There won’t be
many but they will probably be armed and very dangerous. If it is fall
or winter – they will head South to try to escape the cold but they will
stay on or near the major roads or highways. I believe that as long as
you in their path you will be fine.

I think you are right here. Unless there is some localized threat,
folks will stay put. Even when there is a localized threat such as a
hurricane, it is hard to get people to evacuate their homes. And the
choice of hurricane is important. With a hurricane, everyone knows what
the threat is–it’s objective. If (or when) the economy collapses, it
will take a while for folks to wake up.

Our most significant threat will be from folks living on the bad side
of town. Already we have seen an increase in home invasions.

I do have a question for the pack: what do you think is the time
frame from collapse until the masses have died off rendering it safe to
go out? I mean, if society collapses Jan. 1, how long would it take the
sheeple to die off? Do you think they could live for 6 weeks, 3 months
or 6 months?
I think again that the answer to your question is “it depends”.  IIRC
you are in Florida where January 1 is much more hospitable than here in
Ohio or up in Minnesota.  You also have multiple and longer growing
seasons than your northern neighbors.  This comes back to an extension
of your own threat matrix.  What are the mean temperatures at different
times of the year?  What crops (from grains to fruit) are available at
different times of the year?  Are there large numbers of wild game
available in your area that could be harvested for food, and how many
(on average) people actually have the equipment and skills to harvest
this game?  You get the picture.  Just like all of our other
preparations, we must all determine what fits our own situations, from
location, finances, health, etc.  I would bet that with a little
thinking about your area you could come up with a reasonably good set of
answers to yourself, most of which would not apply to me.
In my neck of the woods (Alberta) a jan 1 collapse date would see a
huge percentage of the population freezing before february 1st.

In the big cities I see people staying in there homes till it’s too
cold to do so then moving into the car or trailer. At that point they
will either sit and wait for the gov’ to come rescue them or they will
head out with the vehicle hoping to find somewhere to get warm. So may
head south but on a single tank of gas it isn’t happening. Or some will
head for the mountains because there is trees there and they figure they
can burn them for warmth, not knowing how hard it is to get a good fire
with wet wood. Also they will head west because over the mountains is
the warmer BC weather.

The downside of all of this is that well into the next spring bodies
will be showing up as the snow melts and many homes will be overrun with
waste from the bodies frozen inside.

I think that in a Jan 1 situation that surviving the first month will
see a huge reduction in people in the Province, but also those who do
survive will have been the prepared or the raiders.

In a say June 1 situation the weather will be less of a factor and
the people in the cities will spread out in all directions looking for
farms and food (because most people know food comes from farms) and they
will expect that the farmers will just let them strip the land. Then
the dnager form other people will last longer and people will get
desperate as fall comes along and it turns cold.
US Food production looks ok.  If it can get to market. Logistics will be the weak point.
2010 cattle 100 million head
U.S. 2010 wheat production would be 2.0 billion bushels
2010 U.S. corn at 12.45 billion bushels, beans at 3.33 billion

The problem is going to be people behaving badly. (see Black Friday
events, OWS, gangs, etc.) Disrupting the system for various reasons.  
Nut jobs bringing the system down because they “want their share”. (see
the troll on my post).

A Catalyst could be Tambora going off. With 310 million people, how
long will the food last if there is no new harvests for up to 2 years?
Dominos falling. Especially if the socialist government start shipping
our food to the Foreigners. (maybe Kenya?).
Didn’t Stalin use that tecnique to cull/control his disenting populations?
Maybe TDL is thinking turn in a gun for a bag of wheat.

To answer you question, It will be descending levels of chaos and waves of stampeding sheeple over a year or two.

I agree, also add that during the intial phases of any collapse
socio-economically, the masses will be hesitant to leave the TV. 97% of
people don’t have a any preplanned area of retreat, 97% are not awake
enought o realize they are sitting ducks in 3 – 4 days, and 97% of
people have no idea that things have gone to sh8.

All eyes will be glue to the 24/7 news cycle as all wait to see what
the government is going to do,  the pundits weighing in on their
opinions, etc.

When it happens this is your window of opportunity to get going. The
roads won’t be packed with hordes of people retreating. Remember, they
have no idea where to go. Intitally, there will not be any government
responce, to do so will illict panic.
TN or Burst, You are right, the west is “lightly populated” but not for
the reasons you suggest. It has little to do with it being ” barren,
dry, extremely cold in winter, extremely hot in summer, short growing
season, poor soil etc”, and more to do with the lack of testicular
fortitude of those who move here. Many people who move here find the
life a bit more difficult than they expected, and after a few years they
put their land up for sale and more back to the “city”. Honesty your
post reads more like someone who reads books and less like someone who
has firsthand experience of the west.
Having been born and raised in the northern mountain west I feel you
under estimate us. there are many of us who live in and around small
towns throughout the west who already live off the land, and “fend for
ourselves”. Most have plans for SHTF or worse, and all have the means to
defend what is ours/theirs.
 I will concede that the population centers will fall (as they will in
all other parts of the US).  The sheeple will panic and do whatever they
will do.
We have spent many generations learning how to use nature to our
advantage. We track, trap, hunt, fish, and grow our own garden….have you
ever spent more than one night in sub-zero weather? Have you ever
tracked a wounded elk until dark, pitched a “tent” only to find in the
morning that pack of wolves were tracking the same elk…or you? Have you
ever peered from your sleeping bag and seen a wolf staring back at you?
Speaking from personal experience, it’s a bit nerve rattling.
Look, I’m not saying the west is any better, nor are we any smarter  
then any other part of the country/people, nor am I saying you all
should come here. What I am saying is there are people here who have
learned to adapt, and live off the land (just like every other part of
earth), and that we will get by when TSHF.
So anyway, TN or Burst… you just keep writing off the west. As for the rest of the wolf pack ,you are always  welcome.
Some other locations in the east to consider are Michigan, especially
the Upper Peninsula and the Lower Peninsula above I-96, Ohio and
Pennsylvania, below interstates 70/76, West Virginia and Kentucky.  Each
area has its own unique challenges as far as growing food weather, etc.
 But each area also has a lower population density and strong
communities that have survived and even prospered for generations.  I
personally believe that “community” and people working together are what
will help us to survive and prevail during any SHTF-type event