Email from a reader: “Within city limits there’s some zoning but in the country there’s nothing except getting well and septic approved. Plus, we’re 35 minutes to downtown Iowa City (birthplace of the Tiny Home movement) and 30 minutes to Grinnell, Iowa, home of Grinnell college. We feel like we hit the jackpot as far as building sites.
Codes
Best Places to Live with Minimal Building Codes: Pocahontas County, West Virginia
“Pocahontas County is a county located in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 8,719. Its county seat is Marlinton. The county has a total area of 942 square miles (2,440 km2).
Zoning Destroys Neighborhood Business
Travel the world and you’ll see vibrant, beautiful, old world neighborhoods where small local businesses are integrated with residential homes. I call these ‘mixed use areas’. This is typically the way towns were set up for many years. In the US and some other western countries you see a stark separation between residential and business areas. This is because zoning regulations usually prohibit mom and pop businesses or any businesses at all in residential areas.
Areas With Few or No Codes: Ozark Plateau
We’ve had a lively discussion for years here on our Natural Building Blog about the best places to live with few or no building codes that make it easy to build a home out of low cost natural materials and create a homestead. In my opinion the Ozarks is a top choice for natural building and homesteading in the US due to many factors.
Best Places to Live: Scenic Byways
As a young man, I traveled across Nebraska on Highway 20 that parallels the main east-west interstate across the state. It’s very beautiful country. The scenic byway was far more interesting than the interstate which I had traveled many times going back and forth to Colorado on vacation. Places like this would be a great place to homestead.
California Green Building Standards Code
“The California Green Building Standards Code (CALGreen Code) is Part 11 of the California Building Standards Code and is the first statewide “green” building code in the US.