Best City in America

[DostoevskyLovesDoobies]

Here's my dilemma:
I'm an 18 year old high-school dropout currently working as a stockboy in a rural supermarket between Buffalo and Rochester, NY. I'm tired of having to sell my time and my freedom in this desert, and I've saved enough cash to get a bus just about anywhere in this country, to get myself situated.

I originally considered NYC, but I hear squats are increasingly unavailable.
The Pacific Northwest has always held a particular charm for me, but I've never been there.

So, my question is; what city/region is most friendly to squatters and vagabonds? I mean in terms of housing availability, concentration of radical milieu, police enforcement, etc.

 

[stove]

I'm out in Montana, can't particularly reccomend Bozeman, but I was living up in Burlington, VT for a while and it's a pretty chill place.

Just out of curiousity, where in western NY? Went to RIT for 5 long years, I've traversed that area pretty well. F*king hate NYS troopers on 90...

 

[Ravie]

oregon! NOT california... cops are bad. i hear washington can be a little depressing. but i'm going to portland, oregon first off because its good. dont go to eugene unless you want stds lol but really, the west coast is THE shit. and you dont have to worry about a huge city like LA where no one cares of you die on their door step as long as you do it quietly.

 

[Angela]

So, my question is; what city/region is most friendly to squatters and vagabonds? I mean in terms of housing availability, concentration of radical milieu, police enforcement, etc.

Squatter friendly in my experience is usually rural areas, not cities. City squats just don't seem to last long in areas where real estate is at a premium. In terms of where you'll find the most squatters and vagabonds per square mile though is definitely in the cities. Kinda contradictory ain't it. I'd probably recommend that you stear clear of NYC unless you know folks that can help point you toward good places, it's a very big city with a very high cost of living. West coast is nice, although the bigger cities have gotten way over gentrified in the last number of years. This includes Portland, Seattle, Victoria BC, definitely San Francisco and most of the other mid size or bigger cities. Their all livable though if you do a little looking. Sorry if this doesn't seem very helpful but there's no perfect squatter utopia out there, every place has both pluses and minuses.

 

[DostoevskyLovesDoobies]

thanks for the suggestions. i've narrowed my selection of possible destinations from "anywhere" to oregon/washington. i guess the beauty of the itinerant life is that if it's not what i expect, i'll go somewhere else.

 

[DostoevskyLovesDoobies]

my town is called perry, it's a shit-stain jerkwater in wyoming county.
there's no dearth of abandoned buildings here, but that's really the only positive.

 

[Angela]

my town is called perry, it's a shit-stain jerkwater in wyoming county.
there's no dearth of abandoned buildings here, but that's really the only positive.

That would be a big positive if it weren't so fuckin cold in that part of NY in the winter. But maybe that's just me, I like solitude. But yeah, it seems like places with lots of abandoned buildings are usually abandoned for a reason. Western North Carolina is pretty nice though if you don't mind a little bit chilly in the winter(not as cold as where you are now though). The area around Boone/West Jefferson has some pretty nice places to squat but also has lots of travelers and college students in the area.

 

[DostoevskyLovesDoobies]

i've been through north carolina, but never really stopped to smell the roses. i spent 5 years in nashville when i was a kid, and i'm a little wary about returning to the south.
at least it's warm there.

 

[Angela]

i've been through north carolina, but never really stopped to smell the roses. i spent 5 years in nashville when i was a kid, and i'm a little wary about returning to the south.
at least it's warm there.

That's what people tend to think, if they've never been up in the mountains of the south in the winter. It's always hilarious to see the tourists in shorts in February freezing their asses off. It can get pretty chilly, as in well below 0 degree Fahrenheit windchill temps. I don't think Nashville is very representative of the south though. I've got a brother that lives near Nashville and loves the area but I've never liked it very well. Here's some pretty picture's from last February near Boone, NC.

 

[Shoestring]

Right-on,.....last time I was in Burlington, VT, ....there were tons of neat squats out on the west-side of Lake Champlain on the New York side! (where you take the ferry across the lake, that is)......Only like 15 to 18 miles out of Burlington.......

I'm out in Montana, can't particularly reccomend Bozeman, but I was living up in Burlington, VT for a while and it's a pretty chill place.

Just out of curiousity, where in western NY? Went to RIT for 5 long years, I've traversed that area pretty well. F*king hate NYS troopers on 90...

 

[eatmonksus]

i would highly go against washington. i live in seattle and know this place sucks. Yakima, Spokane, Everett, Seattle all are pretty squatter unfriendly and full of nothing but filler culture. This state sort of sucks the soul out of you. Definitely go to Oregon.

 

[Speedy]

Maine fucking rocks, except it can get pretty cold. But people are so chill. They're all just a bunch of old hippies and outdoors people. When i was hitchin through there i had so many people stop that had driven by me and then decided to turn around and offer me a ride. Christ I dont think I even saw more than one cop.

 

[dirty_rotten_squatter]

actually san francisco is a good place to squat. There are some places that if you get a fine that you would normally not get if you had a house ex.-drinking in public (if you had a house youd drink there), peeing in public, repeat offenses of sleeping. you know..that organization will take care of it for you. A bunch of crusties and scumfucks stay in golden gate park it tends to get cold at night, but a nice place to stay with a bunch of hide outs. Also if you go to haight and ashbury and spange, you most likely will get smoked up its pretty cool, the cops have other things on their hands than to worry about spangers

 

[DostoevskyLovesDoobies]

i definitely want to see san francisco. it was tales from the haight (diggers, abbie hoffman, the "summer of love") that made me think about anarchy and "dropping out" in the first place.

 

[mkirby]

Me too, but the last time I was there, haight street was full of overpriced stores, and the mcdonalds at the end was like a hive full of methheads.

Although, I suppose it's worth checking out. Definitely go to City Lights books, and buy some foccacia from the little bakery by washington square park. Defuckinglicious.

i definitely want to see san francisco. it was tales from the haight (diggers, abbie hoffman, the "summer of love") that made me think about anarchy and "dropping out" in the first place.

 

[bote]

I don't have a "best", but this thread needs the words tucson, Minneapolis, and New Orleans in it.

 

[ben-david]

It can get damn cold, but it can get DAMN hot too...

spoken like a true oregonian

 

[dirty_rotten_squatter]

Me too, but the last time I was there, haight street was full of overpriced stores, and the mcdonalds at the end was like a hive full of methheads.

Yeah, its still pretty much like that but there are some pretty cool fuckin people there if youre around for a lil bit. free food all over the place and great for spanging.

 

[dirty_rotten_squatter]

Golden gate park was a mecca for us when i was there in 90-91. (read my story, 'Over the hill" ) Funny that while the faces change, the area is still the Height...Is Chabella's Burritos still by McDonalds on Height and Stanyon? Yummy goodness all wrapped in foil, droooolll droooollll.

No, sorry to say that is no longer there I think its some kind of tat shop or head shop I cant remember. There was this really nice organic food place there too but it went out of business because the owner of the place they were renting hiked up the rent crazy after 15 years. it sucked

 

[XVIII]

i doubt i need to mention this but stay out of Idaho or at least Ada county. There's some squats here for sure all the upper floors of most of the old buildings dowtown are vacant but not many people will help you and the cops are the worst. They're all really bored and like using their guns as much as possible and if they find out you're from somewhere else it'll just make things alot worse. I know quite a few people that have been arrested in the yard as well.