| Archive for Downsizer For an ethical approach to consumption |
| Douglas in Transilvania |
Lots of smallholdings available in TransilvaniaWhole villages are empty of occupants. Traditional timber and mud houses are falling into ruin. Every house has an attached piece of land, usually enough to start a permaculture lifestyle and often enough to produce a sellable surplus. Low Impact Living Transylvania exists to save these houses and offer downsizers from western Europe the opportunity to have a positive impact on the existing traditional communities enormously under threat from corporate capitalism.Our webserver seems to have crashed. You can contact us: douglasmcfarlane@hotmail.com Tel Romania 0264 351150 |
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| sally_in_wales |
How about a quick overview of what a potential lifestyle relocation from the UK to Transylvania would involve Douglas? I always find its really interesting to hear about fundamental differences in things like availability of services, legal or government things that have to be adapted to (taxes, planning peculiarities etc) and any other things that become important if someone decided to relocate. Its so easy to just look at othre countries and focus on climate, scenery, and so on and forget the mechanics of trying to live in a modern world as well. 
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| alisjs |
hi Douglas....was it your organisation that gave a presentation at CAT members conference a couple of months ago? | ||
| Douglas in Transilvania |
Yes we gave a presentation at CAT conference. Unfortunately I said a lot about the history of Transilvania and not much about us. I could say you can find out more on the website, but unfortunately our server is no longer functioning. Email us at douglasmcfarlane@hotmail.com for more info. |
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| James |
douglas- what sort of costs are involved, say for a small house, water supply and a few acres? | ||
| dougal |
One basic question - how is land ownership proved over there?
How do you know that the person you are buying from is the real (and undisputed) owner? |
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| mochyn |
I have only one comment.
Transilvanian Families. |
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| MarkS |
yep. |
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| Behemoth |
Health, education and why are these places empty?
Are people being forced out or are they moving out of choice for a more comfortable life and paid employment? |
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| mochyn |
Also, are you allowed to buy land? I know it's not that easy in Hungary, for example. You need some sort of proof of residence, or something. | ||
| James |
yeh, thats my concern also. However...if they trully are empty, then is it justifyable to use the land for a productive purpose? In Croatia there's a large proportion of farms that are derrilict. This is becuase of the war, then a move to towns chasing the tourist dollar. (interestingly, there's a marked difference in attitude between the croatian 'landowners' and the western Europeans- the Croatians dont have land boundaries to speak of, and anyone can walk throughout the fields and farmland. The only locked gates we saw were had English, French or German signs on them.) |