Hey there 🙂

I'm new to prepping, relatively speaking, but my family and I are taking it very seriously and we have begun researching various aspects in earnest.

Right now, we're looking for property in Ontario in the countryside that may be suitable for building a bunker. We've concluded that buying property around like-minded individuals or communities is the way to go. Ideally, we would buy land with another couple or two so that we could pool our resources and work together to build something after the dust settles. Unfortunately, this isn't exactly a "common" lifestyle and I don't want to be viewed as silly, despite the fact that it is actually the most sensible thing I think a person can plan for. In any event, this means that we haven't been advertising our "hobby" and so it's hard to find like-minded people. We are taking this very, very seriously - so much so that we are prepared to invest in an expensive bunker and land that we wouldn't have purchased otherwise. It would be GREAT though to share the experience with other couples, or families - people who would like to be involved or perhaps even interested in scooping up land nearby wherever we wind up. Until that happens - if that happens, finding people interested in what we're doing that is, we're forging onwards on our own. So here are a couple of questions I'm hoping you can help with:

1) Where would you purchase land that is suitable for farming and on/near a water and hunting source? It HAS to be 3 hours or less from Toronto, as we have two small children and long weekend commutes aren't easy for us. Plus, we'll be commuting back and forth to move things, etc. The land can be vacant, or it can have a structure on it already. But it can't be too close to a lake as I'm advised by my bunker contact that this isn't a good idea when building structures underground.

2) Where are there other communities of preppers - or places close by/near them, in Ontario?

If we get vacant land, that's fine, but it can't be protected. We have to be able to build and excavate on it. We'd also like to be close enough to hydro to make that an option, if necessary, though the goal is to eventually build up a self-sustainable property with independent energy sources. We'd like to use the land as a hobby farm and enjoy it for weekends in addition to it's practical prepping purpose.

If any of you has a family with small kids, and have been contemplating something along the lines of what we've been trying to accomplish, I'd love to hear from you. It would be great to share this experience with others, and have kids that can get to know each other.

If anyone has also been thinking of getting a bunker, I'm not opposed to the idea of a communal bunker necessarily - but close by is better than living in a confined space with others if we can help it. It's very pricey, so you should be able to at least have some financial means if you think you're interested in something along the lines of what we're proposing. Again, we aren't just looking for a place we can crash while we wait out any disaster. We're thinking long term, and it takes a village, right? We want to be able to build something after the dust settles - a self-sufficient place where we don't have to be alone in the longterm.

Thanks in advance for any words of wisdom, or for reaching out. I look forward to getting to know many of you better, and thanks for accepting me into your community! 🙂