What do you think: City Survival

Just wondering... how long do you think it would take for a city to... settle down. ie, people that would go have gone, people that would stay are there, and people that have no where else to go are dead/barely surviving....

What do you think? In the case of Situation X, what should you (I) do?

Would it be plausible to head for the hills (right behind my house....), but not go too far... like stay in the woods near the city until all the people have gone and then go back into the city/scavenge in the city? Or how long do you think it would take for a city of moderate (Ok, small) size to empty/those that are not prepared to die/water to be contaminated and people without water to croak? Er... how long do you think it would take for a post-sit-X city to emerge?
See, where I live it is REALLY dry and poor soil.... so why not wait for people to go *elsewhere* and then head back in to town and start farming in people's gardens? (Crazy, perhaps... but how many people know what rice looks like? Or Amaranthus? Plus it would look maybe like the stuff had grown wild, etc... )


Or.... figuring out some way to survive in the city (ie food for a year).... fires.... etc.

I can see people going house to house looking for food, but would they look in the back yards? Would you think to do that? Or... stick a septic tank into the ground (for water supplies and storage... would be safe from fire and would float (to some extent) and would be hidden by grass, etc?)

And also... in the winter here it can get to like minus 20 for weeks... and in the summer to about +40, so the conditions are rather severe, and farming is implauible except down at the river, but that's where everyone else'd go.... like somehow figure a way to capture enough water to survive, ie from snow and rain (what little there is- another reason I'd want to stick around here, if any fall-out etc came by rain (does it?) I would be relatively OK...)

My point is, for me, the city seems the best option, because for those who are not prepared, survival would be HARD. Like food would be needed for... october to march stored, and after march until the first crops would be fruitful (lettuce?) in another month.... Unless there were people likewise prepared, everyone in my city would be SCREWED (am I allowed to use that word on ATS?)..... thus I think "heading for the hills" would not be the greatest option for me simply because after a week, there'd be not much water and after a couple of weeks there'd be little food.

What do you think? What stuff should I get to prepare? Any ideas? Suggestions?

Thanks ^.^


*credits to "Getaway Special" for the septic tank idea*

I say stay where you feel you have the best chance of survival. For many that will mean staying in the city. However just be prepared that as long as there is a sitX happening in the city there where be people you will need to stand guard against and a whole lot of them.

I have no faith in the metro cities... smaller cities maybe but the bigger your city the more police you have to back up the home land security guard when they begin their enforcment of martial law. .... Say under the guise of Swine flu this winter...

To say nothing about the exellent nuclear target big cities make for reasons of economic and military control...

I moved away from the cities,..I just got no faith in a cities' safety.

As soon as food and water runs out..... the city will be the last place you want to be.

If you think one deranged, thirsty and hungry individual is bad.. try hundreds coming to see what YOU have left in stock.

Not a pretty picture.

Overtake a mall and you are set though apparently.... if movies are accurate

Obviously it all depends on the type of Sit-X but, assuming many have died and that the Government agencies are over run or gone, i would get far away from the City. Within days there would be a high risk of Typhoid, Cholera, Gastroenteritis and over such diseases. Not to mention the smell from all the dead.
Most survivors are not like us...They have never even thought about Sit-X let alone prepared for it... Your average Joe, who works 9 – 5, is brainwashed into thinking that the Government is some immovable force that will always come to our rescue... most survivors will be hanging around the city either because they are waiting for help or because it’s all they have ever known. The wild scares most people more than a burnt out city infested with disease. These people would soon turn barbaric once they start to starve.

Better to start stocking up now and be prepared than to run around on the day looking for supplies.

There must be some wildlife where you live... you could supplement you’re supplies with meat from traps and snares you have set.

You may even need to consider moving location if where you live is that inhospitable. Either way, better to prepare now and have a couple of plans than to just react on the day.

honestly, do you really want 16 chavs at your door filled with strongbows and red bull to come and kill you for fun...
il take my chances in the country TYVM