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Small towns?

8K views 67 replies 39 participants last post by  QuickTactical 
#1 ·
A small (populatio: 100-1000) town sounds like a good place to be when the SHTF, at least in the US (I'm not, but I've heard what the towns are like from my Dad, who used to live over there). The low population means they're easier to organise, but there are still enough people for defence. They typically have a small town government (i.e. the Mayor and the other town employees), which would still be functioning in the event of a collapse, am I right? Most likely to be situated in a rural area, near farms - plenty of food to go around, and no hordes from the cities devouring it.

I'm beginning to think that small towns have more advantages than the lone wolf in his several hundered acre homestead...
 
#2 ·
That is a common idea, but you have to be aware of the dangers of small town politics. It has to be a place where you can really fit in, and that might not be possible. You have to research the area really thoroughly before making the decision. Not saying it is a bad idea, but like everything you have to carefully consider the pluses and minuses.
 
#4 ·
I don't think so. Not unless you were born and raised in one already, anyway.

I moved to a small town in Kansas called St. Francis. It's about 1500 people now, give or take. I no longer live there. And the main reason is because the locals DO NOT like outsiders. If you move in, they will run you out or die trying. They will not trust you and would likely leave you hanging in a SHTF situation.

No way.

I currently live in a town of about 8,000. It's small enough to still have some of that small town politicking and community atmosphere, but large enough that outsiders are only mistrusted for shorter amounts of time and they don't really try to run you off.

If I had my way, I'd just move to the very fringe countryside in the community I'm currently in. But, I'd sooner be boiled alive than move to a place less than 4,000 for population.
 
#6 ·
LaciRich - I hear ya. My grandparents lived in a small town in Kansas (~3000 people). When we'd go to visit, whenever we went into a local eatery, everybody would turn around to look at the newcomers who'd just walked in the door...and nobody said a word. It was very odd!

I like the idea of living in a smaller community, but I doubt that I'll ever be able to convince my husband to do so. He's too used to his creature comforts of having everything close by. So the best I think that I can pull off is buying a plot of land to use as a BOL and setting up a little homestead there.
 
#7 ·
one of my BOL's is in a small town(less than 1000) surrounded by farms and woods including mine and my wife's family's. I know maybe 20 people in that town and 100 more in the county. It's a small 3 bdrm house on a quiet street, I'm certain that it's a safe place to be should the shtf. It's 30 miles from the nearest interstate and 15 miles from the next town in any direction. I can walk/drive/ride a bike/moped/tractor/4 wheeler 4 miles and be on 300 acres of my wetlands full of fish and game, water, nuts, garden, etc. when it's safe to move around post sheeple starvation.
 
#9 ·
I live in a small populated town and it does have it's ups and downs. For one, everyone knows you, they know what you drive, where you live and possibly know if you are prepared. Some may take of advantage of those particular things. 20 feet from my back door is a large river. That may very well be my water source if it is not polluted. Someone may try to trespass (which if they need water only i'll let them) on a regular basis. But living in a small town it my not be that often. But a larger town? It may get difficult to try to defend thousands from your property on a daily basis.
 
#10 ·
my vote is a community of less than 10k. for example my community has plans for it's own currency should the dollar become worthless, plans for securing the town should there be national uprising, there is multiple local food sources, a modern medical facility, we are two hours from the nearest major metropolitan city. having lived in some of the largest cities in the nation I would much rather take my chances here. standard lot size in the city is half an acre. heck there is an abundance of people who have never been more than an hour away from this community their entire lives, that just boggles my mind.

one of my greatest concerns is that we do have a national guard facility here, not sure what else to call it because it is just offices that recently have been surrounded by tactical fencing and roadblocks. but i would feel much safer without that within the city limits should the current situations we are all witnessing turn out to be manufactured, I really try not to wear a tinfoil hat and usually shake my head in disbelief at conspiracy theories but this is all starting to smell pretty stinky.
 
#11 ·
I agree in principle that a small town would be ideal, 150-300 people in a isolated area.

Yes, they are very backward with newcomers or anyone who hasn't been there for 200 years. They refer to those people who moved there 25 years ago as "those new people".

The good thing is that both ends of town could be blocked off and armed guards could stand guard in shifts. Planting, havesting, fixing things, communication, possible medical attention etc would work better
 
#56 ·
I would not want to be the new "new people" coming in looking for food or even a BOL. You really have to get to know the locals before SHTF if they are to accept you, otherwise you are going to be run off or shot. Even if you don't now live in your BOL, at least get to know the locals so they recognize you as a friend and not just another refugee and possible looter.
 
#13 ·
So, what sort of town size are people suggesting? I live in a small british town - 5000 at last census, in 2001 - and no-one has that sort of no-newcomer mentality. Presumably, the ideal population size would be one that is big enough so that no-one can no everyone else all that well, but still small enough to defend well?
 
#15 ·
I don't know if your question was directed at me. But, I'll answer it:)

I don't think the actual population number is that significant. Anything from 1000 to 5000 would probably fir the bill.

Here are the factors I DO think are important. And again, this is only one man's opinion. Everyone will have pluses and minuses. And, we all need to choose what is right for us and our families lifestyles

1) It should be a farming town. Meaning, it is surrounded by farmland and the businesses in it tend to be supported by farmers and agriculture as an industry. This is because you want to be where there is an abundance of food and land to grow it, as opposed to an environment where food is scarce.

Remember, these farmers have been working this land for generations. In a SHTF scenario, they will have a surplus capacity, because food is not going to the cities. They are going to sell to those who live in their community FIRST.

It also helps that this type of community, by design, is going to have a surplus of storage, machinery, seeds, tools, etc. They are everyday items in an agricultural setting.

2) It should not be within a day or so's walk from a major interstate. When SHTF, city dwellers will jump in their cars and hit the road. After the gridlock ends and gas runs out, they are going to abandon their vehicles in search of food and shelter. The "offramp" towns will be the easiest pickings for these folks. Hopefully, by the time they get to your town, their number will be severely reduced by violence, starvation, exposure, etc...

3) It should be of sufficient size that it includes a number of non-agricultural businesses i.e.- auto repair, grocery, bank, hair salon, doctors office, butcher, as well as a small amount of manufacturing.

These businesses have most probably been supported almost entirely by the towns people and surrounding farmers. So, they are economically insulated.
Not only do they provide a diversified knowledge base. They are also excellent income opportunities. Unless you are a farmer, you will need to use what marketable skills you have to barter.

4) It should be in a region with plenty of rainfall and a nice long growing season. In a SHTF scenario, you will want to make things easier,not harder. Plenty of free water and 2 harvests on your garden will mean less hunting and/or working for a farmer or business to barter for food.

Those are my initial thoughts, anyway.
 
#14 ·
I live in a "small" town once upon a time in the last 10 years it was 25k but with major industry closeing up its shrunk considerably... I moved here in 1999 but was born here many mnay moons ago, I have family here although we arent close "buddy buddy lets hang out" all the time they were here since the begining of time... Its a very clickish town and thats been the biggest strugle, we here the words "your not from around here" allot, but since we are both volunteers with local agencies its gotten better... small towns are hard, but they are good.. find yourself a local place to get yourself enmeshed in them... we've found the local vonteer fire department in the outlying rural area is a great way to get to know your farmer nieghboors, and if they vouch for you your "right as rain" to the other locals of course the small town politics are always an issue so you can bet even with my views there have been no signs supporting anyone in any particular race in these past 11 years not that I havent supported someone but I dont want to get pigeon holded as supporting whoever the guy was in highschool... because here you will forever be who you were in school.... anyway the small town thing can be good its just nessessary to find one with distance from big citys and not be inbetween where the folks in the big citys are and where they want to be... there are lots of ways in and out of this town but you have to go down a much smaller set of roads to get to the big interstate to get anywhere big... and at the interstate exits are other towns so if the hoarde comes those towns are easy pickins and ours is more work than its worth (I hope) from a looters perspective anyway....
 
#21 ·
We live in a small town [pop 250]. We have no mayor, no town clerk. In the 1930s the town got tired of that crap so they fired the mayor and burned the town charter. Now even the town hall is gone.

We have one road, no stop signs, no intersections. It is 20 miles long. You can drive 7 miles South to an intersection in the next town, or 13 miles North to an intersection in that town.

Most homes here have 40 to 100 acres of land, and about half of the properties have no residents [folks who live somewhere else and have a one-room hunting cabin on their land].

This is our 5th year here. If I see someone hitching for a ride, I give them a ride. When I plow my driveway, sometimes I go and check on neighbors and plow their driveways. When someone goes off the road and is stuck in the ditch, folks will usually stop and pull them out. People have stopped to pull me out, and I have stopped to help others.

If you are friendly, folks will be friendly right back at you.

We have one storefront business here, it is a gunsmith. He is friendly too.

I like small towns. :)
 
#23 ·
The small town of self-sufficient, hard working people is ceasing to be the norm. When the majority of government and collection of taxes were conducted locally, small towns were much stronger than they are today. Now that they have lost their fiscal autonomy, they have become prey to social engineering.

I do not want to hijack this thread with political discussion, so I will try to keep it historical. Any of us who are old enough to remember (I'm only 31, and I have seen a change), will recall a time when a LOT of rural police work was based on the respect the local sheriff or local police could garner from the population. The police had a lot of discretion, and accountability was to the local population, and unless anyone was really harmed by questionable behaviour, the police could let people off with warnings. On the other side of their discretion was the latitude to give loiterers, ne'er-do-wells, drunks, and other persistent nuisances the feeling that they were either going to have to become upstanding citizens, or move along to a more licentious venue. When charity was given locally, it was tied to a change in the behaviours that made or kept the recipients of the charity poor.

In short, people who caused problems were helped, but required to change their ways. Those who were not causing problems were not nitpicked over questionable interpretation of the laws. Such a town would be a wonderful location when SHTF.

But the federal and state governments now collect local taxes in a de facto sense, holding federal tax money hostage unless the towns and states do what the federal government dictates. And states withold funds to towns on the same premise. You want money (which came from your own people, anyway) for that school, you have to build federal welfare projects and require a percentage of all housing to be "low-income" housing. You want to have a police force, it is subject to the quotas of the state and the whims of whatever law-enforcement trends are en vogue at the state capital.

So the small town is now, except in rare instances, nothing more than a branch office of the state and federal government. Go to a small town's town meeting or budget meeting. Listen to the conversation. Listen at how every idea is weighed not in the balance of the needs of the town, but in the scale of its compliance with state and federal programs. Listen to all of the great ideas that are cast aside because the state or federal government has enforced their own solution.

The reason for this tirade is that even the people who are personally self-sufficient are likely to be sheeple in their concept of the role of town government. They may grow their own food and have 2 years' worth canned in the basement, be armed to the teeth, and know how to survive in the wild blindfolded, but they may be unable to exercise the initiative and charismatic leadership to bring the people of the town to the understanding that holding out hope for the federal government to ride to the rescue is a waste of time.

This task is made no easier by the people in low-income housing who have been conditioned to demand help when SHTF, and from the people who have lived their entire adult lives witnessing that town government only has the authority to name parks and issue dog licenses.

So, yes, a small town is likely better than a suburb or a city, but it is a far cry from the autonomous unit it used to be. I live in a small town, and I expect to see the pander-monkeys in town government exacerbate SHTF like nobody else. I have an autonomous unit of governance, and it involves my family and homestead. On almost all of its borders are like-minded allies with the same philosophy. When SHTF, we will be our own community, and because we are like-minded and don't have to wade through the heirarchy of government crap, we will be far better suited to help others. YMMV.
 
#24 ·
Nice Post.

I agree with you 100% that you have do do some investigation and understand the local dynamics of government, even in the smallest of towns. It is a relevant concern and should be addressed. And of course, no matter how attractive the town may be, it should always only be viewed as a nice, but expendable resource.
 
#28 ·
A small (populatio: 100-1000) town
Usually towns that small are not functional and organized at all. Once you get closer to like 5,000 people, then yeah, but a town with a few hundred people, you could see both city limit signs at the same time.

All of my life I have lived within a mile of a tiny town, three altogether. I don't even know why they were called "towns". All they are is a stretch of countryside where the neighbors are a little closer to each other for half a mile. It's kinda stupid. No laws, no employees, no nothing but a street sign.

I actually live in one that's larger right now, but there's still no government, no taxes, no laws, no police department, no nothing. I don't even hardly know anybody there so it's not even like a family.

In modern society, to get the benefits you are looking for, I truly believe you've got to get more like 5,000-6,000 people. That's what I call a "small town". The ones smaller than that are just called "street signs wrapped around some neighbors that sounds like a town".
 
#30 ·
Alot of small towns these days welcome outsiders. Most small towns are not what they use to be. They are no longer self sufficient. They now rely on bigger towns for employment, and outside corporations, especially fast food chains coming in for jobs. Most of the younger generations either go off to college or move on in search for a different way of life. Towns like these must accept outsiders if they want to survive. These types of small towns often become ghost towns and fall into a state of disrepair if they dont.
 
#31 ·
That has been our experience. Our town (@ 2500, as I have said) is, to a degree, a bedroom community to the larger employment centers to which people commute. Of actual town residents, probably 50% work in town or within a few miles of town. The other 50% are commuters. Of course, the surrounding farmers don't commute and wouldn't be leaving in an emergency. I estimate that about a third to half of the town residents would be gone from town in about a week in a SHTF scenario. Without reserves, they would be forced to migrate into the country or to a relative somewhere.
 
#34 ·
Which brings to a suggestion. If any of you feels it is important to keep a reference library (I do)...I know most folks will have a lot of volumes concerning wilderness survival, farming, construction principles, etc...

May I humbly suggest the following...

"The Art of War" -Sun Tzu
"The 48 Laws of Power" thematic interpretations of Nicollo Machievelli
Any volume that in detail explains the Simple Machines of Physics, with drawings.
 
#35 ·
I prefer to read Machiavelli for what he was actually saying, not the commentary of some self-promoting douchebag. Maybe the author of 48 Laws is different, but every interpretation of Machiavelli's advice I've ever seen misses the mark, and does so intentionally.

Have to agree with Sun Tzu. Sometimes he comes across as pedantic, but I think his accomplishments earned him that right.
 
#37 ·
Most of my small town (395 people) is white trash welfare leaches... I suspect they will start looting the town for its beer and potato chips within 2 hours of the SHTF.

At least here - small towns aren't self sufficient. They sort of work together. If the SHTF - people will scatter, making it hard to have any organized (here its volunteer township panel) government or chain of command. My town relies on the county and larger towns for most things.
 
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