You Can Prepare Anywhere
By now you may have realized there is a prepper myth that I just don’t agree with. The idea is that urban centers, and perhaps other locales, are simply impossible to survive in if SHTF. I believe you can prepare anywhere, and that the smart move is do what you can, where you are. In my case that is the Peoples Republic of New Jersey, the most urbanized state in the USA, and home to an overpopulation of Black Bears.
Goals
Part of the problem is setting appropriate goals. If your goal is homesteading, then the middle of a city is probably a poor choice. On the other hand, if you are located in an urban area, that doesn’t mean you should just give up. Being partly prepared is a huge advantage over not being prepared at all. I set my goal at being prepared for a yearlong event for 20 people. How many people are actually prepared to the same level or beyond? I would guess very few.
Someone once ran a poll on a prepper forum asking how much food people actually had stored. The average was 6 weeks.
Let’s take this even further. Let’s say you live in a city apartment with a family of four. You don’t want to move at the present time. What can you realistically do? What is an attainable goal? The problem becomes a tradeoff between how long you want to be able to stay vs. storage space. If you want to set a goal of keeping your family in place for a 90-day event, you need to be able to store enough water, food, and other supplies to last 90 days.
Using similar math to my earlier calculations, you need 360 gallons of water just to stay hydrated (more if you want to clean or flush toilets) and 24 five-gallon buckets of rice and beans, or other foods for variety. The rest of your supplies will not be so voluminous. You can acquire the water in five gallon containers from your local grocery. You might also want to consider a water bed, or a water BOB for your tub. There are also products like water bricks to help with water storage. Spread them around so you don’t overload the floor.
Water bricks
Food stored in ubiquitous long-term storage, five-gallon buckets can be stacked up against a portion of bedroom wall, or in a closet.
At this point, add one firearm, bar the door, and a family of four can survive in their high-rise apartment for 90 days. This is longer than any emergency that I have experienced in my lifetime, and Murphy has definitely been out to get me. ☹ In the event of a longer running disaster, e.g. an EMP, that same family can at least hold out for 90 days before having to evacuate. If you compare that to the survival odds of someone who did not prepare at all, in a similar urban setting, the prepared family is clearly much more likely to survive the sort of disasters preppers get concerned about.
Security
You might be thinking that security would be an issue, but the smaller the space, the easier it might be to secure. For instance, you can use security measures like you might use for day to day crime deterrence during that 90 day event. Add a sheet or two of plywood to block windows or patch attempts to go through walls and you can insure any home invaders have a very bad day. If you can arrange a small amount of electrical power, e.g. Goal Zero, you can add security cameras to allow you to see what is coming, even if the power is out.
A well-stocked first aid kit should be on hand no matter where you live.
Summary
My message is simple. 1) You will never be completely prepared for all eventualities, but you can always get more prepared than you are now. 2) You can improve your preparedness where you are. It isn’t necessary to abandon modern life to be much better prepared than you are at present. 3) You need to set a reasonable, achievable, goal in order to prepare. You can then plan and prepare against that goal without distraction by the fact that you may not be completely ready for TEOTWAWKI.
A few people died during Hurricane Sandy, and a larger number in Hurricane Katrina. There is no need to be vulnerable to the next big hurricane just because you can’t see how to prepare for an EMP, or can’t afford to leave your job to move out of the city you happen to be in. Even if we experience that EMP, would you rather be someone with 90 days of supplies, or someone who isn’t prepared at all? I think the answer to that one is obvious.
Set a goal for a level of preparedness that you can achieve, where you are, and then try to fulfill that goal. If you achieve that goal, nothing prevents you from setting a more aggressive goal at a later date. Don’t let the naysayers stop you.
By now I realize that in, a shtf situation, populations in cities will be decimated. There is no two ways about it.
I think you are expecting a breakdown of social order. If you have a breakdown of social order, the death toll would certainly be high, but the point is to improve your own group’s odds, regardless of the death toll around you.
I wrote this post before Hurricane Harvey, arguably the largest natural disaster in US history. Imagine two families in third floor apartments in downtown Houston, the largest city in the area. One prepared as I suggested, and the other didn’t, but both failed to get out in advance and stayed in place through the storm and subsequent flooding. Who fared better?
You make a great point about the advantages of some urban situations. When I lived in a multistory building, it would definitely be easier to defend, whereas my current single-family home is difficult to defend against a mob should that become a reality. Additionally, the mobs would be inclined to go to where more resources might be located. An apartment probably isn’t high on their list of places to raid.
A water bed is a good idea for a back up water supply. My condo was 150 feet from a pond, so I could use a 5 gallon bucket for toilet flushing. Even in an urban environment, you can get creative about prepping. The trick is to just start THINKING.
Don’t overlook the attic space above the top floor of apartments. If the apartment has a pitched roof, there is an attic space. You can stash supplies there if needed.
Thanks and good point about the apartment attics.