The following is an account of my personal relocation. By Daniel Fisher.
After living in two countries, 5 states & cities, I recently moved to Boise, Idaho in anticipation of y2k and the coming collapse I'm certain will arrive.
Originally born and raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada, I fled south many years ago to southern Florida to enjoy sunshine and paradise in the gulf coast city of Fort Myers. It was a hollow paradise as one might imagine; over-crowded, low wages, alarmingly high levels of crime and violence and an almost non-existent sense of community.
In search of better pastures I rounded up my belongings and drove west to Las Vegas, Nevada for a brief one-month stay. Sin-city was hardly appealing (besides, it's just too damn hot) so the drive continued, arriving in Seattle, Washington. It is a very nice city--if you can tolerate the rain. Many high-tech, high-wage jobs for those with skills. many homeless shelters for those without homes. Seattle has the best public transportation system I have seen, yet the most congested roads as well.
Being a West-coast city, it is a strange combination of uppity liberalism mixed with conservatism. Being of no particular political persuasion myself (That's right: I'm neither "right-wing" or "left-wing" as I see major flaws and appeals in both sides and tend to be a combination of apathy, pragmatism--"whatever works"--and, perhaps, libertarianism), it was a refreshing change from the hard-core southern conservatism previously experienced.
The whole Seattle situation and its mindset became stale, promting another move to its smaller brother down south: Portland, Oregon. Portland is a very pleasant city to live. Its moto is "The city that works." Even more socialist-minded than Seattle, (and a tacky form at that) it is a "people city." It tries to continually maintain and improve itself . Its climate is very mild: rarely dips below freezing in winter. With all the rain it gets, it's not surprising it is all called the "suicide capitol of the U.S." Talk about a depressing place to live. If you want to be constantly be in the doldrums, move to Portland! (Or read this site everyday:-)
By late 1997 I began to sense that a major economic recession or even depression was looming on the horizon after much research and observing the recent global crises unfold. Then after a few months of studying the y2k computer bug and its implications, I was convinced: the house of cards is coming down. Being a natural skeptic, it took awhile to become absolutely certain of this disaster's inevitability and magnitude. Once it sunk in I was compelled, for the first time ever to become a "survivalist." The assumption we all have that food and essentials we all take for granted will always be available dissolved as I contemplated the vast complexities of our automated economy and how y2k could bring it to a stand-still.
I knew any large city would become a hellish in a hurry without power, water or sewage. Being economically tied to Portland, I decided to prepare a site near the west coast in the forest and began building a log cabin as a sanctuary to flee to and ride out any collapse, should it occur.
I started stockpiling large amounts of food and supplies at this location as well. Unfortunately, in the summer of 1998, somebody found and stole the whole load of it (Oh well, at least someone has been well-fed). At this point I realized the ultra-survivalist approach, the type so often reported in the media, was simply not the way to go. The rational approach would be community awareness; your neighbors can make or break you in a crisis. However, 99% of members in most communities will not prepare; they have preferred to accept government and corporate PR spin and assurances that claim everything is "under control." Not many will listen to "those lunatics who say the sky is falling" and therefore make preparations. The dilemma I then faced was whether I should stay in the big city and risk getting caught up in a maelstrom of humanity-- 2.2 millions souls--or, once again, move.
Fortunate enough to be mobile, well experienced at [moving] and without any significant ties to Portland, I headed east to Boise, Idaho. So why is this region one of the best safe havens in the continental U.S.?
Community, Social Harmony
This ranks as one of the top reasons Boise-- and Idaho--are so appealing. Crime is so low it seems almost non-existent in this city of 150,000 (By far the safest I've seen-- compared to all the other cities I've lived). Last year there were only two or three murders, and they were among transients (there aren't many homeless here either). One can actually walk the streets at night without fear. Even in a complete break-down situation, it is very unlikely people would riot, loot and pillage.
Unlike the vast majority of American cities, there exists a strong sense of community. Social cohesion, stability and harmony are prevailant and be partly linked to the fact that this is one of the most conservative states in the union. There is a strong presence of a church-going population with such sects as the Mormons residing here as well. (you know how they love storing food)
Idahoans work together and help one another out. This is the hallmark of a solid community. For example, a few months ago my car broke down near downtown at 12:30 A.M. My destination was a quarter-mile away so I decided to get in a "workout" and push it by hand the rest of the way. During this 20-minute, exhaustive journey, 90% of passing cars stopped and asked if I needed help pushing it! (about 9 drivers did so) This is highly unusual in modern America. In Florida, or any other place for that matter, I would not only have been ignored, but robbed!
There is a high respect for personal differences and individuallity in Idaho, contrary to its ill-founded image as an intolerant, "hate-state." Generally, people seem to be happy, content and freindly
Geographically Isolated In addition to being a small undensely populated city, Boise is in the middle of nowhere. It is 500 miles from the nearest major metropolitan area (Seattle, Portland, Salt-lake City) with only small towns in-between. With the exception of the Hanford facility in Washington state, there are no nuclear reactors nearby. The concern here is the potential for nuclear meltdowns in y2k vulnerable plants. There are also no significant military targets here. Aside from a standard National Guard unit, there are no (known) ICBM silos or anything strategic worth destroying lest WWIII were to occur.
Mild Climate, Geology In the Boise river valley winter temperatures rarely go below 15 or 20 degrees F.; uncomfortable, but tolerable with proper dress and minimal heating. The region is very arid, receiving only a few inches of rain per year, but is nestled next to vast, wet, forested mountains to the north that shed their moisture down south into the desert in the form of clear streams. Spring and fall are beautiful. Summer is somewhat hot, but won't kill you (it's a dry heat).
We don't have to worry about the extremes of mother nature in this region; there are no hurricanes, floods or tornadoes. The high desert sits in the intermountain region of the Rockies, well away from continental plates and major faults. There have been mild earthquakes in the past, but they are very rare. As far as critters go, there are many flies in the summer, but it beats mosquitoes.
Natural Resourses, Food, Water Surrounding Boise (aka "Cowtown") are millions of acres of potatoes and livestock (beef). As the experience of the Irish illustrated, one can be nutritionally sustained for extended periods on little more than milk and potatoes (heck, throw in a good steak for good measure and you're set!)
As previously mentioned, it is arid here, but through gravity fed irrigation dykes running off the mountain streams, agricultural hydration needs are met.
The Northwest relies heavily on hydroelectric power (dams) to supply its energy needs. Unlike coal powered plants, which require the railroad system to be y2k functional, and nuclear power, with all the y2k problems it will face, hydro-power is not at risk from supply-chain problems; it is "free" and renewable. Lumber--lots of firewood in Idaho. Unfortunately Idaho Power is still connected to the larger grid, and will most likely still suffer outages. But they say there WORKING HARD ON IT, so there's nothing to worry about...no big problem. Hey! Who cares if they've only spent 20% of their y2k budget as of the third quarter of 1998? Yeesh. Is this THE safest place to be? Mabye not, but it certainly ranks at the top. Will I ever move again? Of course, can't seem to stay still...but it certainly won't be until y2k goes away.
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