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Slab city california- Slab city california
Ever get tired of life in the big city? Want to run away and forget all your troubles, live life by your own rules? Slab City is a place to leave it all behind and indulge in the simply joy of life. You can visit, be a seasonal resident, or a lifelong believer in the freedom of Slab City. There are no rules — literally! For lack of a better word, Slab City is an encampment.
Slab City has been around for decades. The Slabs found its way into being first in the s by none other than the U. Marine Corp. Originally called Camp Dunlap, it was used as a military training facility starting in It was also used a bombing range.
The land was then sold to the Navy, who held onto it for a full decade, in Ten years later, the land was sold back to the State of California who has technically owned it ever since. Regardless of ownership, the land was unused and abandoned once the military shipped out.
The only thing left were the giant swathes of concrete slabs the camp sat on and which the military allegedly tested the effects of the harsh desert heat on. It was then in the mids that people seeking a different way of life began to drift in.
More and more people came — and even dogs, packs of whom roam free — and have called the Slabs home ever since. Even if they are officially squatters. While the State of California still owns the land itself, the squatter community set up in the Slabs infers that the collective is not owned by anyone.
The population of Slab City fluctuates. Its arguably permanent residents, those who stay through the summer, total However, in the winter moths, that number multiplies.
Those months there could be as many as a few thousand people inhabiting the Slabs. The population makes up a wide range of people.
Some with former prestigious banking careers; some who drifted from plumbing to restaurant work; some who struggled with homelessness in civilization; convicts; and addicts. In a word: transients. Many are retirees or over the age of retirement. It probably has a lower crime rate than most safe cities, with such a small, free-loving population. The influx of seasonal residents who might not have the same commitment to Slab City as others inspires drug abuse, theft, and ever more trash.
The price at which residents earn this freedom is by adhering to no government. There is no mayor of the Slabs and no laws governing its existence. But not always bad! The ones that the residents give. Slab City is broken down into over a dozen neighborhoods. Each one of these neighborhoods has its own set of rules decided by its own residents, even its own culture. For example, one neighborhood called California Ponderosa is overseen by Spyder, the de facto leader, who lives there with his wife and kids.
He charges snowbirds a nominal monthly rent that allows them access to the outhouse and outdoor shower facility and two meals a day. East Jesus boasts an outdoor art museum, offering a year-round attraction open to the public.
Their private land and the residents on it are answerable to the charity. Technically, there is one pretty solid rule: no naked bathing at the Mud Hot Springs! Apparently the police made a habit of hanging around to ticket offenders, for the sake of the little ones. The Slabs is the epitome of living off the grid. The residents find homes in the forms of trailers, tents, broken down school buses, even primitive lean-tos … essentially whatever they can find to make their accommodation out of.
None of these homes have electricity like cities do. Each neighborhood has its own means of getting power, many having generators to keep things running. In a place where the streets are dirt compacted down by the comings and goings of foot traffic, are you really that surprised? Trash is beginning to back up, though, and certain neighborhoods are working together to petition the city to organize a waste removal service so as to increase the standard of living for residents.
Not all agree, however, and see such moves as an attempt to implement laws and gentrify the Slabs. The Slabs is full of outhouses and composting toilets. Slab City residents rely on the closest towns for food. They simply go to the supermarkets there. The closest is Niland, four miles down the road, then Brawley, 22 miles and a 30 minute drive. The government does provide monthly food handouts and sometimes visiting pastors come with nourishment.
There is a library, skate park, and a trading post, among other sites of interest. A couple places sell food and there are even AirBnB rentals. The more committed Slab City residents tend to have a certain trade under their belt to help or sell to others, such as welding, fixing cars, and baking. Musicians play for gas money to keep the generators running. Some may see the Slabs as a living art museum. The amount of effort its residents put into creating their homes as well as murals and sculptures is astounding.
Bright colors bedeck rocks, abandoned buses, abandoned military sentry boxes, and lean-tos. There are close to , American families that live off the grid. This could be for environmental, personal, or communal reasons. Mariska is a recovering attorney who gave up her professional job to discover new perspectives of life while traveling in a Ford Transit. She has been living the van life for 3 years and has not looked back since. Susan Ursitti was best known for her role as Boof in the hit movie Teen Wolf.
In her role as a long-time best friend to Scott Howard the Teen Wolf himself , Ursitti acted out the part of the John Hughes always does movies right.
His film Weird Science had one all-star cast and did so well that a series, also titled Weird Science, immediately followed. With the Skip to content Ever get tired of life in the big city?
What is Slab City? History of Slab City Slab City has been around for decades. Who owns Slab City? What is the population in Slab City? Is it really lawless?
Do police respond to Slab City? In fact, there are regular police patrols in the Slabs. Are there any rules in Slab City? Does Slab City have electricity? Running water? Where do people go to the bathroom? How do people get food Slab City residents rely on the closest towns for food. What do people do in Slab City? What is the weather like there?
Are there other places like Slab City? Continue Reading.
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