Introduction

In part 1 and part 2 I looked at the situation we find ourselves in, and then in part 3a I talked a lot about preparing for a Worst-Case. In Part 3b I would like to wrap it up by discussing a strategy for living in the suburbs and leading a relatively normal life, while staying flexible and preparing for a range of possible futures.

As I discussed earlier, I have not chosen the suburbs because I think it is the "Best Place". It is simply the best option open to me - the one that will leave me with fewest regrets.

Building a Strategy around a Little House in the Suburbs

After a bit of thought, I came to a staggering conclusion. If your house is close to a train line, and walking distance from both shops and small farms, then you can continue your normal work when the situation is "Business As Usual", hope to continue when it is "Business Not Quite As Usual", and even manage fairly well in the early stages of a major dislocation. Assuming you have viable goods for trade, and a reasonable security strategy, then a house in the outer suburbs is not an impossible choice even if things go a long way down the "collapse" path.

This is a surprise. Much has been written about how non-viable life in the suburbs will be if oil becomes scarce. This may be true in countries with no mass transport systems. Here in Australia I certainly expect my train to be a lot more crowded than it currently is! But as long as you are close to a train line, and trains are still running, then suburban life is possible. If trains aren’t running, then it is likely that utilities are down and most forms of urban life become much less viable.

I am still considering a nice place out in the countryside, on the outskirts of a rural township (it passes the "No Regrets" test if it doubles as a nice holiday house), but I want to ensure that my residence in the meantime is comfortable, even if things get bad.