Anarchy That Works for RV'ers
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Old guard booth is now a friendly welcome
sign at Slab City.
CLUI photo
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Slab City is another type of community that is
unique and effective, and represents some version of the future.
An assemblage of mostly "recreational vehicles", it
formed on its own, without any central authority or any apparent
organizational force, largely a result of an increasingly nomadic
and aging population in this country.
Located at the site of a former military base,
on the edge of an active bombing range in the Imperial Valley,
near Niland, California, Slab City gets its name from the prevalence
of concrete aprons--or slabs--at the site. A network of roadways
and slabs have made for an accessible and spread out infrastructure,
accommodating its citizens, which number up to a few thousand
in the cooler, winter half of the year (in the summer, temperatures
often rise above 110 degrees).
The populace is comprised of all sorts, from "road
warriors" living in buses that haven't moved in 20 years,
to "snow-birders"-- retired folks who migrate to warmer
climes in their RV's in the winter. This varied mixture of people
get along and seem to enjoy the variety of attitudes at Slab
City.
There is no government at Slab City, and no fees
or charges of any kind for staying there. There is also no water,
sewer, or electric hook up, and no police or fire department.
Slab Citizens are on their own, together.
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Leonard Knight and his Salvation Mountain:
Leonard has been painting this hillside continuously for
over 10 years, while living in his truck at Slab City.
CLUI photo
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The success of Slab City is based on the lack
of regulations and oversight and a respect for the independence
and autonomy of its denizens. One has a sense of freedom at
Slab City that is at once revolutionary and wild, but based
on that "all-American" notion of the collective appreciation
of the sanctity of freedom.
