Slab City or The Slabs is a snowbird campsite in the Colorado Desert in southeastern California, used by recreational vehicle owners and squatters from across North America. It takes its name from the concrete slabs that remain from the abandoned World War II Marine barracks of Camp Dunlap.
Several thousand campers, many of them retired, use the site during the winter months. These "snowbirds" stay only for the winter, before migrating north in the spring to cooler climates. The temperatures during the summer are unforgiving nonetheless, there is a group of around 150 permanent residents who live in the Slabs all year round. Some of these "Slabbers" derive their living by way government checks (SSI, Social Security, and Social Security Disability) and have been driven to the Slabs through poverty. Others have moved to The Slabs to learn how to live off the grid and to be left alone. Still others have moved there to stretch their retirement income.
The site is both decommissioned and uncontrolled, and there is no charge for parking. The camp has no electricity, no running water, no sewers nor toilets, and no trash pickup service. Many campers use generators or color panels to generate electricity. Supplies can be purchased in nearby Niland, California, located about four miles to the southwest of Slab City.
We discovered that several people are living nicely in this environment and others are just falling below the lines of livability. The back part was more like a dump and several were observed with no means of water or electricity. The front part you could see the water tanks and solar panels. Interesting and probably a good hide out lol
Sorry for the lack of pictures.
3 comments:
Wow, what an interesting social experiment. What do people usually do with their waste water and solid waste? Drive it someplace? (While getting water in the tank, etc.) Are you staying there? Stay safe!
We didn't stay there. In the front part it was responsibly managed by individuals. But in the back was just a dump. Looks like a handful of indigents that are barely getting by.
Huh. Sounds like we probably don't want to know what happens to the waste ;)
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