5 Common (wrong) assumptions about living in the country

• Living in the country increases your chances of survival.

People actually live longer in urban areas compared to rural ones and the gap between the two is actually growing.
http://www.cfah.org/hbns/2014/gap-in-life-expectancy-between-rural-and-urban-residents-is-growing
This is mostly related to the distance to general hospitals where emergency care is available and how survival rates drop every minute (10% survival per minute) during strokes and cardiovascular disease.
Obesity is also more of a problem in rural areas, even if people typically assume the opposite to be true.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3481194/
Contrary to common belief death due to traffic accidents are higher in rural areas (greater speed) compared to urban areas.
As for crime it does not always translate into more people meaning more crime. Across America (and the same goes for most developed countries) it is fairly common to find low population areas with higher crime rates than more heavily populated ones. This tends to be related more to income level and demographics rather than strictly population size.
As for worse case scenarios, I know for a fact you certainly don’t want to be isolated and on your own to fend for yourself during long periods of civil unrest when the gov. fails and society breaks down. Just google White African farmers to know how such situations go down and what outcome you can expect, even when well-armed.

• Food distribution is more fragile in the city than in the country

The food production and distribution system is just as fragile in rural or metro areas because its basically all the same. In fact farmers markets will usually be held in town where more people can buy their produce. If you are thinking of food distribution during disasters it’s the same thing, you distribute it (or make sure it reaches stores for people to buy) in populated area because you try to reach and provide for the most people.
If you’re thinking of growing your own food that’s fantastic, by all means do that. But it is naïve  to think that in a long term socioeconomic collapse you will be farming away in your farm while the world crumbles around you. It just doesn’t work that way. Venezuela today (the gov. takes your farm, ruins the economy so that you cant produce anything even if you want) , Holdemor in 1932 (gov. shoots you and steals your produce) or South Africa right this moment. If the gov. comes after you kicking your door there’s no getting around that.

• There’s less drugs

This one is a bit more tricky, but certainly there’s more than enough problems no matter where you live. People seem to abuse alcohol more in rural areas and there’s more abuse of prescription drugs in urban ones. More meth in the country, more cocaine in the city, either place you chose to live drugs are certainly a concern and its not as if living in the country guarantees a wholesome lifestyle.
https://www.ruralhealthinfo.org/topics/substance-abuse

• Its more “green”, better for the environment.

Cant say I’m the type of person that cares about such things, but if you do, nope, your “carbon footprint” isnt smaller living in the country. You actually require to burn more fuel and consume more energy to heat and illuminate houses than smaller apartments where maybe hundreds of people live all piled up in one building. You also need to use your car more to get around rather than walk to your destination or use public transportation as you would in the city.
https://www.livescience.com/13772-city-slicker-country-bumpkin-smaller-carbon-footprint.html

• Cities are full of welfare type people.

Federal spending on “income security” (Social Security and various kinds income support) per person is much higher in rural America than in the cities.
Poverty has also been dropping in urban areas while it has been increasing in rural ones.
http://www.dailyyonder.com/busting-rural-subsidy-myth/2014/01/07/7099/

Now, I don’t want to come across as some country hating city slicker. I’m certainly not. In fact I LIKE living away from large population centers and enjoy more privacy, peace and quiet. But I do objectively see that many things that seem logical simply don’t occur as you would expect when you look at the facts.
This is important so as to understand and prepare for the shortcomings no matter where we chose to live.
Personally, I’ve always tried to go for a good balance, living out of the city yet close enough to a small town that is still big enough to have most of what I need.

FerFAL

Fernando “FerFAL” Aguirre is the author of “The Modern Survival Manual: Surviving the Economic Collapse” and “Bugging Out and Relocating: When Staying is not an Option”