--- title: Off the Grid in Slab City, California | TIME description: Settlers of the Slab City community live with no power or running water. It’s a cheap life for those trying to get back on their feet, but it can be dangerous canonical: https://time.com/video/XRQL3yq1/ og:title: Off the Grid in Slab City, California og:description: Settlers of the Slab City community live with no power or running water. It’s a cheap life for those trying to get back on their feet, but it can be dangerous og:url: https://time.com/video/XRQL3yq1/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/XRQL3yq1/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Off the Grid in Slab City, California twitter:description: Settlers of the Slab City community live with no power or running water. It’s a cheap life for those trying to get back on their feet, but it can be dangerous twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/XRQL3yq1/poster.jpg?width=720 --- # Off the Grid in Slab City, California > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Subscription: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME is a general-interest news organization founded in 1923, reporting on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world. A TIME subscription provides full access to that journalism in print and digital, from $20 a year, and can be cancelled at any time. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: Off the Grid in Slab City, California [Watch (HLS stream): Off the Grid in Slab City, California](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/XRQL3yq1.m3u8) (5:16)  _Published 2012-03-12. Settlers of the Slab City community live with no power or running water. It’s a cheap life for those trying to get back on their feet, but it can be dangerous_ --- Jul 27, 2023 3:22 PM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [Blackouts Possible Again as Fire Danger Looms in California](/video/PBIAjoyg/) ### Blackouts Possible Again as Fire Danger Looms in California [Try This Healthy, Cheap Late-Night Snack MONEY](/video/Ssv2NfLc/) ### Try This Healthy, Cheap Late-Night Snack MONEY [Starbucks Water Comes From Drought-Stricken California](/video/F4jzj8Hv/) ### Starbucks Water Comes From Drought-Stricken California --- ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] We did what we were told, we were supposed to do, you know, get an education, buy a house in the suburbs, two cars. Run your credit up [ LAUGH ]. Pay it off slowly. When the economy tanked Joe Angieo and his wife Anna lost their home and business in the Chicago suburbs. With debts pilling up they bought a motor home and drove to slab city. A squatters camp deep in the southern Californian desert. [ NOISE ] We're looking for somebody to let us come experiment the off- grid living. Getting more for out buck out of our environment. Rent free living comes with a price, of course. There's no electricity or running water on the slabs. Paid work is scarce, and so is the law. But the Indreals insist a lean life style has given a boost to their marriage and health, along with their savings. We went from spending anywhere from two to three grand a month. To now our outputs less than $ 200. 00 a month. Recession refugees like them are just the latest tribe to call slab city home. For decades, the anything goes atmosphere of the World War Two era military site has attracted drifters and dropouts of all kinds. [ CROSSTALK ] I had all the toys, I was living in a real nice condo overlooking the Manhattan skyline. I came to the conclusion that If you're smart enough to figure out how to get out of the rat race, well then you're pretty damn bright. Yeah, I belong in a rest home. [ LAUGH ] But I don't wanna go. That'd kill me, I'd die. Whatever brought them here One rule is always applied. Respect your neighbors or stay the hell away. [ NOISE ] Pretty much close to the old west as you're ever gonna get. You know? I mean, we don't, most of us don't own guns or any of that garbage, but we, we have problems, we take care of it. Over the years a one of a kid community has emerged. With coffee clubs and internet cafe. Thermal hot springs near by and camping fire gatherings almost every night. [ MUSIC ] There's even a 18 hole golf course. wow. Nice putt. Still, as one might expect in a place this remote, the slabs have a darker side. I can't tell you how many fist fights I've been in, I can tell you I've been shot at four or five times. I can tell you I've been stabbed a couple times. In his 40 plus years as fire marshall of Nylund, the nearest town, Mike Aleksic has been a busy man. While crime has always been a problem in the area, he says a crystal meth epidemic has made things worse. I went back with my wife, and the guy steps out with a shotgun and says you're trespassing. He's wearing coveralls. I said okay. My wife's going. We ain't tress- passing this state land, we can come in here if we want. Shut up woman, he's got a gun. You got a gun. Well he's got a shotgun pointed at us, so. Alright, well anyway, we ended up busting a meth lab there two weeks later. [ NOISE ] In hard economic times, lawlessness has not deterred some families from coming to slab city That's Aly there. Aly. Shotgun Vince Neil lost his home, and audio visual business in northern California. So the wife and I. And, and, well, seven of our eight kids ended up out there. He first visited the slabs as a boy. And returned last year with his wife and kids to cut costs and get back on their feet. [ SOUND ] The great outdoors have since become a classroom. [ NOISE ] There are scorpions and rattlesnakes and everything. But I've been training them to, to be scorpion and snake wranglers. So, they're getting more of an education out here than they would in a regular city. It's a challenge. You know it's harder for me, you know, to really be more open to people out here. This is home for now but hopefully this summer, we'll be back in LA. And, and trying to get work. Viangio are also planning to leave before the infernal summer heat arrives. But they've managed to adapt to the demands of the desert. Well, almost. Sorry my toilet's always flushed up until two months ago. [ LAUGH ] For Time Video, this is Jason [ UNKNOWN ] in Slab City. 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