The Guardian has a great photo essay on Slab City by Matt Stuart:

“Situated on a former military base in the Sonoran desert, just north of the Mexican border in California, Matt Stuart found this DIY community boasts skate parks, hot springs – and dismembered dolls.”

Sounds idyllic.

Bloody great photos by Matt Stuart though—here are a couple:

Slab city is totally off-grid, as is clear in the next photo (as long as you can move past Broken Barbie):

All of his photos from Slab City can be found in the book, Into the Fire, which can be ordered here.

More deets on Slab City from Wikipedia:

"Slab City is part artistic commune, part snowbird getaway, and part refuge for druggies and squatters ... No property taxes, no utilities or other normal civic dues exist here.”

That’s the upside. Depending on your definition of ‘upside’.

Here’s the downside:

“There was no sewage or waste disposal being offered, leading to a very large amount of garbage and filth". There is no "food, water, healthcare, law enforcement available here" and the single communal shower serves all residents, up to 4,000 in winter.”

Might stick to summer myself.