RE: Pandemic Survival Before SHTF
My friend was one of those preparing to bug out. He would get so angry with me when I pointed out that more likely than not, by the time one is aware they need to bug out if they are in a city, it's going to be to late. They will have restricted travel, and it's possible that armed LE and/or military groups will be more of a threat than mobs. Best solution is having somewhere outside the large cities to begin with, and second best if one can't do that is prepare to bug in.
There is also an alternative between the two if one lives on the outskirts of a city. Try to find somewhere difficult to access outside of the city that wouldn't draw adventurous people and stockpile some things there in the hopes others don't go there and discover your stash. Somewhere you could travel on foot with a likelihood of being unseen if the shtf.
I agree. Unless you get out of the city early...plan on bugging in. I just moved to a small town but I am in an apartment building. Not the best when it comes to unprepared, hungry, scared, upset neighbors. I have been looking for someplace local out of the way with a water supply in case we need to just get hidden for awhile. I already have a place picked out to go live for awhile about 10 miles away as an option. Otherwise we too would need to leave very early to get to really and truly remote areas that have both a food and water supply. The problem here is all the farms. This means contaminated by pesticides water sources everywhere and no real forests to support a food chain.