# Stephen King's "The Stand": Vegas or Boulder? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [January 25, 2014, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-the-stand-vegas-or-boulder/679703 "2014-01-25T18:47:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2020, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-the-stand-vegas-or-boulder/679703/61 "2020-04-20T05:11:26Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I’m Canadian, so our big showdown is going to be between Sherbrooke and Hamilton, with Hamilton being the evil one, of course. “Can confirm” ---
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2020, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-the-stand-vegas-or-boulder/679703/62 "2020-04-20T14:16:26Z")
This is only tangentially related to the question, but I’ve always thought that I would select a telephone company central office (exchange) to live in when the you-know-what hits the you-know-what. They’ve changed a lot over the recent years, but the classic CO is a brick building with small windows inside a nicely-fenced equipment yard. It has at least one permanent electric generator and usually a big storage battery room. There are trucks available, vehicle fuel storage tanks, showers, break rooms, and other useful things, including a reasonable assortment of tools. The windows in the ones in my area are actually tall and narrow, sort of like loopholes, and easy to defend. Get a couple big plastic water tanks from Farm Supply, and you’ll be all set. Not that I give it a lot of thought… ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2020, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-the-stand-vegas-or-boulder/679703/63 "2020-04-20T14:27:30Z")
> [@PeacePlease](#): > > Barring any unforeseen injuries or accidents, that is! (That’s what I loved about the ‘extended’ version of the novel was the little stories about the people that just got screwed)! Like the young woman who got herself locked in a freezer, or the poor kid who fell down a hole with no one to rescue him. I’d rather die fast than slow like that. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2020, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-the-stand-vegas-or-boulder/679703/64 "2020-04-20T14:36:47Z")
Too late to edit. \*\* ZonexandScout,\*\* I want to do the apocalypse with you. That is a really well thought out idea. I’'ll be a worker bee and you the leader, as long as I’m fed. Do you know anything about pharmacy? If we go foraging we’d need to stock up on medicines. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2020, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-the-stand-vegas-or-boulder/679703/65 "2020-04-20T14:41:48Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > I think I’d stay behind in Hemingford Home. Somebody’s got to protect the corn from all those damn rats. Man, that isn’t corn farming country out there. Not the lush Nebraska farmland you’re probably envisioning anyway. More like classic Great Plains grassland. Based on what I’ve seen, it’s ranchland mostly. And it’s in the middle of NOWHERE- like 30 miles from the nearest big city, which is Alliance, a sprawling metropolis of around 8000. Cool place to visit, but no way I’d actually want to LIVE there. ---
**Author:** ![Patch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Patch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patch)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2020, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-the-stand-vegas-or-boulder/679703/66 "2020-04-20T20:01:26Z")
Never understood the community build-up in Boulder. Why would you encamp where there’s all that snow you now have to deal with, and can kill you? You’d be better off in a farming area where you can grow crops more easily, pasture animals, and not have to shovel the damn walk and everything else. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2020, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-the-stand-vegas-or-boulder/679703/67 "2020-04-20T20:29:45Z")
I could stand to lose the weight. I’d walk to find a community of survivors. Not sure I want to live with a cult. I adore this book, and am currently reading the UnEdited version for the first time. IIRC from the first read, many years ago, BOTH communities operated as cults. No thank you. ---
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2020, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-the-stand-vegas-or-boulder/679703/68 "2020-04-20T20:35:11Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > Too late to edit. > \*\* > ZonexandScout,\*\* I want to do the apocalypse with you. That is a really well thought out idea. I’'ll be a worker bee and you the leader, as long as I’m fed. Do you know anything about pharmacy? If we go foraging we’d need to stock up on medicines. I’m totally up with partnering with someone who has pharmaceutical or medical experience. I don’t…but I’m an electrical contractor, so we’d have that covered. I already have the COs in my metro area scoped out. I have to confess I got the idea years ago when an alarm monitoring and installation company bought an old CO for their new facility. They cited many of the same reasons. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2020, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-the-stand-vegas-or-boulder/679703/69 "2020-04-21T02:59:10Z")
I’ll pick whichever one of them has the beach. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2020, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-the-stand-vegas-or-boulder/679703/70 "2020-04-27T21:43:01Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Don’t remember why Vegas was the other city, or even that a reason was given. I don’t know if it was mentioned, but it would be a pretty good choice because it would probably be the only place in the world where the electricity was still on after a week or so. There was a documentary on a few years ago (can’t remember the name) where it showed the decay of buildings and whatnot if people just disappeared and mentioned that while almost (all?) electricity plants required constant human control and input, Hoover Dam would continue to provide power without human input for about a year and half. ---
**Author:** ![GreysonCarlisle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@GreysonCarlisle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreysonCarlisle)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2020, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-the-stand-vegas-or-boulder/679703/71 "2020-04-27T22:04:23Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > There was a documentary on a few years ago (can’t remember the name) where it showed the decay of buildings and whatnot if people just disappeared and mentioned that while almost (all?) electricity plants required constant human control and input, Hoover Dam would continue to provide power without human input for about a year and half. Probably the _Life After People_ series. Used to be able to find most of the episodes on YouTube. If not, you can find them at [the History Channel](https://www.history.com/shows/life-after-people). ---
**Author:** ![Declan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Declan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Declan)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2020, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-the-stand-vegas-or-boulder/679703/72 "2020-04-27T22:30:19Z")
> [@pravnik](#): > > Even without the ending, one has all of the prosocial people who are going to work to build a community for the benefit of all, the other one has all of the antisocials, criminals, psychopaths and assholes. No contest. so, your vote for Vegas then ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2020, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-the-stand-vegas-or-boulder/679703/73 "2020-04-28T07:25:03Z")
> [@Cartooniverse](#): > > Not sure I want to live with a cult. I could live with a cult. Assuming I started and ran it. Cult followers aren’t too hard to find. But I’d screen-out any charismatic competition. And I won’t monopolize the women. Just take all their money. But no Kool-Aid. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2020, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-the-stand-vegas-or-boulder/679703/74 "2020-04-28T11:07:24Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > Even after losing just about everybody I know I don’t think I’d want to die. So I’ll go with Boulder as Colorado is lovely and Vegas is in the middle of a goddamn desert. I know this is a six-year-old zombie, but Odesio really nailed this in the first reply of the thread. Vegas or Boulder - it’s been 30 years since I read the book - it’s going to come down to water access. in 1950, the population of Vegas - with some working infrastructure - was 35,000. God knows how low that would go without water pumping equipment. Water wars used to be a thing with much lower populations in the west. They would be again. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2020, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-the-stand-vegas-or-boulder/679703/75 "2020-04-28T14:11:20Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > Which doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. First of all. 99.4% is too low. That leaves 60,000 people walking around NYC. Also, I was under the impression that people were being driven by their dreams to choose one side or another. If you remained in place, I would think the nightmares would drive you crazy. Pretty sure 99.4% was the mortality rate of the flu alone, the mortality rate of people trying to survive in the post flu world was likely just as high. Most survivors would just die, that is a perfectly reasonable expectation. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2020, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-the-stand-vegas-or-boulder/679703/76 "2020-05-09T02:32:39Z")
My local newspaper did a story today about COVID dreams, and one was from a woman who said she recently dreamt that Bernie Sanders became president because Trump and Biden both died from COVID, and he went on TV to say that everyone had to become drug dealers but they were only limited to 5 marijuana plants in their backyard. ROTFLMAO! ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2020, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-the-stand-vegas-or-boulder/679703/77 "2020-05-09T12:13:06Z")
> [@RioRico](#): > > I could live with a cult. > > Assuming I started and ran it. > > Cult followers aren’t too hard to find. > > But I’d screen-out any charismatic competition. > > And I won’t monopolize the women. > > Just take all their money. > > But no Kool-Aid. Man, you gotta lotta rules for a guy who wants to run a cult. Oh wait… ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2020, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-the-stand-vegas-or-boulder/679703/78 "2020-05-09T13:01:43Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > Do you have any skills to offer the Ka-Tet? I mean…except for the kid, they are all survivalists in their own way. > > And at least the kid…was a kid! And did kid things. My greatest skill might be wasting time on the internet. > > I guess I could spell people dragging Susannah around. What “skills” did any of them have before they met Roland? > [@Dale Sams](#): > > 99.4% is too low. That leaves 60,000 people walking around NYC. 60,000 people could disappear in an empty NYC pretty easily. That’s about 200 people per square mile. Or roughly one person every (short) block. Plus I doubt they’d be sticking around marveling how easy it is to get tickets to Hamilton. I’m sure most survivors would have abandoned the city as soon as they could. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2020, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-the-stand-vegas-or-boulder/679703/79 "2020-05-09T13:15:49Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > What “skills” did any of them have before they met Roland? > > 60,000 people could disappear in an empty NYC pretty easily. That’s about 200 people per square mile. Or roughly one person every (short) block. > > Plus I doubt they’d be sticking around marveling how easy it is to get tickets to Hamilton. I’m sure most survivors would have abandoned the city as soon as they could. " They made a musical about Guy Hamilton ??? " ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2020, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-the-stand-vegas-or-boulder/679703/80 "2020-05-10T03:23:45Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > 60,000 people could disappear in an empty NYC pretty easily. That’s about 200 people per square mile. Or roughly one person every (short) block. > > Plus I doubt they’d be sticking around marveling how easy it is to get tickets to Hamilton. I’m sure most survivors would have abandoned the city as soon as they could. That’s assuming that any of the cast or crew survived. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-the-stand-vegas-or-boulder/679703.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-the-stand-vegas-or-boulder/679703.md?page=5)