Staying in Place

Anyone still in a large city, It is too late to leave for safer places. The people who departed last year have bought up any safe land in small towns outside of the megalopolis you are stuck. Get one year's worth of food, organic seeds, and start a garden on the roof of your building. Have plenty of water and good charcoal/charbone filters. Get enough rice, beans, canned and dried meats, dehydrated vegetables and fruits, flour, yeast, dried milk, coffee, tea, sugar, spices, and root veggies to last a year. This list is far from complete, but it is a good starting place.
All of these items are vital for survival. You will have shelter in the urban environments that are not available in the wilderness. A garden in any public/private land or rooftop will add to your chances of survival—plant diverse and complementary plants in the garden. Many public resources describe what companion plants are and how and where to put them in a garden. My book series From Forest to Food is available on Amazon. It shows how to set up productive gardens and other skills you will need to thrive after the collapse.
It would be advisable to learn how to protect yourself during the impending turmoil. Please do not violate any local laws or ordinances. That would bring down the wrath of the Police and local politicians. Whatever weapons are legal in your area, please use those. Archery is a tremendous skill and a pleasant diversion. Target practice helps calm the mind and build up muscles. Since most larger urban areas have outlawed firearms, archery is the next best self-defense method available. Another advantage of archery is the arrows are reusable. A good archer using a compound bow can hit a target 100 meters away with lethal force. To be able to hit a 100-meter target with a compound bow will take time and practice. In a few weeks, an average archer with a 50-pound compound bow could reasonably hit a target at 40 - 50 meters away from them.
Compound, Recurve, and Traditional bows are not regulated; these are available in most areas. Being prepared is the responsibility of every person. Having food, clothing, shelter, and the ability to defend yourself and your family is your responsibility. The Government will be too busy protecting itself to protect any people left in the cities. Still, staying in the cities after the collapse will be very dangerous; going to the mountains or plains will be more dangerous.
To thrive after the initial dust settles from the collapse, you will need items and skills to trade. Sorry to inform you, computer programming will be at the bottom of the skills necessary to survive. Skills that will be in great demand are building, machining, welding, carpentry, gardening on a large scale. Household skills that will be very desirable are cooking, spinning roving into string and yarn, weaving, knitting, crocheting, and sewing. These skills will help rebuild the community after the collapse. Learn how to forage for edible plants, grow a garden. These are the things you will need to thrive.

Bugging Out

Let's talk about going into the wilderness alone as an almost certain death sentence. Here is my logic for this statement. First, most people do not know how to live off the land. Nature does not care about your feelings or your emotional well-being. The term Nature is a Bitch is very apt. Most people will die of natural causes if they try to go into the wilderness. Special training and experience are necessary to survive in the wilderness. Too many people have the belief they can make it on their own. They consider themselves a lone wolf; it is the lone wolf that dies first. The pack protects each wolf. Staying home and getting your neighborhood to band together for mutual support and protection is the best course.
Secondly, there are limited resources in the wild. Animals know when a new predator or group of predators enter an area; they leave. Let's say 5% of the city's population the size of Colorado Springs Co bugs out to the Front Range of Colorado. That would be around 50,000 people. Within a few days, any game larger than a squirrel will either be killed or have fled the new group of predators. With all of the game animals gone, only the food you packed in will be available. There will still be some fish available in the rivers and lakes.
Foraging for roots and edible plants will be a full-time job. As time goes on, you will have to go further from your camp to find edible plants. Logistics is tricky; how much food does one person need per day? The average man needs 2 cups of fruits, 2.5 - 3 cups of Vegetables, 3-8 oz of grains, 5.5 - 6 oz protein, 3 cups of dairy, and 6-7 tsp of oils per day. Women need somewhat less of each category. Children over five and under ten need about half as much as a full-grown man. These are general guidelines. For a family of three using dehydrated fruits, meats, grains, oils, and vegetables, rice, and beans, that is at least five pounds of food per day. Thirty days of food would weigh around 150 pounds. A year's worth of food is approximately 1800 pounds. How is anyone going to carry that much food into a mountain camp?
The necessary items include shelter, clothes, weapons, ammo, water filters, fishing tackle, medical supplies, and personal hygiene products. All of these items are vital for survival in the mountains and other wilderness areas. There are many more things your party will want. Boredom will set in eventually, especially during the winter months when the weather will confine your party to their tents or other makeshift shelters.
Natural causes are only part of the dangers of living in the wilderness. Some human predators will be in the areas. These fun-loving individuals came up into the woods with a few days of MREs, thinking they would hunt for their food. Now with tens of thousands of hunters and other people in the mountains and fields, they cannot find any prey. They will turn to theft and attacking any lone individuals and small groups. If they see a person heading back to camp, they can follow to see if there is an opportunity to get food or supplies. If you are alone with just your wife and child, these predators might attack if they think they can win. If you are with a larger group, it stands a better chance of not being attacked by those who went into the wilderness unprepared. Large groups will protect each other, so no one goes hunting or foraging alone. Alone in the mountains or forest is asking for disaster. If you are alone and fall in a ravine or break a bone, you may well die. If you are with a hunting party or partner, you will be able to get back to camp for medical treatment.
If you are determined to go live in the woods to wait out the collapse, try going for a week with your family. Go into the mountains, find a comfortable spot and live there with no radio, cell phones, Internet, or contact with the outside world. All you have is what you and your family can carry on your backs. Test your survival plan this way; test your abilities to survive short term. The best test is during the winter months, when foraging would be the most challenging. If you can live a week in the mountain, then you stand a good chance of living through a societal collapse.
Otherwise, it would be better to change your survival plans.