only really pounds on large cities. Small towns and rural areas hardly notice them, except that the supply of cool toys dries up.

If you're really concerned, move yourself to a city of ~50K people at the most. A city that small is unlikely to end up with large scale rioting, because it's way too likely that you personally know the people you're rioting against, and most people find that distasteful. The worst that happens in places like that is that the local elites (read: party bosses of whatever stripe) might find themselves getting strung up.