I was also thinking about a time in the distant past, when the Great Depression occurred. The town my family lived in barely noticed, other than the news. There were many small family farms and the farm people shared what they had with the town people, and everyone continued life as they had before. They even used the same currency/money they had before, and it eventually came back.
Electricity was common, but by no means prevalent at that time.
When cities see the need, they eliminate many of the buildings and go back to farming – look at present day Detroit for an example. Brooklyn is experimenting with rooftop farming
People would be motivated to put more effort into harnessing the power of the sun to convert to mechanical power in place of electric, which is already possible – and of course all those out of work people would find jobs doing what machines used to do.
I personally would not last long, because my health is currently dependent on a variety of medications that will most likely not be available. However, I am confident that my children and grandchildren would have no problem adjusting.
Electricity was brought into public use less than two generations ago, my grandparents time. We are not that far removed from the pre-electric times to have forgotten how to live. I lived in a commune for several years in the 1960’s with no electricity or running water. We used a well. a fireplace and a wood stove.
As for doomsday predictions (violence and such) I maintain that would be very short lived.