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Abandoned America

abandonedamerica.us

152 pointsJaruzel29 comments

From an European perspective Americans have a much more "if it's broke, leave" perspective. It may be to do with a expansive Western Mythos ("Go West young man"), or with extreme poverty forcing a move ala the dustbowl, or simply that regional differences are low (same language, laws, licensing and currency from coast to coast)

I am not sure if it is a good thing or not - but a huge amount of the problems with States not being able to adjust their currency exchange rates have simply been dealt with by making people in the losing states move to get jobs. (This is what we in EU expect to see with Greece - exchange rates are a much nicer solution)

I was looking for data for this "propensity to relocate" but cannot find anything sensible. It does seem different than rural to city transfers.

It's also just how big the US is. The 48 contiguous states are more than 4 times the land area of the EU. In many cases areas with booms will expand to fill a lot of space only to collapse afterwards, with no core to hold things together.

You have plenty of areas in Europe where nothing happens too. There are areas in East Germany, Italy or Spain where the only option for young people is to leave.

Americans tend to relocate very often, relatively speaking to the rest of the world, IIRC.

I think there may be some inherent sample biasing going on. I’m here because some European dude a few generations ago decided to move halfway around the world for a chance at a different opportunity, and I’d bet that influenced the risk tolerance of his kids as well.

You seem to be forgetting that that also generally requires some European gal to come over, too. That's a lot more risk tolerance!

In the US, development has been very car-centric leading to places that are very very expensive to maintain if there isn't a solid local economy providing a good tax base. In Europe, this is far less of a problem.

This is the Strong Towns argument?

If you enjoy this type of stuff, you may also enjoy some urban exploration videos:

https://www.youtube.com/user/TheProperPeople

Thank you for this. The channel looks beautiful.

TheProperPeople do a really good job with their videos. Some of the best no thrills UrbEx.

They're the best of the channels I've seen, but that's not saying much, because nothing compares to being there. For one thing, and it's not a small thing - you can experience a place without having a content creator constantly yattering away at you. Granted, not everybody has the ability or the resources to do any kind of trespassing-as-a-hobby, and it's not as if I myself have the resources to go to the same places they do, but even just going to the abandoned factory down the street is - if, again, you can do it - more worthwhile than their entire channel.

"you can experience a place without having a content creator constantly yattering away at you"

That all you hear are the activities and ambient environment is one of my favorite things about Primitive Technology. Also makes them really relaxing. A nice sleep aid, too.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAL3JXZSzSm8AlZyD3nQdBA

Thanks for posting this link. It's quite nice.

If you're interested in the industrial sites as I am, you might find it interesting to know that the New Jersey Zinc in Palmerton, PA once had two sites: the now demolished West Plant, shown in pictures on the site, and the remaining East Plant.

The East Plant and the damage it has wrought are famously described in Bill Bryson's book A Walk in the Woods[0]. It's still standing just north of the ridge the Appalachian Trail passes by on.

When I thru-hiked in 2010, vegetation was starting to take hold on the ridge and the slope leading town to the plant, but it was still pretty barren. The experience following that ridge is unique and unlike anything else on the entirety of the trail. Even if you walked that stretch without any knowledge of what had happened, it would be pretty clear that something had.

Bryson, I think rightly, takes a nuanced view of the site. It's easy to condemn the destruction and deforestation today, but most of us have benefited from the widespread use of zinc.

I wish I had popped into Palmerton to see the plant from the road instead of just from the ridge; I hiked through Lehigh Gap without hitting town, and I kind of regret it.

If you find yourself in the area and are inclined to take a hike to see the site from above, you should know that the hike up out of Lehigh Gap is both steep and completely unshaded. As long as you're in the area, it might also be of interest to know that Centralia isn't far away[1].

[0] And if you were turned off from ever picking it up by seeing the movie, I don't blame you. I assure you the book is better in every way.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centralia,_Pennsylvania

OK, sorry for the reply to myself, but as a former Clevelander, I have to recommend that anybody in that area pops by the Warner and Swasey Observatory. It remains a striking building, and is blindingly easy to find/get to in Cleveland Heights. It's right in a residential area and it's unfenced. You can walk right up to it.

https://www.abandonedamerica.us/warner-swasey-observatory

Wow, never thought I’d see Palmerton mentioned on HN! I grew up in Slatington, on the other side of the river/mountain from Palmerton, and the difference between the side of the mountain facing us and the side facing Palmerton was so bleak and obvious to anyone who hiked there or even looked at the mountain. Yet half the people over in Palmerton seemed to be against recognizing the disaster. changing anything and cleaning anything up, even though they were basically poisoning themselves. Probably “Because Jobs”. I also remember the Zinc factory being pretty stinky, too. Charming little town but what an environmental catastrophe!

Last time I drove through, about a year ago, the mountain looked a little better but the scars are still clear. I doubt the mountain will ever recover fully—at least within the timeframe of human habitation on Earth.

I grew up in Detroit, and detroiturbex.com was the first ruins porn site I remember looking at. It even has a before-and-after picture[0] of my locker at the (now demolished) Cass Tech!

[0]http://detroiturbex.com/content/schools/cass/thenandnow/img/...

I loved Detriot Funk too - introduced me to Urban Exploring - which I've never done enough of! https://detroitfunk.com/rear-view-mirror/

BBC has a great article on an abandoned central train station in Detroit (that is not being rehabbed by Ford):

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/extra/KnxBMVGAcn/michigan_central...

Very cool.

Some pictures have the same feeling as some post-apocalyptic setting like Fallout or The Last of Us.

Didn't realise that Bell Labs was also abandoned, wow!

Bell labs was abandoned, but has recently been transformed into bell works: https://bell.works/. Was there much of last weeks and it's pretty nice. Source: New parent company is the big tenant there.

Do you mean specifically the Holmdel, NJ site?

Reminds me of Artificial Owl:

http://www.artificialowl.net/

Related: Hudson Valley Ruins

http://www.hudsonvalleyruins.org/

Sadly, many of these sites are victims of arson.

One of my favorite abandoned sites on early web was "Motel 666".

This one's not too shabby: 'Places That were'. http://www.placesthatwere.com/p/places-ive-been.html

What an amazing site! It makes me sad seeing the places near where I live (Taunton Hospital and the abandoned T trolleys)... thanks for posting.

I wonder if Startcourt Mall is in their list. And how many seasons we might get if they include today's abandoned real world buildings as escenarios for new ones.

Starcourt Mall was built out of a real failing mall. It's entirely possible that in a few years it will go bankrupt and you'll be able to explore the building, even if the set dressing isn't there anymore.

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