America's Most Abandoned Cities

[stevento]

I thought this was very interesting and I thought I'd share this with everyone.

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/Economy/Story?id=6914381&page=1

I lived in Detroit for many years before moving to Los Angeles. When I saw the headline, the very first thing that came to my mind was Detroit's many abandoned lots.

Discuss.

[bradl]

Interesting that you bring this up:

http://www.lvrj.com/news/39770932.html

Apparently, Detroit has now taken a back seat to Las Vegas. Shocking enough, since Vegas went from 750,000 to over 5 million people in a 10 year period.

BL.

[fivepoint]

Most scholars blame rapid suburbanization, outsourcing of manufacturing jobs, and federal programs they say exacerbated the situation by creating a culture of joblessness and dependency.

Good to articles in the mainstream press with people actually talking about this stuff... sad that it only comes up when the entire system fails, federal deficits approach 15 trillion, and the market drops nearly half its value in the last year.

[SactoGuy18]

It's a problem that can be fixed really fast by looking at the root causes of why jobs are leaving the USA and fixing them. Maybe a radical change in our tax laws and more sane business regulations would offer tremendous help in bringing back manufacturing to the USA.

[mactastic]

Most scholars blame rapid suburbanization, outsourcing of manufacturing jobs, and federal programs they say exacerbated the situation by creating a culture of joblessness and dependency.
Good to articles in the mainstream press with people actually talking about this stuff... sad that it only comes up when the entire system fails, federal deficits approach 15 trillion, and the market drops nearly half its value in the last year.

Just sayin...

[yojitani]

Good to articles in the mainstream press with people actually talking about this stuff... sad that it only comes up when the entire system fails, federal deficits approach 15 trillion, and the market drops nearly half its value in the last year.

Just sayin...

I agree, although I am naturally suspicious of the weaselly "most scholars." 'Scholars' have been arguing this for more than 40 years, especially outsourcing and suburbanization...

[Thomas Veil]

Interesting. It makes me wonder about Las Vegas.

While we're used to talking about the decline of Detroit's auto industry, they do have other kinds of businesses there. But is the same true of Vegas? Or are they even more heavily dependent on the gambling business than Detroit is on autos?

[mkrishnan]

But is the same true of Vegas? Or are they even more heavily dependent on the gambling business than Detroit is on autos?

I don't know numbers, but it seems to me that the gaming / entertainment / conference industry is a huge part of LV. If you leave the strip in Vegas, you see something so different that it scarcely seems to belong in the same city.

As for Atlanta, I was actually just there and I was really surprised as I'd never really noticed this about ATL before. However, I took some bus rides looking for nightlife and it struck me as very Detroit-like how much underdevelopment there was inside the city.

[Unspeaked]

I don't know numbers, but it seems to me that the gaming / entertainment / conference industry is a huge part of LV. If you leave the strip in Vegas, you see something so different that it scarcely seems to belong in the same city.

I think it's like the difference between Disneyworld and the area just around Disneyworld in Florida.

I don't think non-strip Vegas is bad by any means. It reminds me a little of northern California. A lot of gated communities, a lot of strip malls and a lot of trees.

Now, the area immediately outside of the strip - that can be kind of scary.

[mkrishnan]

Now, the area immediately outside of the strip - that can be kind of scary.

Perhaps that was more what I meant / was thinking of... the area like the downtown area that the mayor was talking about revitalizing. That can give the bad part of Detroit a serious run for its money. :eek:

[mactastic]

I agree, although I am naturally suspicious of the weaselly "most scholars." 'Scholars' have been arguing this for more than 40 years, especially outsourcing and suburbanization...
Actually I was just pointing out what a particular political bias will focus on. I don't trust anyone who uses wishy-washy language like "most scholars". It's patently ridiculous on it's face to base any kind of factual argument on such flimsy evidence.

[63dot]

I don't want to curse my South Bay area hometown, so I won't mention it, but it went from 4400 people down to 1900 people over the past two decades. The fishing industry practically dried up, our biggest employer left for another state, and real estate prices got too high. Now it's a ghost town and the only good thing is that we don't ever have "rush hour" traffic per se except for a few small stretches of highway here and there.

I have heard about boom towns having lost their population, but I thought it was mostly old gold mining towns in California. I didn't think I would see such a huge downward population trend right in my own backyard.

My elementary school got closed down, the 4-year university extension campus where I got my degree and did some graduate work at is going to shut their doors, and another university got sold off to an east coast university.

The recession many talk about happening in 2006 or 2007 started here in the late 1980s/early 1990s. Many factors contributed to this, but the worst theories I have heard around here is that it's because Ronald Reagan left office! :)