Urban decay and evolution.

[Tex_21]

Detroit owns lots of things. Pity it didn't pay for any of them.

 

[bit_pattern]

PBN - You should read 'The World Without Us' if you haven't already. It examines would would happen if humans vanished off the face of the planet tomorrow. Everything from how cities decay to what would happen to all our fuel refineries and nuclear reactors. It's a really cool read.

http://www.amazon.com/World-Without-Us-Alan-Weisman/dp/0312347294

 

[Play by Numbers]

Yeah you are definitely right Blight Von Thorp.

New York in the 80's was similar, then after a huge spate of fires, better economic conditions and demand for housing led to an onrush of gentrification/urban renewal projects for old dilapidated buildings and run down suburbs.

Ah kewl suggestion BP.

There is also a BBC series Life After Man, that deals with this sort of thing.

 

[evo]

There is also a BBC series Life After Man, that deals with this sort of thing.

That was on foxtel recently. Pretty interesting.

 

[FIGJAM]

 

[evo]

Adelaide is ok. Cops an unfair rap.

 

[tandino]

Detroit owns this thread

I see your Detroit, and raise you Pripyat.

Pripyat was a town in what is now the Ukraine, once home to around 50,000. It was built in 1970 to house the workers of the Chernobyl Nuclear power plant, where the residents lived in Soviet bliss until the shit hit the fan on the 26th of April, 1986. The first photo is one of the town square, to the left of it was the "cultural palace"

A swimming pool, or what's left of it.

Equipment used in the initial cleanup effort. The helicopters were flown straight from active duty in Afganistan. A lot of these cars and trucks to this day still give off 30 R/hr in radiation. For perspective, it has been said that a dose of 500 over the course of 5 hours is lethal, so while not lethal, you wouldn't want to spend all day driving it around.

Obviously Soviet-era symbols still dominate the landscape

The town was evacuated at 2pm on the 27th, probably about 30 hours after the accident. The residents were initially told that the evacuation was only temporary, to ensure that they got the **** out of there quickly. As a result, it was like the clock stopped in that town on the 27th of April, 1986. Books were still open on student's desks with faded writing on the blackboard, newspapers on the kitchen table, Kids toys still scattered around the house.

It's not only a time capsule, but it's a window into a world that doesn't exist anymore. A town where the Soviet Union never collapsed

 

[Docker Clint]

Pripyat is a good example, another is Varosha in Cyprus that was fenced off and abandoned after the Turkish invasion in the 70s.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varosha_(Famagusta)

It's sat there decaying away for 35 years with hardly a visitor, the place still had washing on the line and brand new 1974 model cars in the show rooms.. although they wouldnt be in too good a nick at the moment.

 

[Docker Clint]

PBN - You should read 'The World Without Us' if you haven't already. It examines would would happen if humans vanished off the face of the planet tomorrow. Everything from how cities decay to what would happen to all our fuel refineries and nuclear reactors. It's a really cool read.

http://www.amazon.com/World-Without-Us-Alan-Weisman/dp/0312347294

A great doco along those lines is Life After People

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_After_People

Worth checking out if you're into that kind of stuff.

 

[Blight von Torp]

I see your Detroit, and raise you Pripyat.

With all due respect, your Pripyat is a three of a kind to Detroit's royal flush. A gritty Soviet era small town compared with what was once the fourth largest city in the USA. What you see crumbling away there was once at the pinnacle of Western architecture and affluence.

See also "The fabulous Apartment Ruins of Detroit"

http://detroityes.com/webisodes/2006/02-FabulousApartmentRuins/index.html

There's over 60 mostly Art Deco wonders like these ones below

 

[evo]

I like Art Deco but that Moorish one is a shocker.