The American Great Plains region is splattered with ghost towns. From coast to coast there are hundreds of towns that have been abandoned by prior residents and now are just shells of their former selves. Since America's birth, towns like Bodie, California and Tombstone, Arizona have become some of the most notable deserted cities and due to the mortgage meltdown, newly abandoned towns are become part of the mix.
The newest crops of ghost towns are being defined as having more than 10,000 homes, with vacancy rates above 55 percent (The Atlantic). Although there are no concrete statistics on how the real estate fiasco fueled by foreclosure and home loan defaults impacted the towns, the relationship has been clearly demonstrated by the mass exodus of the original residents and the tumbleweeds that now fill the empty streets.
What Causes Ghost Towns
Evolution is a natural occurrence and only the strong will survive. During their heydays, American ghost towns were bustling cities filled with people, commerce and livelihood, but once a shift takes place, towns can be abandoned for good. In the nation, there are hundreds of ghost towns still standing and they have lost a third of their population since 1920. The mortgage meltdown is the latest reason for causing town abandonment.
Within the United States, some reasons for town abandonment include, the US Highway System replacing railroads (as the towns built around railroad stops could not survive without that mode of transport), highway upgrades (the death of the towns on Route 66 was caused by drivers favoring I-44 and I-40), depletion of natural resources (including gold and other minerals) and natural disasters.
America's Newest Ghost Towns
The nation is plagued with empty towns abandoned when economic growth converted into a downward spiral. As fair market values of homes declined and the recession kicked into high gear, the vacancy rates in the newest ghost towns shot upward to 66 percent. According to research conducted by The Atlantic here are the latest additions to America's ghost town roster:
- Lake County: Michigan: vacancy rate of 66 percent.
- Vilas County: Wisconsin: vacancy rate of 62 percent.
- Summit County: Colorado: vacancy rate of 61 percent.
- Worcester County: Maryland: vacancy rate of 60 percent.
- Mono County: California: vacancy rate of 59 percent.
- Dare County: North Carolina: vacancy rate of 57 percent.
- Dukes County: Massachusetts: vacancy rate of 57 percent.
- Sawyer County: Wisconsin: vacancy rate of 56 percent.
- Burnett County: Wisconsin: vacancy rate of 55 percent.
- Aitken County: Minnesota: vacancy rate of 54 percent.
All these towns are less than a two-hour drive from a major metropolitan center. Additionally, most of the cities are booming areas for vacation homes, but the recession killed the revenue stream associated with that business and upped their odds of earning ghost town status.
The Future of Ghost Towns
Some of the nation's most historic ghost towns have been brought to life by tourism. Bannack, Montana, became a ghost town after gold mining became a thing of the past and is now a well-preserved ghost town turned state park. Medicine Mound ghost town in Texas still lives on courtesy of a local museum established on one of the two buildings still standing. At this point, it is too early to tell if future generations will flock to the regions killed by the economy at large, however, hope springs eternal.
