
Abandoned South Dakota Town on Sale for $250k - prostoalex
http://fortune.com/2015/12/01/abandoned-south-dakota-town/
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bkjelden
Sounds like the owner or the bank are just trying to generate some PR buzz and
rip off someone not from the area with more money than sense.

It's a few acres of prairie with some buildings that need to be torn down. I'm
not up to date on land prices in western SD, but I can't imagine good pasture
land is worth more than $2k/acre, even with the surge in beef prices recently.

It's also worth noting that the Pine Ridge and Rosebud Indian Reservations are
located in the poorest counties in America. I've visited a couple times and it
really is striking that such poverty exists in America. The one stat I can
remember from a volunteer trip several years ago was that an 18 yr old boy had
a <50% chance of living to 25. When I was in high school we would play
football and basketball games there on occasion - our bus always had police
escorts in and out of town.

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bachmeier
According to Google Maps, it's _on_ the Pine Ridge Reservation. An outsider
thinking he'd like to own a small town in the country might be in for a
surprise. I went to high school on a different reservation in western South
Dakota.

About the poverty: When I was in college in the mid-90s, I went on spring
break work trips to the Rosebud reservation, and they cited a 90% adult male
alcoholism rate.

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imglorp
The alcoholism and poverty on Pine Ridge and Rosebud are no joke. I think
there's a genetic component and a cultural component that together almost
guarantee it; both drivers are exacerbated by the insular nature of their
community.

I volunteered with the Habitat chapter near there. They could not build on the
res because any houses under construction would be stripped of their copper
wire and plumbing before they could be completed. What they really need is a
big employer to set up shop there: rising tide floating all boats, etc.

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protomyth
"I think there's a genetic component and a cultural component that together
almost guarantee it; both drivers are exacerbated by the insular nature of
their community."

You want to explain that, particularly the genetic component?

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fiatmoney
Predisposition for alcoholism is hertiable.

[http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/aa60.htm](http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/aa60.htm)

~~~
protomyth
Given that, is there a specific genetic study saying the genetic condition is
inherited in Native Americans (and I guess specifically the Lakota)?

~~~
efes
> a specific genetic study saying the genetic condition is inherited

These studies are not really about one genetic condition that causes
alcoholism, but genes or combinations that provide higher odds of immunity.

There is an a gene more dominant in parts of Asia that increases short term
side effects for alcohol, reducing alcoholism.

Europe is suspected to have similar changes through genes that are less
compatible with alcoholism dominating over others that might be better for
most things, but not for the pickle that was the middle ages.

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austenallred
6.16 acres is a _really_ small town. That's practically a large lot in rural
towns.

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olalonde
> even one man from Nebraska who wanted to fill the town with 2,000 Russian
> women and 600 convicted male felons

What?

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jessaustin
Presumably there would be video? There is no explaining the tastes of
Nebraskans. b^) I doubt the numbers would favor the felons, however. After a
week or so the survivors will have hitchhiked to Sioux Falls.

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icebraining
_Presumably there would be video?_

It seems so: "The South Dakota real estate agent said one Nebraska man said he
want to buy the Swett ghost town and bring 2,000 Russian women and 600
convicted felons to live in the town. He wanted to build acrylic houses for
the new residents to live in and set up cameras to run 24/7 and film the
interactions, Syracuse.com reports."

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elthran
Would something like this even be legal? It almost feels like a human zoo of
sorts

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seangrant
Yep, and it exists right now. There are cam sites out there that'll let
attractive people live in their dorm-esque condos for free in exchange for
being broadcasted 24/7 (and being pressured into being "interesting").

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binarymax
I think this is it:
[https://goo.gl/maps/HTZMUk4N2Pt](https://goo.gl/maps/HTZMUk4N2Pt)

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morganvachon
It's just a short drive to Wounded Knee; that would make it a convenient
tourist stop all its own. "On your way to Wounded Knee, stop and stay at the
haunted bed and breakfast in Swett!"

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protomyth
I would caution against using a massacre in advertising particularly while
implying a haunting.

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s73v3r
On the contrary, play it up. Stuff like the haunted house sleepaway camps,
where they can drag you from your tents, are becoming quite popular.

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davefp
What makes this a 'town' and not just a plot of land? I'm assuming there's
zero infrastructure to be managed, so what's left?

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LargeWu
In the Dakotas, the word 'town' is more of a colloquial term. The requirements
to be a town are basically that you have one of the following operating: post
office, bar, or church. Really, because its so sparsely populated, it may also
refer to an area of many square miles around one of the aforementioned
establishments (even if they are no longer operational). It's just easier to
say "My farm is in Roseglen" than it is to say "My farm is 30 miles northwest
of Garrison" (which would be the closest town with an actual government, and
businesses). Everybody from the area knows where you're talking about, and it
helps locals preserve a bit of identity.

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sireat
You could buy a whole military Soviet town for $330,000 sans the destroyed
mega-radar:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skrunda](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skrunda)

The problem is upkeep and finding something useful to do with the place.

I know in Germany some of the NATO military towns have been repurposed.

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jskonhovd
This reminds me of Wilson, Arkansas but that town sold for quite a bit more.

[http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/20/us/arkansas-towns-new-
owne...](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/20/us/arkansas-towns-new-owner-has-
visions-of-its-renaissance.html?_r=0)

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martin1b
6 acres? A town? Well that's just ridiculous. Just to convey the size, that
picture covers well over 6 acres. The white buildings would be the far edge.
Not to mention you would need to haul the trashy buildings off to do anything
with it. Must be a slow news day..

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jmspring
Reminds me of this one in CA in 2013 - [http://www.latimes.com/local/la-
me-c1-ghost-town-20131204-dt...](http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-c1-ghost-
town-20131204-dto-htmlstory.html)

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tibarun
Looks to me that the seller is just using Fortune to advertise the property.

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zxexz
I'm confused. This town is in South Dakota, but the house linked to in the
article, from Silence of the Lambs, is in Pennsylvania.

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imglorp
Lazy reporter, stock photo?

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protomyth
Probably, most of the time ESPN tries to show the North Dakota prairie with
buffalos, they actually show stock footage of South Dakota. I would expect
this is pretty common.

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Kiro
I had a look on Google Maps and there's nothing there except one house. How is
this a "town"?

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simmons
It looks like the only way this land could be remotely considered a town is
its history -- there was once a post office and 40 people living there. That
was apparently enough to get its name on the highway sign. But it's not an
incorporated entity, and doesn't appear to have any substantial number of
historic buildings left standing, so it really is just a piece of property for
sale. You couldn't be your own mayor (as the article implies you could do) any
more than I could declare myself to be mayor of my house.

On a side note, I was driving through rural South Dakota around ten years or
so ago and stopped to eat at a small town diner. I checked out their bulletin
board and was floored that someone was selling a house for $10k. So maybe the
area could be a good deal for someone looking to get away from it all. :)

~~~
bovermyer
As someone who has lived in South Dakota previously, yes, you can buy property
for pretty cheap - including, even now, houses for 10-20 grand.

However, keep in mind that at that price point, you're usually forgoing things
like reasonable Internet, neighbors closer than a mile away, and any kind of
nearby amenities whatsoever. Oh, and the house usually needs a ton of work,
and the basement is guaranteed to be damp at best, if not moldy.

$250k for a 6 acre plot of land with only one good structure on it seems
overpriced for the region. I bought a 5.5 acre farm with a good house, garage,
workshop, and sturdy fencing for $70k. Later sold it for $100k.

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trentbigelow
South Dakota might be a good domicile for a fintech startup specializing in
credit tech...

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tempodox
If I had the spare change I would take it.

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netcan
On one hand, this is a little land with a few building in unattractive
location/condition. Not so queer. On the other…

We are at a point in time when the wealthy are extremely wealthy. The
billionaire club is substantial but even below that, personal wealth in the
tens or hundreds of millions exists. What do people want to do with that
wealth? It's more than can really be spent on comfort, entertainment, sex and
such. Once upon a time money was power, or could be converted to it. Roman
Consuls put personal wealth into political enterprises. They were the system
of government and the wealth was intertwined with it. But, the main point was
they had social, societal and military ambitions.

Where are the people today who would like to create a 1,000 person community?
Where are the wealthy who would like to try a bold experiment in communalism,
anarchism, feminism or whatnot?

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empthought
"Where are the wealthy who would like to try a bold experiment in communalism,
anarchism, feminism or whatnot?"

Flippant answer is that the two groups—"the wealthy," and people interested in
that sort of thing—have almost no overlap.

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mbil
An example of an exception to that rule of thumb: Robert Owen, a successful
industrialist who became one of the founders of utopian socialism.

[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Owen](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Owen)

[http://www.ushistory.org/us/26b.asp](http://www.ushistory.org/us/26b.asp)

~~~
empthought
I don't think someone who died in 1858 is an exception to the modern
composition of the wealthy population.

