
The Unbuilt Streets of California's Ghost Metropolis - yitchelle
https://www.wired.com/story/california-ghost-metropolis-gallery/
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aazaa
> Although areas of California City have not developed as expected, California
> City has grown from 3,200 people in 1985 to over 14,000 in 2018. Cerro Coso
> Community College closed escrow on 22 acres (8.9 ha) in the heart of
> California City for a Community College to serve Edwards AFB, California
> City, Mojave, Boron, North Edwards and the entire high desert in the
> Antelope Valley.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_City,_California](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_City,_California)

Many of southern California's big cities used to fit a similar description.

I wouldn't be surprised if in 20 years California City was the fastest growing
metro area in California, with residents drawn by the low cost of real estate,
good schools, a new UC campus, booming aerospace industry, and proximity to
Los Angeles.

~~~
blincoln
It's in the middle of the desert. Looking at it on a map, it's something like
100km from the coast, and ~50km from any major lakes. That means it's even
more dependent on bringing in water from elsewhere than LA is. At least LA
could theoretically build a bunch of desalinization plants along the coast if
they don't find another solution to their water shortages vs. their increasing
population.

California and the rest of the Southwest should be _abandoning_ places like
California City, IMO, not building them up.

~~~
the_watcher
I grew up in the inland Southern California desert (Palm Springs area).

Ironically, it's is more able to water itself than LA because of an aquifer
that gets replenished by snowmelt annually (also, last I checked, they make
the golf courses buy water rather than tapping the aquifer).

There are more sources of water than just proximity to a visible body of it.

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dade_
Tiny in comparison, but I inherited land in Valle vista, near Kingman, AZ. To
me, the history from the documents was more interesting the land.
[https://www.google.com/maps/search/valle+vista+kingman+az/@3...](https://www.google.com/maps/search/valle+vista+kingman+az/@35.403877,-113.8593372,14z?gl=ca)

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ChuckMcM
We drive by it on our way to Vegas. I always felt it was ripe of either
building a "company town" or a giant battle simulator for counter strike fans.

As a company town it would work for some company that wanted to co-locate tech
workers, a campus, and maybe a factory in such a way that they would be
tempted by "live in Calfornia economically!" and realize that they were kind
of stuck where they were.

As a battlefield simulator its wide open spaces with a bit of underground
'works' (for things like effects and replenishment) could make it a more
active entertainment destination than Universal Studios or Disneyland.

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ycombonator
I have a friend in India who drove me to this place several years go
[https://www.google.com/maps/place/Narne+East+City/@17.458150...](https://www.google.com/maps/place/Narne+East+City/@17.4581504,78.7771605,4285m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0xbdb53d28316ae86!8m2!3d17.462147!4d78.775956)
The place apparently has been a ghost town for almost 30 years.

~~~
gumby
It's kind of an Indian tradition. Consider that Fatehpur Sikri was abandoned
over _400_ years ago:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatehpur_Sikri](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatehpur_Sikri)

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fortran77
Take a look there on Google street view. It looks so odd. A few nice houses
(and some not-so-nice ones) next to barren streets and unpaved roads.

~~~
byproxy
That's a lot of rural California, really.

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mzs
The Hyundai-Kia Proving Grounds are there.

[https://www.hyundainews.com/en-
us/releases/380](https://www.hyundainews.com/en-us/releases/380)

[https://goo.gl/maps/xL6rr9tuEZYyTPuE8](https://goo.gl/maps/xL6rr9tuEZYyTPuE8)

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mrb
The first photograph in the article was taken from an helicopter at this exact
spot:
[https://www.google.com/maps/@35.1988405,-117.7584448,1342a,3...](https://www.google.com/maps/@35.1988405,-117.7584448,1342a,35y,108.09h,47.32t/data=!3m1!1e3)

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elandrum
This seems like a great place to hold another Burning Man...

~~~
proverbialbunny
There are quite a few festivals out in that neck of the woods. Eg,
[https://www.wastelandweekend.com/](https://www.wastelandweekend.com/)

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based2
unbrowsable

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sandworm101
SimCity is real and it lives in California.

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Rerarom
.

~~~
Rerarom
Okay, I'm sorry. I just wanted to mark the page somehow.

~~~
noonespecial
Upvote it.

Click on your own HN username at the top of the page.

"Upvoted submissions" is a list of all of the submissions you've upvoted.

~~~
Thorrez
Additionally there's a favorite button. Favorites are public, upvotes are
private.

