Overbuilt market creating modern ghost towns

Scott MacDonald, a 40-year-old lawyer, and his family were among the first buyers of new homes in Kirkway Estates, a residential community in the Detroit suburbs. The MacDonalds paid more than $500,000 in 2006 for a home that would be ready in July 2007. The Colonial-style brick home had four bedrooms, three-and-a-half bathrooms, and designer touches and offered everything they expected in a town known for great public schools and homes fit for Ford execs.

Everything, that is, except neighbors.

When the MacDonalds arrived, there were fewer than 15 homes in Kirkway Estates, where 179 were planned. Their home was the only one built thus far on a cul-de-sac with six lots. They expected more houses to appear soon after they purchased, but instead Kirkway