[Cyrus]

Recently, I have been noticing an enormous decrease in the care of buildings and landscapes in my area. Also, more and more buildings are vacated and for sale. An entire complex near my home is completly vacant. Is this a sign of things to come?

[Jack]

Quite possibly. The phenomenon doesn't seem isolated.

[gnm]

all over the place here - several completely abandoned strip malls even - I should photograph some of those...

-G

[Jack]

I don't have a link at hand...but I seem to recall numerous reports that the national highway system is degrading rather badly, and has been for some years. Interesting, is it not, that the system was built and finished...but we can't even maintain it anymore.

[Cyrus]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'a')ll over the place here - several completely abandoned strip malls even - I should photograph some of those...

[jaws]

Almost everything in the suburban system is designed to be throwaway, so it might look like it's falling apart but it was actually meant to be like this.

Just as an example, I was driving through freewayville earlier today to visit my mother and noticed a string of empty warehouse/office buildings with for-rent signs in the industrial park along the freeway. I shook my head in embarassment for the people who thought building those was a good investment. Then ten minutes later I arrived at a newer industrial park where they were building, what else, an entirely new warehouse/office building.

And I don't even live in America.

[savethehumans]

Freeways and roads ARE breaking down.
Electrical grids ARE breaking down.
Defaults on Mortgages ARE going up.
Bankruptcies ARE going up.

The veneers have long since been stripped away. The smooth surfaces have been scratched, nicked, poked, chopped, etc. Why isn't it being seen by everyone? Because almost everyone DOESN'T WANT TO SEE. And when THE collapse comes? Almost everyone WILL see. . .and immediately point their fingers at anyone and anything they can put the blame on--except, of course, themselves.

I'm glad you posters are among those who DO see, so that one can write that almost everyone doesn't want to see! What is falling apart NOW is not (cannot?) being fixed. And yet, we're told everything WILL be fixed before/during/after the Crash. And almost everyone will believe. . .because they don't want to see.

[vegasmade]

I'm not sure we're being told it will be fixed. All I hear is everything is fine, no problems anywhere. Then again I live in the fastest growing city in America. Last month, we broke the record for new home sales. Everytime I turn around, a new building has been erected. Another development of cookie cutter track homes occupied. All this in the most inhospitable area of the country. I work in a growth related field, and am from a growth related family. As they were speaking of unlimited growth today I tried to raise the question of sustainability. No acknowledgement, not when there's money to be made. I'll save my breath before mentioning PO, they'd brush it off as the ramblings of a crazy man. They can't see farther than their wallet and won't until slapped in the face with the economic reality. Oh well.

[Revi]

I noticed two houses being fixed up near the center of town, while another mall like thing was abandoned on the outskirts of our town. Maybe economics are coming around to the center again. I don't know. There certainly are people who want to rent the newly fixed up spaces downtown, so it makes sense to fix them up and rent them.

[hull3551]

Every year the Amer Soc of Civil Engineers (www.asce.org) publishes a Progress Report for America's Infrastructure stating that we need to invest well over a trillion dollars to bring the infrastructure (eg, airports, water /sewage, roads, electrical grid,...) up to acceptable standards. Basically the US is falling apart.

ASCE Link

An another note, I read soewhere where the builders in the US on build houses with a useful life of 30 years. The figure buyers tastes will change in 30 years and they'll probably want to tear it down anyway and rebuild in a few decades. It's quite evident (imo) from the crappy quality of of workanship and materials in even the 'upscale' homes I've seen. I personally would never buy anything built after 1968.

[Leanan]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '.')..I seem to recall numerous reports that the national highway system is degrading rather badly, and has been for some years. Interesting, is it not, that the system was built and finished...but we can't even maintain it anymore.

[lawnchair]

Hmmm. I certainly see it. At what time did the US go from an steadily improving highway/rail system to a decaying one? From an improving electricity/water grid to a decaying one? From improving schools, public buildings, and even houses to decaying and cheaply built ones? I submit 1972. It is entirely non-coincidental that US oil production peaked that year.

[pea-jay]

Here is another one to add to your decay list: underground electrical distribution wires. Forgotten by like 99% of the people until they accidently hit one, these things have a life span of 30-50 years according to electrical engineer contact here at Souther California Edison. In california, all new development since the 1970 (in urban areas I believe) are required to be served by undergrounded utilities.

Guess what? We are approaching the 30 year mark for mass undergrounding. The engineer noted the electric utilities much prefer the overhead wires as maintenance is so much easier.

I used to live in a subdivision that was one of the first undergrounded areas (late sixties) and 25 years later, when ever it would rain more than an inch, the neighborhood would go dark. This went on for about a year until the local utility RE-DID the entire line they believed was the problem (since they could not observe where the actual fault was). Although that did fix the problem, replicating that on a far larger scale with all of the other challenges we will face will give you an idea that lights out for suburbia may be literal and most likely permanent.

[mgibbons19]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('gnm', 'a')ll over the place here - several completely abandoned strip malls even - I should photograph some of those...

-G

[arretium]

I think BiGG is right. The U.S. just needs to borrow more money....

Ok, that's not a good idea.

[Cyrus]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '
')
That would make a really cool photo gallery: Signs of Decay.

somebody did that for detroit and it was cool.

[JonathanR]

[katkinkate]

OH, THAT'S GROSS!!!!!

[merecat]

urghhhh.... spoiled my dinner

[cube]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('gnm', 'a')ll over the place here - several completely abandoned strip malls even - I should photograph some of those...

-G