"Biking the Pike."

Great photos Justin. Its interesting to see how quickly entropy asserts itself - nature reclaims its rightful due. If you google "modern ruins" or "urban ruins" you'll find various photography sites dedicated to photos of ruins across the USA - factories, asylums, hospitals, schools, amusement parks, prisons. All very creepy and very sobering.
Mark

Further to the urban decay line we're following here, I just watched an Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown episode where he went to Detroit. Holy crap, talk about urban ruins, its incredible. He used a phrase that I like to describe the trend of photographing this sort of thing - Ruin Porn. I knew Detroit had some issues but this boggles the mind. How can this happen? Wow
Mark

I read your paragraph about Detroit ruins.

This is quite interesting.

Marko, I take exception to the fact that all you ever hear about in the media concerning Detroit is negative. I live less than a mile from the Detroit border and have lived in the Metro D area my entire life except for 3 years in Pittsburgh and while Detroit does have its problems, its nowhere near the post-apocalyptic war zone that the media would have you believe it is. The fact is that negativity sells and the "ruin porn" you speak of is evidence of that. It used to be the manufacturing capital of the world here until corporations started making everything overseas and the jobs disappeared. Couple that with a corrupt and inept city government for the last 30-40 years and you have all of these areas of crumbling industrial centers and neighborhoods. Detroit is experiencing a renaissance of sorts now that they are starting to tear down abandoned buildings and young professionals are moving back to the city. We also have a thriving music and art scene here that has never really gone away. I've heard that there is actually a trend among New York City artists and such wanting to move here. While gang violence is still an issue in some of the outlying neighborhoods, I believe Detroit is definitely on the comeback trail. Just wanted to throw that out there...

Jeff, thanks for providing an on location perspective.  I do try to get balanced views as the media does take delight in pushing whatever "reality" seems to be the flavour of the month.  I think there are lots of things going on in Detroit - and this isn't limited to just Detroit.  The worst is the moving of jobs overseas in the unending quest for corporate profits.  A nation that doesn't have a strong industrial/manufacturing base and isn't self-sufficient is a nation at risk. There's also the fact that there is lots of land in USA/NA and its easier/cheaper to move to a greenfield to build new developments than it is to redevelop old industrial sites.  Banks won't touch sites if there's even a hint of contamination so financing also drives development away from those sites.  Its ultimately unsustainable - the development equivalent of the serial killer stashing his victims under the floorboards of his house.  The chickens will come home to roost eventually.  What about decent jobs?  People formerly employed or suited to be employed in manufacturing and industrial occupations cannot all be retrained for the information age.  What does that even mean?  They'll work in a call centre?  Those jobs are being outsourced overseas too.  Nobody likes to talk about the fact that people aren't all equally suited for any given occupation no matter how much retraining you give them.  How come major corporations that were founded domestically and benefitted from a stable political structure, favourable legislative regime and various government incentives and eventually prospered to become major corporations can now, in the name of profits and shareholder value, jettison their entire domestic workforce on to government funded social assistance programs and move their operations overseas??  Also retaining their foreign earned profits overseas to avoid paying taxes domestically. They turn their back on the country and the people that made them successful and they leave behind ruins like you will find in Detroit and other areas of the so called rust belt.  They crow about corporate responsibility while refusing to make their child support payments.  Sorry, another rant.  It must be monday.

Couldn't have said it better myself Mark. Such is the world we live in now. People will have to adapt to the so-called "information age" or be left behind.

Cool! It definitely looks as though it would be a good location for at least part of a movie.

I'm surprised it hasn't been taken by an ATV club and made into a part of a trail.

It has been in part of a movie, "The Road."

Good flick you haven't seen it.

Justin

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Funny how the mind works. I did see The Road; twice. My subconscious must have recognized it. I even remember the scene in the movie now.

Great photos.