Sunday, August 7, 2011

Real Estate

Inasmuch as the Girlfriend and I are in the market for a new apartment, I thought I'd look about and see what's available. Certainly some places can be had for cheap (thought I suspect that prices may have risen).

However, there is one particular bit of realty that I'm quite certain has not seen a dramatic climb in value. Picher, OK which sounds pretty much like Hell on Earth:

Although most of the residents have left, a few still linger amid the vacant buildings and desolate roads, where trucks hauling away polluted waste are the only traffic. With no electric, city, or police services, the town is dark and unattended, frequently vandalized and subject to theft. Founded in 1918, Picher hit hard times when the mining companies pulled out, and the population had already sunk to around 1,700 when the buyouts started. During World War I and II, Picher was busy with the lead-ore extraction for producing bullets, and saloons with names like the Bloody Knuckle characterized the rough, but bustling, community. Unfortunately, the town faced even more misery in May 2008, when an EF-4 tornado plowed through the area, killing six, injuring 150, and destroying 100 homes.

In May 2009, the high school had its last graduation and in September 2009 the city offices finally closed. In March 2010, the only business remaining open in the shadow of the sometimes 100-feet-tall chat piles was the Ole Miners Pharmacy. Eventually, the whole town will be bulldozed to the ground, the soil hauled away, the poisonous mountains of waste removed, leaving nothing but scarred land. 

Screw that. We're moving here.

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