History SceneryGorn / RealLife

* [[http://news.distractify.com/culture/sports/haunting-images-of-abandoned-olympic-venues/ Olympic venues can often become examples of this trope,]] particularly in cash-strapped nations. Stadiums are expensive to maintain, and once the Games are done the residents may simply just not use them or any of the other facilities, having no need for a bobsled track or rowing canals, and hence the stadiums are left to rot.

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUVYAft9OSs Dixie Square Mall]] in Harvey, Illinois, which rotted away for over three decades before finally being demolished in 2012 and is most notable for being the mall from ''Film/TheBluesBrothers'' (it was ''already'' abandoned even then, hence why they had no qualms of trashing the place).

* Abandoned resorts around the Salton Sea. The Salton Sea was created by accident in 1905 and saw massive development starting in the 1920s, resorts and marinas popped up all over. But having no outlet (all water which comes in ultimately evaporates) and fed primarily with agricultural runoff and prone to flooding, the water turned toxic by the '60s and mass fish kills turned the place into a stinking cesspit and guests and owners alike packed up and abandoned everything rapidly. It's not only known for the gorn of decaying buildings but the alien landscape of cracked salt-encrusted, dead earth and isolated pools of unnatural green-colored water.

*** In fact in several older movies that involved the atomic bombings, stock Aerial footage of Tokyo was used instead of those of Hiroshima or Nagasaki, because the Tokyo was more destroyed looking.
* Major disasters such as hurricanes, earthquakes, mudslides and volcanic eruptions. See the photo galleries Wiki/TheOtherWiki has for Hurricane Katrina, the Great Haitian Earthquake, Armero, and Pompeii.

* The [[DerelictGraveyard train cemetery]] located in the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salar_de_Uyuni Salar de Uyuni]], the world's largest salt flat. These trains were used by mining companies at the turn of the century, then abandoned in the 1940s. The rusted, gutted and battered hulks of graffiti-covered train engines, flatbeds, cargo haulers and passenger cars go on for some distance, surrounded by an endless expanse of desolate salt flats and the silhouettes of distant mountains. It's one of the major tourist attractions in the region, and there's been a campaign to turn part of it into a museum for some time now.

* Abandoned resorts around the Salton Sea. Salton Sea was created by accident in 1905, and saw massive development starting in the 1920's, resorts and marinas popped up all over. But having no outlet (all water which comes in ultimately evaporates) and fed primarily with agricultural runoff and prone to flooding, the water turned toxic by the 60's and mass fish kills turned the place into a stinking cesspit and guests and owners alike packed up and abandoned everything rapidly. It's not only known for the gorn of decaying buildings but the alien landscape of cracked salt-encrusted, dead earth and isolated pools of unnatural green-colored water.

* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abandoned_Turnpike Abandoned Pennsylvania Turnpike]], abandoned via bypass in 1968. Now an example of cracked, wildly overgrown asphalt but still a recognizable highway. Principle setting for filming of ''Film/TheRoad''.

** One famous example, the [[http://www.snopes.com/photos/natural/bitterroot.asp Bitterroot Forest Fire.]] The scene is horrifying and tragic, however the photo a journalist took is disturbingly beautiful.

* The great Soviet Union, when it was still great, had a tendency to build massive structures in a unique function-over-form styling (or lack thereof). Then it wasn't great anymore, money ran out, and they stopped building stuff that looked like it came out straight from ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquer''. More importantly, a large amount of the existing structures and the small cities surrounding them were abandoned, and now they are a favourite target for adventurous photographers. [[http://englishrussia.com/tag/abandoned/ Witness the gorn]].

* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Ord Fort Ord,]] an abandoned military base on the Monterey Bay, full of old beige post war buildings now boarded up and being enveloped by nature.

* The [[DerelictGraveyard train cemetery]] located in the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salar_de_Uyuni Salar de Uyuni]], the world's largest salt flat. These trains were used by mining companies at the turn of the century, then abandoned in the 1940's. The rusted, gutted and battered hulks of grafiti-covered train engines, flatbeds, cargo haulers and passenger cars go on for some distance, surrounded by an endless expanse of desolate salt flats and the silhouettes of distant mountains. It's one of the major tourist attractions in the region, and there's been a campaign to turn part of it into a museum for some time now.

* The train cemetery located in the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salar_de_Uyuni Salar de Uyuni]], the world's largest salt flat. These trains were used by mining companies at the turn of the century, then abandoned in the 1940's. The rusted, gutted and battered hulks of grafiti-covered train engines, flatbeds, cargo haulers and passenger cars go on for some distance, surrounded by an endless expanse of desolate salt flats and the silhouettes of distant mountains. It's one of the major tourist attractions in the region, and there's been a campaign to turn part of it into a museum for some time now.
* Thanks to a Soviet-era irrigation plan which diverted the flow of the rivers that fed it, the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aral_Sea Aral Sea]] has been steadily drying up over the past fifty years, with most of the former lakebed now becoming a massive expanse of desert. One of the consequences of this is that the various boats and ships that once traveled the lake were abandoned as the lake dried up, leading to the curious and haunting sight of [[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7b/Aralship2.jpg ships abandoned in the middle of the desert]], becoming rusted hulks surrounded by endless expanses of arid land. This haunting sight has been referenced in several media works, such as the recent ''[[VideoGame/MadMax2015 Mad Max]]'' game.
* The now-demolished Rolling Acres Mall in Akron, Ohio, perhaps the most famous abandoned mall after Dixie Square, was shuttered in 2008 due to the owners being unable to pay their electric bills. In 2015, urban explorer Johnny Joo snuck into and [[http://time.com/3703018/rolling-acres-mall-ohio-snow/ photographed the rotting (hence the nickname Rotting Acres) interior of the mall after a snowstorm]], in which many area were covered in snow due to the skylights either caving in from the weight of the snow or being shot out by vandals.

* The now-demolished Rolling Acres Mall in Akron, Ohio, perhaps the most famous abandoned mall after Dixie Square, was shuttered in 2008 due to the owners being unable to pay their electric bills. In 2015, urban explorer Johnny Joo snuck into and [[http://time.com/3703018/rolling-acres-mall-ohio-snow/ photographed the rotting (hence the nickname Rotting Acres) interior of the mall after a snowstorm]], in which many area were covered in snow due to the skylights being shot out or otherwise smashed by vandals.

* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUVYAft9OSs Dixie Square Mall]] in Harvey, Illinois, which rotted away for over three decades before finally being demolished in 2012 and is most notable for being the mall from ''TheBluesBrothers'' (it was ''already'' abandoned even then, hence why they had no qualms of trashing the place).

* Post-WW2 Hiroshima and Nagasaki probably take the title in that category.

* Post-WW2 Warsaw. It's so damn impressive that they managed to rebuild it almost completely, even expanding it.

* Major disasters such as hurricanes, earthquakes, mudslides and volcanic eruptions. See the photo galleries TheOtherWiki has for Hurricane Katrina, the Great Haitian Earthquake, Armero, and Pompeii.

* Pictures of abandoned UsefulNotes/{{Detroit}} buildings are even labeled [[http://www.guernicamag.com/features/2281/leary_1_15_11/ "ruin porn".]]

*** In fact in several older movies that involved the atomic bombings, stock Arial footage of Tokyo was used instead of those of Hiroshima or Nagasaki, because the Tokyo was more destroyed looking.

** All firebombed European cities after WWII.

* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centralia,_Pennsylvania Centralia, Pennsylvania]], abandoned after an invasive coal mine fire undermined much of the small town and flooded it with high levels of carbon monoxide. Inspiration for ''SilentHill''. In reality, the town was never a big settlement and today most of the abandoned buildings have been demolished and disposed of in an orderly fashion, but there's still all the city block roads, some huge, cracked, smoking upheavals in the ruined Route 61 highway, and various black, smoking cracks in the ground surrounded by death, as the trees and foliage killed by the heat and gas drop all around and into them. A few longterm holdout residents defied the evacuation and continue to live in the town, which lacks any functioning stores or businesses.

* A small example: in 2005 someone managed to strand their [[http://www.pinterest.com/pin/39406565461527401/ Mercedes on 90 Mile Beach]] when the tide came in. Tour buses would stop by it for the next year or so while it slowly disappeared into the sand.

*** As well as for tourists, Pripyat has become a destination for researchers from a variety of disciplines including ecologists and civil engineers, as it serves as a real-life example of what happens to a city ''after'' it is abandoned overnight.

** The nearby town of Prypiat is similar, but more in an eerie and deserted way. (Particularly with the new funfair that had just been built before the accident.) The animals seem to like the situation though...

* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abandoned_Turnpike Abandoned Pennsylvania Turnpike]], abandoned via bypass in 1968. Now an example of cracked, wildly overgrown asphalt but still a recognizable highway. Principle setting for filming of ''TheRoad''.