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Demeter

(85,373 posts)
12. Economic Collapse Seen Through Aerial Photos of Abandoned Mansions
Sat Sep 14, 2013, 09:38 AM
Sep 2013

STOLEN FROM UNHAPPY CAMPER


http://www.wired.com/rawfile/2013/09/michael-light-aerial-photos/





"Monaco" Lake Las Vegas homes on gated Grand Corniche Drive. Henderson, NV 2010.



Michael Light often snaps his photos from a two-seater plane — at a bumpy 70 mph — that he pilots himself at the same time, but you’d never know it from his well-composed aerial shots. From swimming-pooled suburbs in Phoenix to razed hills awaiting their luxury homes in Nevada, Light has been documenting the western U.S.’s unique topography from the air for the past decade.

In his series on Black Mountain, Nevada, Light’s photos put viewers in the plane with him as he glides over 640 acres of dynamite-flattened hilltops, carved through with pristine roads and cul de sacs linking graded house foundations. But there are no houses. No lawns, no pools, no sidewalks. No guard-staffed gates. This is the site of the Ascaya luxury housing development, which has lain dormant since the economic crash of 2008.

~snip~

The Sun Belt cities experienced the most rapid growth of any American urban area in the early 21st century, and were hardest hit in the economic downtown. The ferocious demand for housing — over-sized, over-watered trophy housing — resulted in major alterations to the landscape.

The theme continues in Light’s work on Lake Las Vegas, a complex of luxury housing, country clubs and casinos fringing an artificial lake. The photos capture the surrealism of these “instant cities” made even more uncanny by their stalled development. Huge faux-Mediterranean mansions and irrigated yards neighbor bleak scrub brush. Residents use the empty lots next door for parking. Swaths of velvety golf lawns are framed by barren dirt.


(More pics at link.)

In Honor of Lehman's, we have two banks failed Demeter Sep 2013 #1
Where are student radicals today? DemReadingDU Sep 2013 #2
One right here. Fuddnik Sep 2013 #6
Nice job! DemReadingDU Sep 2013 #10
Just gotta watch myself. Fuddnik Sep 2013 #16
Obama Appoints Bain & Co Consultant to Top Post xchrom Sep 2013 #3
I think he does it to taunt us Demeter Sep 2013 #18
US retail sales growth slower than expected in August xchrom Sep 2013 #4
We are all supposed to go out and spend our income decreases Demeter Sep 2013 #19
Spanish public debt reaches record level xchrom Sep 2013 #5
It Doesn't Make Much Sense To Invest Like The Dow xchrom Sep 2013 #7
The Dow has been irrelevant for a long time. Fuddnik Sep 2013 #8
sharknado! xchrom Sep 2013 #9
The market is a rigged casino DemReadingDU Sep 2013 #21
IMF WARNS: China Is Taking Ever Greater Risks And Putting The Financial System In Danger xchrom Sep 2013 #11
That's funny, coming from the IMF! Demeter Sep 2013 #17
Economic Collapse Seen Through Aerial Photos of Abandoned Mansions Demeter Sep 2013 #12
Speaker Boehner Really Mad About Putin's Op-Ed (DANZIGER) Demeter Sep 2013 #13
If you're a mother, you are on duty until you die Demeter Sep 2013 #14
The Snare of High Tech (TOM TOLLES) Demeter Sep 2013 #15
Friday was such a rolling catastrophe that I never even got to the email Demeter Sep 2013 #20
Obamacare Doublethink PAUL KRUGMAN Demeter Sep 2013 #22
Musical Interlude hamerfan Sep 2013 #23
Musical Interlude II hamerfan Sep 2013 #24
EXCELLENT CHOICES, HAMERFAN! Demeter Sep 2013 #27
Just these perennial favorites (for now, anyway) hamerfan Sep 2013 #29
Those will never go out of style, alas! Demeter Sep 2013 #31
Warnings about the economy from people you should listen to by Fabius Maximus Demeter Sep 2013 #25
Revealed: State Colleges Giving Wealthy Kids More Financial Aid Than Poor Kids Demeter Sep 2013 #26
I remember when that hapened gopiscrap Sep 2013 #28
Musical Interlude III hamerfan Sep 2013 #30
Tomorrow is the big day! Get your hat, and glitter and confetti ready! Demeter Sep 2013 #32
The Economist Falls Under Merkel's Spell xchrom Sep 2013 #33
1. The Economist does not like 'leftists' (editorial line supports 'free markets' Ghost Dog Sep 2013 #41
+1 xchrom Sep 2013 #42
+ The Economist dates back to the beginning of big banking. Here's Bagehot (1873): Ghost Dog Sep 2013 #44
EU spending cuts to hit Portugal's poor xchrom Sep 2013 #34
Cyprus eyes investors, may not need full privatization-president xchrom Sep 2013 #35
Summers cancels Citi events, while Fed chief decision pending xchrom Sep 2013 #36
Too little, too late Larry Demeter Sep 2013 #46
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Budget deficit shrinks in August from year earlier xchrom Sep 2013 #38
Existing-Home Sales Probably Declined: U.S. Economy Preview xchrom Sep 2013 #39
Companies Use IRS to Raise Bonuses With Earnings Goals xchrom Sep 2013 #40
WTF? Demeter Sep 2013 #47
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Thanks for that! No, it isn't posted. You are the first! Demeter Sep 2013 #48
Calvin explains exactly how we got into this mess Demeter Sep 2013 #49
Musical Interlude IV hamerfan Sep 2013 #50
IN CONCLUSION: 5 years after Lehman, Americans still angry at Wall Street--POLL Demeter Sep 2013 #51
THE POLL RESULTS Demeter Sep 2013 #52
THAT'S A WRAP, FOLKS Demeter Sep 2013 #53
FLASH: Summers Withdraws DemReadingDU Sep 2013 #54
Now we have something POSITIVE to celebrate! Demeter Sep 2013 #55
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