I wish we counted how many derelect gas stations we encountered on our trip. These lovely ones are from Youngstown, OH. Youngstown is a rustbelt town. Steel mills used to stretch for as far as the eye could gaze. The steel mills and their well paying jobs are almost all gone now. And many of the former workers and residents have left for brighter prospects elsewhere.
Housing prices in Youngstown are cheap. There are places where you can purchase a two-bedroom bungalow for as little as $5000.00 to $7000.00. Meanwhile in San Francisco that's what you would pay for a parking spot for one year.
Another interesting feature of Youngstown was the frequent occurance of arson. We passed a few burnt out homes on which the fire department attached an official sign stating arson as the cause. Our host in Youngstown told us that back in the day, she saw a burning house every morning on the way to work. People would have their homes burned to collect insurance money. Social decay manifests itself in bizarre and tragic ways.
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