Posted by serendipitee I frequently hear about how different UE is from +/- the year 2000, 2005, pick a year. I'm curious what y'all think is so different from "back then". With the exception of former sites being demolished, I can't think of anything that's different.

I think one thing that has changed in that time is surveillance. Back in the Bush years security was expensive so most places just had none. Now there are cheap 4G motion detectors and "Deer cameras" that allow sites to be monitored remotely. Walk past the camera, some guy 50 miles away gets a picture on his phone and calls the State Police on you. The proliferation of these devices has added to the challenge for sure.

Plus, the internet has brought this underground culture to light. Back in the Bush years if you told somebody you liked to explore abandoned buildings they would give you a puzzled look and think you're weird. Now people are like "Oh - you're into UE. My nephew is into that too".

Posted by fiftyone_eggs I think one thing that has changed in that time is surveillance. Back in the Bush years security was expensive so most places just had none. Now there are cheap 4G motion detectors and "Deer cameras" that allow sites to be monitored remotely. Walk past the camera, some guy 50 miles away gets a picture on his phone and calls the State Police on you. The proliferation of these devices has added to the challenge for sure. Plus, the internet has brought this underground culture to light. Back in the Bush years if you told somebody you liked to explore abandoned buildings they would give you a puzzled look and think you're weird. Now people are like "Oh - you're into UE. My nephew is into that too".

Smart cams were in use in 2006; I got tagged by a network the FBI was running in Chester PA.
They are more common today and many times very hard to spot.
A lot more cool relics in 2006 and good shooters on UER as well.