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It seems like there is a trend of un-abandoning abandoned sites. In NYC, the High Line Park used to be an awesome abandoned place. Easy to access, tons of old school historic graffiti, great views, and uncrowded. Now it is a little easier to access, the art is commissioned, the views are still nice, but the crowds are unbearable. It is awesome that a lot of people get to use the space, but it also feels like something has been lost. There are plans to make a High Line Park in Queens, and some other cities across America. I've also biked on bike baths in Jersey made on old abandoned rail lines.

click to view

What do you guys think... is un-abandoning abandoned sites for general public consumption cool? Does anybody have other examples of this happening across the globe?



As a side note, NYC also has a habit of ruining cool abandoned stuff just for the sake of ruining it (not only to make luxury condos, the number 1 NYC reason for ruining abandoned spaces, and life in general)... back in the day the Freedom Tunnel was another great spot to visit with easy access and an awesome reward of amazing graffiti... now the powers that be have painted over many of the murals in gray paint and have sealed up some exits.

(These pics are old ones, all taken on the same day on an early exploration, a marathon of above ground and below ground railways. I posted them on the rookie forum, but wanted to expand on this and hear what others had to say about un-abandoning abandoned spaces)

Posted by BRONX_QUEENS un-abandoning

Posted by BRONX_QUEENS un-abandoning

Posted by BRONX_QUEENS un-abandoning

...also known as "reusing".

Posted by BRONX_QUEENS What do you guys think... is un-abandoning abandoned sites for general public consumption cool?

Yes.

Posted by BRONX_QUEENS Does anybody have other examples of this happening across the globe?

Yes.

Donald Trump made a lot of his money buying up old buildings & doing them up, even though people said it wouldn't work.

Developers often use old warehouses to build lofts.

The thought of having an apartment in an old brick warehouse with a open freight elevator is strangely appealing to me

There's a nonprofit which buys old, usually-historic buildings, then restores and develops them into lofts exclusively for artists. One of their projects landed a few towns over, in an old hotel that burned and was left to rot since 1984, and I got to document the transformation. I wrote an article on it recently, and it's where I show my prints and stuff, now.

Posted by jonrev There's a nonprofit which buys old, usually-historic buildings, then restores and develops them into lofts exclusively for artists. One of their projects landed a few towns over, in an old hotel that burned and was left to rot since 1984, and I got to document the transformation. I wrote an article on it recently, and it's where I show my prints and stuff, now. http://farm4.stati...3_4fd7db882f_c.jpg

Wow! That is quite a transformation. Its cool how they kept the old railing up top though.

Posted by BRONX_QUEENS I've also biked on bike baths in Jersey made on old abandoned rail lines.

They've done that locally. It's pretty nice to have a bike path to use, away from traffic, but I had always hoped they would reopen the line again up this way.

It's up in the air as to whether or not they'll install another bike line on some other abandoned tracks, but again hopefully they'd consider reopening something.

As much as I love exploring abandoned places, I love seeing them reused, because it brings new life into them. Otherwise they start breaking down, then you see them torn down.

Danvers State

Posted by Mike Dijital Danvers State http://www.preserv...s_before_after.jpg

I would stay here

I don't really see the problem with re-purposing abandoned buildings. I think it's just an added benefit too when the restoration is modeled after what the building used to look like. There will always be places to explore.

Posted by snoozonica There will always be places to explore.

It's important to remember this. No building stays active forever, and I'm sure there are places that are simply unfeasible to restore provided their circumstances. Personally I'm all for the restoration of abandoned properties so long as there are some left for me to play around on.