A Los Angeles ghost town

Surfridge was once a wealthy community, a coveted locale visited by Hollywood stars that just so happened to be within the domain of LAX. As the airport grew, the town shrank, and now it’s best known as the home of a rare species of butterfly.

From Mike Anton’s report on the ghost town’s current status:

Weeds sprout through cracks along streets lined with majestic palms. Retaining walls and foundations of custom homes peek through the brush. Rusty utility lines that have wiggled their way above ground bake in the sun like scattered bones.

Two throttled-up passenger jets simultaneously take off from LAX and soar overhead, the thundering cacophony a reminder of why the community of Surfridge was forced to disappear.

Read more on the town’s decline, and newfound efforts to reinvent the area, here.

Photos: Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times

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    Lynnwood, WA is battling this same fight right now… Remember, it could happen to you.

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    I grew up about two or three miles from this place (and my mom lived literally two blocks away for about twenty years),...

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