Quote:
Originally Posted by Tony
You never fail to meet and exceed expectations Andrew. 
Can you tell us more about the abandoned Kaohsiung neighbourhoods? |
Sure.
I stumbled upon this neighbourhood while killing time. I had originally gone to this area of the city to check out the Kaohsiung Arena. It was built for the 2010 Asia Games, and is a super impressive structure (especially from the air).
A couple of pics
tempest by
matteroffact, on Flickr
big show by
matteroffact, on Flickr
Anyway, we had some time to kill before meeting family for dinner, and I saw what almost looked like an American post-war suburban neighbourhood across the street. This kind of suburban housing is ultra rare in Taiwan. In fact, I'd never seen anything like it in all my years living in/visiting Taiwan. I never could have imagined it was going to be completely abandoned. Besides a couple of a cars that were there to either survey or, like myself, generally curious, it was a ghost town.
So what happened?
After walking through the area for an hour or so, we pieced it together. The land is owned my the Taiwan Army/military. The housing was built shortly after WW2 as homes for high-ranking vets (I'm assuming the housing must have been for higher ups). After 60+ years, the area surrounding it has changed dramatically. Along with a subway line and Kaohsiung Arena, there are other major pieces of infrastructure either under construction or in the process to be. The land probably became far too expensive to keep as single family housing once the vets had passed on. This was confirmed when we ran in to this development behind the neighbourhood.
down and out 22 by
matteroffact, on Flickr
down and out 21 by
matteroffact, on Flickr
The paint was barely dry on these buildings when I took these pictures. Everyone we saw (besides their family or caregivers) was in their late 80s/early 90s. Medical retail was dominant at the base of the buildings.
I'm assuming a lot here, but my guess is that the army has wanted to sell that land for awhile now, and figured it was a good idea to build a few highrises for the remaining residents, move them over rent free, and then sell the apartments after each occupant passes away. In the meantime, they'll try to sell the now empty land to the highest bidder.
I'll check it out again this September. My gut tells me there won't be a house left standing.
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