Salton City – Environmental, Economical Disaster Remnants
Salton City, Calif. is a failed resort city established in the late 1950s. Roads were constructed, ammenities were built, but no one bought houses in the master-planned community. The death of the city came when the corporation that started the venture, the Holly Sugar Corp., supposedly bailed on the project when it didn't seem profitable enough. Combined with rising salt levels in the sea and a pair of tropical storms hitting the area, the dream of building a vacation lifestyle community in the stark heat of the Imperial Valley was shattered.
Today, driven to the Sea by low prices and a slumping economy, some have built small trailer homes on land that was supposed to be reserved for pristine vacation houses. The poor condition of the sea water has led to an environmental downfall, which makes the desire to live in such an area questionable.
Several times I read about Salton City, Calif. online and wanted to take a visit. Recently, I was able to. The sights and smells were incredible and disgusting: paltry life and a wasted environment. The sand isn't made of rocks. It's made of weathered and broken-down fish skeletons. This environmental damage has been reoccurring for decades.
Photo Blog: Southern California, Summer 2010
After finishing work with the NHTV Breda workshops, I traveled from Flagstaff to Las Vegas, and then, after a week, to southern California to see my dad, who moved to the city of Brea for a new job. The following pictures were taking along this trip. After my visit in California, I'll be traveling to Phoenix to see a few friends.
A rollover accident on the I-15 on the way to California. This was before first responders arrived, and there were people on top of the car trying to get people out of the overturned car.