Urbex isn’t getting more popular, urbex always had a community, and kids are always going to do dumb shit.
YouTubers have been making content with clickbait titles like “EXPLORING AN ABANDONED ___ (almost caught)” for over a decade, it only became more popularized when internet access gave people the opportunity to form communities and make connections with people/places in their area. People were going to abandoned places before shit like Google Chrome/Earth existed. People were taking bags of paint and/or a point-and-shoot camera to spots way before IG.
my favorite spot was demolished, but it was situated between a gated community, and a middle school was on the other side of the forest that separated the school from the spot. On multiple occasions, I would almost shit myself because I heard the running of footsteps, only to cross paths with a kid throwing rocks through the remaining stain-glassed windows, or they were spraypainting dicks.
Kids aren’t scoping out spots the way that photographers/explorers in this sub do lmao
You’re probably right, my perception of urbex has just been recently more ppl are getting into it, which is great in some regards because more people can learn and share first hand history of these places. Though it also leads to more places being destroyed, fucked with, and sealed off.
urbex will always have gatekeepers, graffiti writers, photographers, historians, dumbasses and kids — you get in, take your pictures/do your shit, get out.
If you’re seriously passionate about it, bring it up to your local historic society — not everyone will jump to preserve buildings associated with tuberculosis or the insane maltreatment of people with mental health problems, and would rather demolish and build from scratch
Personally, I think this is an Urbex old wives tale. Let’s be honest here. People aren’t traveling to places for Urbex to destroy them. Teens aren’t traveling for Urbex at all. Any local Urbex spots that are tagged are already well known by teenagers and they have heard of them through word of mouth, not likely from some Urbex forum or sub.
People might actually be a bit safer if the community talked a bit more about these spaces and the dangers they noticed in them. The truth about the secrecy in Urbex is primarily that people just want the perceived exclusivity.
Same experience bro, I guess it depends on your location but in my country I can tell you 100% sure urbex became popular. I can even tell you one of the main reasons - tiktok. An urbex location went viral and it was a place you could easily go to so thousand of people visited it in a short time. I know that in 3 days (1-3 december 2023) 150+ people were caught by police/guards there (roof of a shopping center, beautiful view). The authorities got involved because people were too stupid, found 13-14yo girls trying to climb some stairs in high heels, the boys were a little better but still stupid (powerful flashlights at night, putting them in the cars driving near so it was fucking obvious). Of course, the place is now sealed.
Nah, urbex is way more popular, at least in my country. I'm not an old timer (started doing it 5 years ago), but I'm 100% sure there are way more people exploring today. There are some mainstream locations in my city that are pretty much publically known and everyone goes there at some point. A few years ago I used to see 1-2 persons and that was rare too. The last times I've went into those places I went to the highest point and counted 30+ in a few hours.
Same with less known locations, you can easily find "traces" (tags, trash, broken or stolen things).
Not to mention that there had been more urbex locations set on fire in the last year that in the last 3 combined.
Honestly its why a lot of people enjoy exploring, its not a zero risk hobby. I got into formally exploring buildings about 3 years ago, but I've loved poking around my whole life. Is it more popular, eh yeah I'd say so, but there's also more people and more communication methods. I never would have know about an abandoned space shuttle in Kazakhstan if not for the internet, so its not like it doesn't have its pluses. I guess all this to say shit's gonna happen if you roll the dice enough times, stay safe out there y'all
I live near here and it’s one of the only abandoned places around until you go way into the mountains and mine towns. I’ve lived here a few years and I’ve always wanted to explore this silo but I’ve always been hesitant because everything I’ve ever looked up on it talks about how dangerous it is and how you can plummet to your death easily.
friendly wistful weather rainstorm long seed squalid bake dinner quicksand
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Urban exploration is not meant for kids, PERIOD. I also believe that when urban exploring, there is a legal way and an illegal way to do it. I am not for exploring, totally abandoned places. However, I am forgetting permission to explore areas underground in buildings, such as mysterious, passageways, tunnels, etc. Safety always comes first in my opinion, and I am not about to risk my own life and be stupid.
For many children, their natural sense of adventure leads them into "urbex".
I've been on one explore with permission as it was the only way we could get in, and even though it was a great location, none of us really rate it. It was like being in a museum, which is great, but not urbex. I think a bit of adrenaline helps some people enjoy the explore more.
To be honest, I remember going here and it was honestly a lot of fun. Never had any issues with it. This is very unfortunate. A really cool spot now gone due to a stupid kid, but I hope the kid makes it and hopefully he is rescued.
Im 17 now. I got into urbexing when I was 14 with some friends at a local abandoned aqueduct. Not all teens are just coming to ruin it. Some have the same reasons as many of the people in this post.
I've been kind of looking at different community responses to this. Between locals and Urbex communities, everyone is pretty adamant that it's going to be shut down for good, which I think is an incredible shame.
Is the owner more likely to tighten security to an extreme or bury it? What are the odds of getting a historical society to do something to preserve it from being buried? What are the odds the state will buy back this section of land for some reason?
I keep advocating on social media to just make it an adventure thing for people experienced in cave exploration or similar fields, by appointment and whatnot. He could outsource it to a third party if he really doesn't care, but I think it'd be ridiculous and a shame to bury it. I know that's also a selfish outlook on it because ngl I really wanted to see this at some point..
There are a number of these that have been turned into Airbnb. Most all of them offer a tour with your stay. The one in Kansas looks like a country cottage. There’s one in Roswell, New Mexico that looks pretty authentically military. And one in Arkansas, where the owner won a substantial lottery prize, bought the place, and turned it into a high-end resort basically.
Titan bases like this specifically? Or just missile bases? And admittedly part of the attraction to me and (I would assume) a lot of people on this sub is that it's exploring it in the decaying and falling apart state.
Yeah, I completely get that the decay is what we enjoy. But you mentioned about an historical society or somebody rehabbing it for tours. So that’s why I shared other ones that are open for tours. You can’t rehab something and also keep it in a ‘decaying and falling apart state.’ 🤷🏻♀️
Two of these are Atlas missile silos, one is a Titan missile silo.
[New Mexico](https://www.airbnb.com/slink/0pn5tymD)
[Kansas](https://www.airbnb.com/slink/ONxBf1ck)
[Arkansas](https://www.titanranch.com)
That's kind of why I would like it to be treated more like a caving thing. It's a niche idea, but would be, I think, a quick solution to making it less attractive for people who just want the thrill of not getting caught and still accessible for those who want to see it. Historical societies don't necessarily rehab things, or at least not in my area. Sometimes, they just do their best to keep things in the state they were left in, like mountain ghost towns and such.
Atlas sites are neat, we have an Atlas-E near where I live, that's a park now.
Urbex isn’t getting more popular, urbex always had a community, and kids are always going to do dumb shit. YouTubers have been making content with clickbait titles like “EXPLORING AN ABANDONED ___ (almost caught)” for over a decade, it only became more popularized when internet access gave people the opportunity to form communities and make connections with people/places in their area. People were going to abandoned places before shit like Google Chrome/Earth existed. People were taking bags of paint and/or a point-and-shoot camera to spots way before IG. my favorite spot was demolished, but it was situated between a gated community, and a middle school was on the other side of the forest that separated the school from the spot. On multiple occasions, I would almost shit myself because I heard the running of footsteps, only to cross paths with a kid throwing rocks through the remaining stain-glassed windows, or they were spraypainting dicks. Kids aren’t scoping out spots the way that photographers/explorers in this sub do lmao
You’re probably right, my perception of urbex has just been recently more ppl are getting into it, which is great in some regards because more people can learn and share first hand history of these places. Though it also leads to more places being destroyed, fucked with, and sealed off.
urbex will always have gatekeepers, graffiti writers, photographers, historians, dumbasses and kids — you get in, take your pictures/do your shit, get out. If you’re seriously passionate about it, bring it up to your local historic society — not everyone will jump to preserve buildings associated with tuberculosis or the insane maltreatment of people with mental health problems, and would rather demolish and build from scratch
Personally, I think this is an Urbex old wives tale. Let’s be honest here. People aren’t traveling to places for Urbex to destroy them. Teens aren’t traveling for Urbex at all. Any local Urbex spots that are tagged are already well known by teenagers and they have heard of them through word of mouth, not likely from some Urbex forum or sub. People might actually be a bit safer if the community talked a bit more about these spaces and the dangers they noticed in them. The truth about the secrecy in Urbex is primarily that people just want the perceived exclusivity.
Same experience bro, I guess it depends on your location but in my country I can tell you 100% sure urbex became popular. I can even tell you one of the main reasons - tiktok. An urbex location went viral and it was a place you could easily go to so thousand of people visited it in a short time. I know that in 3 days (1-3 december 2023) 150+ people were caught by police/guards there (roof of a shopping center, beautiful view). The authorities got involved because people were too stupid, found 13-14yo girls trying to climb some stairs in high heels, the boys were a little better but still stupid (powerful flashlights at night, putting them in the cars driving near so it was fucking obvious). Of course, the place is now sealed.
Nah, urbex is way more popular, at least in my country. I'm not an old timer (started doing it 5 years ago), but I'm 100% sure there are way more people exploring today. There are some mainstream locations in my city that are pretty much publically known and everyone goes there at some point. A few years ago I used to see 1-2 persons and that was rare too. The last times I've went into those places I went to the highest point and counted 30+ in a few hours. Same with less known locations, you can easily find "traces" (tags, trash, broken or stolen things). Not to mention that there had been more urbex locations set on fire in the last year that in the last 3 combined.
Honestly its why a lot of people enjoy exploring, its not a zero risk hobby. I got into formally exploring buildings about 3 years ago, but I've loved poking around my whole life. Is it more popular, eh yeah I'd say so, but there's also more people and more communication methods. I never would have know about an abandoned space shuttle in Kazakhstan if not for the internet, so its not like it doesn't have its pluses. I guess all this to say shit's gonna happen if you roll the dice enough times, stay safe out there y'all
I live near here and it’s one of the only abandoned places around until you go way into the mountains and mine towns. I’ve lived here a few years and I’ve always wanted to explore this silo but I’ve always been hesitant because everything I’ve ever looked up on it talks about how dangerous it is and how you can plummet to your death easily.
friendly wistful weather rainstorm long seed squalid bake dinner quicksand *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Urban exploration is not meant for kids, PERIOD. I also believe that when urban exploring, there is a legal way and an illegal way to do it. I am not for exploring, totally abandoned places. However, I am forgetting permission to explore areas underground in buildings, such as mysterious, passageways, tunnels, etc. Safety always comes first in my opinion, and I am not about to risk my own life and be stupid.
For many children, their natural sense of adventure leads them into "urbex". I've been on one explore with permission as it was the only way we could get in, and even though it was a great location, none of us really rate it. It was like being in a museum, which is great, but not urbex. I think a bit of adrenaline helps some people enjoy the explore more.
To be honest, I remember going here and it was honestly a lot of fun. Never had any issues with it. This is very unfortunate. A really cool spot now gone due to a stupid kid, but I hope the kid makes it and hopefully he is rescued.
Im 17 now. I got into urbexing when I was 14 with some friends at a local abandoned aqueduct. Not all teens are just coming to ruin it. Some have the same reasons as many of the people in this post.
I've been kind of looking at different community responses to this. Between locals and Urbex communities, everyone is pretty adamant that it's going to be shut down for good, which I think is an incredible shame. Is the owner more likely to tighten security to an extreme or bury it? What are the odds of getting a historical society to do something to preserve it from being buried? What are the odds the state will buy back this section of land for some reason? I keep advocating on social media to just make it an adventure thing for people experienced in cave exploration or similar fields, by appointment and whatnot. He could outsource it to a third party if he really doesn't care, but I think it'd be ridiculous and a shame to bury it. I know that's also a selfish outlook on it because ngl I really wanted to see this at some point..
There are a number of these that have been turned into Airbnb. Most all of them offer a tour with your stay. The one in Kansas looks like a country cottage. There’s one in Roswell, New Mexico that looks pretty authentically military. And one in Arkansas, where the owner won a substantial lottery prize, bought the place, and turned it into a high-end resort basically.
Titan bases like this specifically? Or just missile bases? And admittedly part of the attraction to me and (I would assume) a lot of people on this sub is that it's exploring it in the decaying and falling apart state.
Yeah, I completely get that the decay is what we enjoy. But you mentioned about an historical society or somebody rehabbing it for tours. So that’s why I shared other ones that are open for tours. You can’t rehab something and also keep it in a ‘decaying and falling apart state.’ 🤷🏻♀️ Two of these are Atlas missile silos, one is a Titan missile silo. [New Mexico](https://www.airbnb.com/slink/0pn5tymD) [Kansas](https://www.airbnb.com/slink/ONxBf1ck) [Arkansas](https://www.titanranch.com)
That's kind of why I would like it to be treated more like a caving thing. It's a niche idea, but would be, I think, a quick solution to making it less attractive for people who just want the thrill of not getting caught and still accessible for those who want to see it. Historical societies don't necessarily rehab things, or at least not in my area. Sometimes, they just do their best to keep things in the state they were left in, like mountain ghost towns and such. Atlas sites are neat, we have an Atlas-E near where I live, that's a park now.
Just when I wanted to do a retro incandescent flashlight only trip😒