Dying Town: Difference between revisions

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Most of the inhabitants will be older folks, safely retired or desperately holding on to what few remaining paying jobs there are. There are relatively few younger adults--most have fled to greener pastures, and the remaining ones are either dedicated to something in the town or resent being trapped by obligations. The teenagers and children are likewise mostly [[Small Town Boredom|interested in leaving as soon as they can manage it]], and woe betide the kid whose parents inexplicably decide to move to [[Dying Town]] from the big city.
Most of the inhabitants will be older folks, safely retired or desperately holding on to what few remaining paying jobs there are. There are relatively few younger adults--most have fled to greener pastures, and the remaining ones are either dedicated to something in the town or resent being trapped by obligations. The teenagers and children are likewise mostly [[Small Town Boredom|interested in leaving as soon as they can manage it]], and woe betide the kid whose parents inexplicably decide to move to [[Dying Town]] from the big city.


May be the hometown of a cast member, and a visit to it will explain a lot about her. Sometimes overlaps with [[Town with a Dark Secret]], especially in the mystery and horror genres. A common plotline in more idealistic stories is for a new inhabitant to find some way of turning things around and restoring the town's prosperity, especially if it is a [[Close Knit Community]] that can rally around him. A more cynical twist has the newcomer promising this to con the remaining inhabitants out of their meager savings.
May be the hometown of a cast member, and a visit to it will explain a lot about her. Sometimes overlaps with [[Town with a Dark Secret]], especially in the mystery and horror genres. A common plotline in more idealistic stories is for a new inhabitant to find some way of turning things around and restoring the town's prosperity, especially if it is a [[Close-Knit Community]] that can rally around him. A more cynical twist has the newcomer promising this to con the remaining inhabitants out of their meager savings.


Contrast [[Boom Town]], which it may once have been.
Contrast [[Boom Town]], which it may once have been.
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== Literature ==
== Literature ==
* Joe Harman's hometown in ''A Town Like Alice''.
* Joe Harman's hometown in ''A Town Like Alice''.
* ''[[Salem's Lot|'Salem's Lot]]'' by [[Stephen King]] features a town like this...until the process is accelerated to [[Ghost Town]] levels by a [[Our Vampires Are Different|Vampire]] invasion.
* ''[['Salem's Lot]]'' by [[Stephen King]] features a town like this...until the process is accelerated to [[Ghost Town]] levels by a [[Our Vampires Are Different|Vampire]] invasion.
** Oatley, New York, in ''[[The Talisman]]''.
** Oatley, New York, in ''[[The Talisman]]''.
** Chamberlain, Maine becomes one of these in the aftermath of ''[[Carrie]]'''s rampage on Prom Night.
** Chamberlain, Maine becomes one of these in the aftermath of ''[[Carrie]]'''s rampage on Prom Night.
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** The sourcebook ''Ghost Stories'' has Fort Assumption. When the Babyhead Mine's silver veins played out, the town began to die off. [[It Got Worse]].
** The sourcebook ''Ghost Stories'' has Fort Assumption. When the Babyhead Mine's silver veins played out, the town began to die off. [[It Got Worse]].
** How about ''Midnight Roads'' or the [[Vampire: The Requiem|Vampire]]-specific ''Nomads''? Anyway, whether it's this or [[Ghost Town]], [[Everything Is Trying to Kill You|all the inhabitants want to kill you]]... or ''[[And I Must Scream|worse]]''.
** How about ''Midnight Roads'' or the [[Vampire: The Requiem|Vampire]]-specific ''Nomads''? Anyway, whether it's this or [[Ghost Town]], [[Everything Is Trying to Kill You|all the inhabitants want to kill you]]... or ''[[And I Must Scream|worse]]''.
** The opening fiction to the ''[[Promethean: The Created]]'' corebook takes place in a small town with very few members -- they need to invite a psychologist in from out of town to interview a suspect. This is because most of the town has moved away -- like in Centralia, PA, the coal veins underneath the town have caught fire and been burning for years. And would you believe [[Frankenstein's Monster]] did it?
** The opening fiction to the ''[[Promethean: The Created]]'' corebook takes place in a small town with very few members -- they need to invite a psychologist in from out of town to interview a suspect. This is because most of the town has moved away -- like in Centralia, PA, the coal veins underneath the town have caught fire and been burning for years. And would you believe [[Frankenstein's Monster]] did it?




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* Pyrite Town (and the base camp known as "The Under"), in ''[[Pokémon Colosseum]]'' was a former mining town, but with its mine dried up, it has fallen into a [[Wretched Hive]].
* Pyrite Town (and the base camp known as "The Under"), in ''[[Pokémon Colosseum]]'' was a former mining town, but with its mine dried up, it has fallen into a [[Wretched Hive]].
* Kakariko Village is basically this in ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess]]'', but because most of its inhabitants were killed.
* Kakariko Village is basically this in ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess]]'', but because most of its inhabitants were killed.
* ''[[Arcanum]]'' has Dernholm. In the backstory, it was the thriving capital of the nation of Cumbria, but when their king [[Jumping Off the Slippery Slope|suddenly went mad with power and hatred of technology]], he dragged Cumbria into a hopelessly one-sided war against the ''much'' better equipped nation of Tarant. When the player arrives at Cumbria in the game proper, it's lost nearly all of its power and prestige, and Dernholm itself is a barely held together village whose people desperately try to survive, but have little hope of doing so due to the king's ever-escalating insanity and his [[Complete Monster|sickeningly depraved]] Guard Captain. {{spoiler|Depending on the player's actions, Dernholm, and Cumbria and general, can begin a slow but sure path to recovery in the epilogue.}}
* ''[[Arcanum]]'' has Dernholm. In the backstory, it was the thriving capital of the nation of Cumbria, but when their king [[Jumping Off the Slippery Slope|suddenly went mad with power and hatred of technology]], he dragged Cumbria into a hopelessly one-sided war against the ''much'' better equipped nation of Tarant. When the player arrives at Cumbria in the game proper, it's lost nearly all of its power and prestige, and Dernholm itself is a barely held together village whose people desperately try to survive, but have little hope of doing so due to the king's ever-escalating insanity and his [[Complete Monster|sickeningly depraved]] Guard Captain. {{spoiler|Depending on the player's actions, Dernholm, and Cumbria and general, can begin a slow but sure path to recovery in the epilogue.}}
* [[Diablo|Tristram]] was going through this stage during the first game, what with the demonic invasion and slowly being bled dry by a steady wave of heroes drawn to the town by said demonic invasion. Then the town completely [[Doomed Hometown|flatlined]] at some point before the second game.
* [[Diablo|Tristram]] was going through this stage during the first game, what with the demonic invasion and slowly being bled dry by a steady wave of heroes drawn to the town by said demonic invasion. Then the town completely [[Doomed Hometown|flatlined]] at some point before the second game.
* Winterhold in [[Skyrim]] was once a grand, vibrant city that rivaled Solitude and Whiterun in sheer glamor and splendor. Then an earthquake sent 99.9% of the city (and indeed, the Hold itself) into the ocean. No one knows what exactly caused what became known as the Great Collapse, but many people, including the current Winterhold Jarl, believes that the Mage College is connected somehow. Ironically, the College itself is now the only reason anyone still cares about Winterhold. The replacement Jarl (if the Imperials win the Civil War) recognizes the reality of the situation and wants to foster good relations with the College.
* Winterhold in [[Skyrim]] was once a grand, vibrant city that rivaled Solitude and Whiterun in sheer glamor and splendor. Then an earthquake sent 99.9% of the city (and indeed, the Hold itself) into the ocean. No one knows what exactly caused what became known as the Great Collapse, but many people, including the current Winterhold Jarl, believes that the Mage College is connected somehow. Ironically, the College itself is now the only reason anyone still cares about Winterhold. The replacement Jarl (if the Imperials win the Civil War) recognizes the reality of the situation and wants to foster good relations with the College.
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* Radiator Springs from ''[[Cars]]''. The musical number "Our Town" depicts its decline from a thriving community.
* Radiator Springs from ''[[Cars]]''. The musical number "Our Town" depicts its decline from a thriving community.
* The town in ''[[Monster House]]''.
* The town in ''[[Monster House]]''.
* Green River from ''[[An American Tail]]: Fievel Goes West'' is essentially this by the time the Mousekewitz family arrives, a withering old west former [[Boom Town]]. Upon seeing it Mama remarks that they'd been "schnookered".
* Green River from ''[[An American Tail]]: Fievel Goes West'' is essentially this by the time the Mousekewitz family arrives, a withering old west former [[Boom Town]]. Upon seeing it Mama remarks that they'd been "schnookered".
* Dirt in ''[[Rango]]''. {{spoiler|A case of the town being killed on purpose, as the mayor deprives the citizens of water so that he can use it to buy off their land and create a new community while the old one is left to die.}}
* Dirt in ''[[Rango]]''. {{spoiler|A case of the town being killed on purpose, as the mayor deprives the citizens of water so that he can use it to buy off their land and create a new community while the old one is left to die.}}


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<!-- %%Please note that this page is for cities which are ''on the road'' to becoming ghost towns, not already there. Places like Centralia, PA or Chernobyl belong on the GhostCity or GhostTown pages, not here. -->
<!-- %%Please note that this page is for cities which are ''on the road'' to becoming ghost towns, not already there. Places like Centralia, PA or Chernobyl belong on the GhostCity or GhostTown pages, not here. -->
=== North America ===
=== North America ===
* Big chunks of America are filled with places like this. In the 1870s, over 70 percent of the population worked in agriculture. Today, around 3 percent of the population or less works in agriculture. This is mostly due to changes in technology of a hundred different kinds. Scientific advances have made farmland much more efficient, transportation technology and infrastructure have made it possible to keep food fresh longer and get it farther in that time, machines do the work of multiple people... so all the people who used to work in rural areas now live in suburban or urban areas, so rural areas are now populated much more sparsely than they once were.
* Big chunks of America are filled with places like this. In the 1870s, over 70 percent of the population worked in agriculture. Today, around 3 percent of the population or less works in agriculture. This is mostly due to changes in technology of a hundred different kinds. Scientific advances have made farmland much more efficient, transportation technology and infrastructure have made it possible to keep food fresh longer and get it farther in that time, machines do the work of multiple people... so all the people who used to work in rural areas now live in suburban or urban areas, so rural areas are now populated much more sparsely than they once were.
* Lots and lots of former factory towns in the Midwest, including most cities around the Great Lakes (the "Rust Belt"). [[Motor City|Detroit]], [[Cleveland]], [[Milwaukee]], and [[Pittsburgh]] are but a few cities whose populations today are half of what they were in the mid-20th century. Even those that have bounced back economically, like Pittsburgh and Milwaukee, still struggle to shed their former image. It's easier to list the exceptions (cities that have never suffered) rather than those that fit:
* Lots and lots of former factory towns in the Midwest, including most cities around the Great Lakes (the "Rust Belt"). [[Motor City|Detroit]], [[Cleveland]], [[Milwaukee]], and [[Pittsburgh]] are but a few cities whose populations today are half of what they were in the mid-20th century. Even those that have bounced back economically, like Pittsburgh and Milwaukee, still struggle to shed their former image. It's easier to list the exceptions (cities that have never suffered) rather than those that fit:
** [[The Windy City|Chicago]] has held up due to sheer size and a relatively diversified economy.
** [[The Windy City|Chicago]] has held up due to sheer size and a relatively diversified economy.
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** Rochester was dealt a particularly massive blow around the [[Turn of the Millennium]] because its economy was heavily dependent on Kodak, which was almost lethally slow to adjust to the digital-photography revolution. Thankfully, it [http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/17/nyregion/despite-long-slide-by-kodak-rochester-avoids-decay.html?_r=1 bounced back] due to its thriving arts scene.
** Rochester was dealt a particularly massive blow around the [[Turn of the Millennium]] because its economy was heavily dependent on Kodak, which was almost lethally slow to adjust to the digital-photography revolution. Thankfully, it [http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/17/nyregion/despite-long-slide-by-kodak-rochester-avoids-decay.html?_r=1 bounced back] due to its thriving arts scene.
*** Perhaps just in time - Kodak has now filed for bankruptcy.
*** Perhaps just in time - Kodak has now filed for bankruptcy.
* New England sports several of these -- all former textile mill towns whose mills either moved or went bust in the mid-to-late 1900's.
* New England sports several of these -- all former textile mill towns whose mills either moved or went bust in the mid-to-late 1900's.
* The Carolinas have their share of dying former textile towns as well.
* The Carolinas have their share of dying former textile towns as well.
* The Niagara Region in Ontario has been in slow decline since the 1970s. There used to be much manufacturing along the Niagara River and Welland Canal, but cheaper products from elsewhere have caused all but a couple of the factories to go bust. The tourist industry took a major hit in 2001 after 9/11, followed by the SARS outbreak, both of which discouraged the usual American tourists from crossing the border. The area now mostly runs on the casinos, wineries, and agriculture.
* The Niagara Region in Ontario has been in slow decline since the 1970s. There used to be much manufacturing along the Niagara River and Welland Canal, but cheaper products from elsewhere have caused all but a couple of the factories to go bust. The tourist industry took a major hit in 2001 after 9/11, followed by the SARS outbreak, both of which discouraged the usual American tourists from crossing the border. The area now mostly runs on the casinos, wineries, and agriculture.
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