Anyone ever heard of urban exploring?

did it a lot when I was younger. We did a load of empty mental hospitals in the early 1990's a lot of which had been closed down in the eighties. Some of the stuff we saw gave us nightmares. Done quite a few tunnels too. Not as much fun here now, loads more security and not that much left abandoned anymore.

 

Yes a few times. I explored an old mental hospital with some of my friends a few years ago. The doctors used to perform lobotomies, forced sterilization etc. on the patients back in the days. It's been closed for quite some time and has since gotten vandalized and rundown. You can still find a few really cool creepy things in the building like straitjackets, different belts used for holding the patients, hospital beds, old furniture. It was quite the experience. All the doors and most the windows were sealed so we had to crawl through a tiny window that you could barely squeeze through to get into the building. This window also led directly into the basement which was pitch black. It's probably the creepiest thing I've ever done. Would deffo do it again though.

When I was in high school my apartment was right next to a big abandoned building that's been empty since the 80's (we found a calendar from 85 in there.) Me and my buds went in there a few times every now and then to explore. Not quite as creepy as the mental hospital but still quite creepy. My windows were facing in the direction of the building and at night when I closed the blinds I used to always look up at the building to see if I'd notice any movement or contours inside. I swear it was worse than watching a horror flick before bed....:dead:

 

I've been doing urban exploring since I can remember, but we used to call it just plain good old "breaking in" : Even if the doors are open, you are not supposed to be there.

You can find literally anything there : From what I mentioned to junkies, so better bring with you the usual (lights, a baseball bat...), don't go on your own and carry a cell phone with you at all times, just in case. You think it'll never happen to you until it happens, so you better be ready for it.

Seconded, specially the DDR side and the underground side of Berlin. There is even tours to explore those areas safely... Which is a thing to keep in mind, unless you want to break your bones or catch a disease ... All for free.

The safest areas to explore (IMHO) are the factories. Most interesting things I saw were all related to abandoned machinery. Right now I'm living next to an area full of such beauties, it's very tempting...

 

Sharon is great. The Adler Hotel is amazing.

 

I love urban exploration. I photograph all of the places I venture to. It's humbling and beautiful to experience a space that's been abandoned and is returning to nature.

 

There's an abandoned high school in the rougher part of town, that folks like to break into and vandalize. Since it isn't in a "safe" neighborhood, rarely do the police patrol by, so until somebody burns it down, it will continue to gradually be destroyed and not many will care.

It's been host to a few parties, and during the colder winters it is a temporary shelter, for the few homeless individuals we do have around here. There's still a few desks and chairs, some paperwork, some cabinets, and if you're brave enough, in the basement, there are all kinds of old deflated sports balls, scattered about.

The one supernatural experience I had, was inside of this school.

About 30 minutes away, if you take the highway, there's an abandoned mall with a decent-sized parking lot. It's under semi-protection, because the individuals who bought the land, want to turn it into something. But nobody is wanting to buy it from them, because it isn't in a profitable area anymore. So, the building just sits there.

Unlike the high school, there isn't too much damage inside. A few broken glass panels, one or two windows broke, and remnants of trash scattered about on the floor. There's mannequins, busted and dusty, a few old cash registers, and some benches and trash cans inside.

But the most interesting about that mall is, there's still some old ads on the wall. Sure they're slightly faded and even torn, but it's like seeing time frozen for a moment. Those ads are from the late 70s, early 80s, I believe. At least that's how they looked to me.

There isn't much graffiti/street art on the inside, but there is some, so it has been frequented.

I would like to play a game of laser tag or paintball inside of that mall, though. It's spacious enough to do that, but finding the right number of people, well, that's a challenge...

 

I love urban exploring! There's an abandoned Girl Scout camp not too far from my house, although I don't have any pictures.
I try to make sure I'm not on anyone's private property though.

 

Yep, I've heard of urban exploring.
I think it'd be be both cool & interesting to do! (but I wouldn't actually do it due to the whole trespassing/risk of getting caught thing :lol: )

There's no abandoned buildings near me that I know of anyway..

 

I have done some in Detroit, real interesting stuff. I feel like I have more of a right to do it since I'm from there though. Outsiders coming to a city just to trespass in its abandoned buildings seems kinda disrespectful.

 

Wow Jordan! Did you see all those orbs in the second picture?

 

I didn't even know there was a term for this... seriously, I'm constantly thinking of doing this (and have, a few times). There's something appealing about exploring uninhabited, derelict buildings, just so long it's not risky.

 

I'm from Westchester The castle I mentioned is Bannerman Castle...you can see it if you're riding the Harlem Line on Metro North and there are tours in the summer.

I've never heard of Sharon Springs but I googled it after reading your post and it looks awesome! I have friends in Albany, and it looks like maybe a half hour drive from there?

Then there's this abandoned place that I really want to visit to take photos:

http://econintersect.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/bennett-college-millbrook-ny.jpg

 

I've done it, Up in the mojave desert. It's cool what you find out there.

 

I've done it a lot but not so much the past couple years. But I'm still near a lot of cool spots so maybe I'll hit some this summer...

I agree with you but (unfortunately) there are a million different opinions about this. Some people explore and pilfer whatever they find in the buildings. Some people explore and tag the place with graffiti. I've known a few really nice places which were intact inside like time capsules, with all kinds of rustic decay, then someone posts pics on the internet AND posts the real name and address of the place and within a month the place has been overrun with "tourists" and taggers and suddenly the cops are there all the time because the neighbors are complaining about all the trespassers and damage. And soon enough the city puts it on the fast track for demolition. Sad but all too true.

 

If you want it to be perfectly legal, then I would get permission from the owner of the property. Even if it is abandoned, it still belongs to somebody. If you trespass on another person's property without that permission, then you are committing a crime.

The moral relevance is simple. Imagine if you had lost a relative recently as in the last couple of years, and you have still not completely to grips with it or fully comprehended what happened. Pictures lying around that show precious memories that belong to that person and a few others. Even though nobody is living there, it is still private. Even if it is nothing that actually embarrasses that person, the memories and the history in the place are often somehow sacred, and it can be very upsetting to walk into such a place and see muddy footprints of some trespasser.

Remember, you could be intruding on the residence of someone who died slowly of some terrible cancer or is in the midst of dying from it at some nursing home or rehab center or relative, and maybe that person had had dreams, plans and things he or she wanted to do. Do you really want to be salt on the wounds?

I understand that this hobby is seen by some as harmless mischief, and I'm not trying to be condemnatory. I am just saying there are dimensions to it that you might want to consider thinking of.

 

I have heard of it, and it is very interesting, but I have not done it. My favorite site is the Fabulous ruins of Detroit Tour DetroitYES - Fabulous Ruins Table of Contents

 

Yep. I was born in Detroit and now live in Baltimore, so it seems as natural to me as a fish taking to water.

But one does to use common sense, and be cautious; there are serious dangers. And yet the thrill of seeing the ruins of our cities over-rides my fears...