Under-occupied developments in China are mostly unoccupied property developments in China, and mostly referred to as “ghost cities” or “ghost towns”. The phenomenon was observed and recorded as early as 2006 by writer Wade Shepard, and subsequently reported by news media over the decades.

A town often becomes a ghost town because the economic activity that supported it (usually industrial or agricultural) has failed, or due to natural or human-caused disasters such as floods, prolonged droughts, extreme heat or extreme cold, government actions, uncontrolled lawlessness, war, pollution, or nuclear …

: a once-flourishing town wholly or nearly deserted usually as a result of the exhaustion of some natural resource.

Any abandoned city, town, or village can be considered a ghost town. They usually also have visible remains, such as empty buildings. In the past, such towns—often called boomtowns—were settled and quickly came to life. People there built mines or mills to harness natural resources, such as gold or coal.

Across the world, there are mysterious abandoned cities that stand as ominous time capsules. The world’s ghost towns include Tianducheng in China and Ashgabat in Turkmenistan. Check out the most fascinating abandoned cities around the world.

Bodie, California Bodie, California was officially founded in 1876, after miners stumbled upon rich deposits of gold and silver in its hillsides. Gold-crazed prospectors flocked to the settlement at a rate of more than two-dozen per day in the late-1870s, and its population eventually soared to some 10,000 people.

Ghost Town will reopen sometime after 2022. However, a timeline for the reopening has not yet been formally announced and, in fairness, there will remain a heavy level of skepticism as previous attempts have looked promising only to fail. The process will be fascinating, even if they get the doors open.

These towns are considered “unincorporated,” meaning they aren’t part of a local government. That means even if the price is good, the unique nature of these places makes buying them more challenging than with most homes.

Where are America’s ghost towns, and how do they look today? Scroll down to find out. We’ve researched over 3,800 ghost towns to show their spread across the country and within each state.

Check out this roundup of the best ghost towns America has to offer.

• Calico, California. Education ImagesGetty Images.
• Rhyolite, Nevada. Sabrina DalbesioGetty Images.
• Goldfield, Arizona. Getty Images.
• St. Elmo, Colorado.
• Terlingua, Texas.
• Virginia City and Nevada City, Montana.
• Bodie, California.
• Cahawba, Alabama.

You can own the houses, the streets, the banks, the taverns, the land, everything you can see. Perhaps it can become a commune, a tourist destination, or just a bizarre vacation home. But money alone might not guarantee the purchase of your dream town.

New city development runs as high as up to $1 million per future resident, though more typically can be done for around $100,000 to $500,000 per resident. Generally, those figures come down as the city’s population grows over time.