Salton City, California
Fifty years ago, it would be absurd to consider the prestigious vacation spot known as Salton City a small town. But while the accidental lake that formed the basis of the once scenic town made it bustle in the early to mid-20th Century, rising salinity from agricultural runoff has made the town increasingly toxic since the ’70s.
This has all but destroyed the town’s ecosystem and made it hazardous to live in due to the toxic gases that now characterize the area around the Salton Sea. As a result, all but a few thousand residents have left the area, and many of its buildings have been left to rot. As Salton Sea program director Frank Ruiz told CNBC, “People here used to fish, swim, bring their boats. They went from living in paradise to
living in Hell.”