While the thought of exploring abandoned places might bring fear to many people, to many, it brings a rush of adrenaline that quenches their thirst for adventure.
Urban exploration, also known as urbex, has recently exploded in popularity among teens and young adults due to influence from online content creators like @decayingmidwest and @UrbexAshton on social media platforms such as Instagram or TikTok. There are even websites and apps that provide locations across the world to urbex as well as track and document one’s adventure.
Urbex explorers come across various forgotten and destroyed structures, with popular choices of abandoned tunnels and old factories. But the variety of these places — from the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone in Ukraine to the Six Flags in New Orleans — often evoke interest because of the history of these places. They allow the explorer to have a snapshot of the past by observing the surroundings.
“I specifically like going to old military bases [and] bunkers,” said urban explorer Sophia Edmonds. “The history of it is really interesting to me … I’ve [also] gone two or three times to … an abandoned Exploratorium … where they have those giant telescopes, and the only way to get into the building is through the telescope’s hole at the top.”
Moreover, urbex is an excellent way to find the beauty of art through graffiti on the walls of the abandoned buildings. With an ample amount of visitors from around the world, many often leave their own mark through tagging or graffiti. These graffiti serve as a way to build on the history of the building. But this also means that those who made the graffiti could face complications with vandalism charges if they are arrested.
“I’m also completely fascinated with graffiti artists who will continually violate [trespassing signs] and go into space and create something new,” said urban explorer Gwenyth Tripp. “There’s this building [in] downtown Los Angeles [that] ran out of money while they were building it. So artists got in and just started tagging every floor … You can see the development of the artwork over the course of the building … I know it’s a tricky space to navigate because [of] property rights, and I respect that.”
However, since most of the places have been abandoned for so long, such as the popular Abandoned Grain Silos in San Francisco, which have been abandoned since 1977 because of an explosion, there are many safety concerns. According to the Natural Hazards Center, abandoned places increase risk of health problems because they can harbor mosquito-borne illnesses. And in many other cases, abandoned hospitals and factories may have poisonous leftover chemicals. But the structures of these places are the main concern, as they are easily collapsible unexpectedly.
“When I was exploring [an] abandoned house, the floor collapsed, not under me, but in front of me,” said freshman and urban explorer Vlad Model. “I was pretty scared.”
Because of incidents like Model’s or even worse ones, which could lead to major injuries or death, many explorers feel safer to go with a group of people.
“When you’re in an environment where you’re not 100% sure what’s gonna happen, especially if you’re somewhere old where the floor [or the roof] might cave in or something just might break or fall while you’re there, it’s important to have people with you who can help you if something goes wrong,” Edmonds said.
But, to many explorers, they find the thrill in exploring because of the unknown aspects. Especially in abandoned places, there can be many elements of surprise — whether it is finding remnants of the past that tracks the history of the place, or meeting another group of fellow explorers.
“My first studio space was in an old noodle factory in West Oakland,” Tripp said. “It was abandoned … I remember there was someone who was unhoused at the time in the neighborhood, who said to me, ‘This company’s going [out of] business, and they’re getting rid of all their supplies’ … I remember going through [those] with him … I still have things that I got from that time, including coffee stir sticks.”
Moreover, the adrenaline rush is also caused by the unknown factor of whether or not there will be security at the place. Since many of the places explored are old, they often have trespassing signs set up by the owner to warn those who are in the area.
“Before I hit adulthood, I definitely did not care about [trespassing] as much as I do now,” Edmonds said. “But there are some, serious legal things that can happen if you get caught in a spot like that … [If] I knew the area well, I’d feel more comfortable trespassing, but most spots I don’t actually go into.”
With legal complications, such as charges of trespassing and vandalism, there are cases where explorers had to escape from security guards to avoid consequences such as jail time.
Overall, urbex still stands as a controversial topic as it allows the explorer to get a look into history of places, but also could lead to legal complications such as vandalism and trespassing. Regardless, urbex continues itself through society as the rapidly-trending activity seen on the internet that promises unpredictability and excitement.
