Stay or go – a smoldering city

 Stay or go – a smoldering city

EnSite is all about placemaking. And of course we have a passion for cities. We love Cape Coral and Fort Myers, where our teammembers live and work. We can’t imagine having to leave our city. So what happens when the choice to do so is presented to us by circumstances beyond our control?

We came across this episode of that great podcast Radiolab the other day, and just can’t stop thinking about it. Anybody remember about Centralia?

A fire has been burning under that Pennsylvania city since 1962 (or maybe even earlier)! From a population of 1,000 in 1981, it has dwindled to only 10. The only place there that keeps growing is the cemetery because even those who chose to leave, still love it enough to come back to be buried.

That’s sad, but the radio program addresses some really interesting themes and dilemmas. Plus the hopeful notion that cities just don’t die. Except when they do. Stay or go – what would you choose? Have a listen.

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