Just in case you think that ill-conceived housing tracts-turned-ghost towns were somehow unique to the last housing boom, head on over to the LA Times to read about California City, California.

100 miles outside of LA, smack dab in the middle of the desert, California City was conceived of in 1958 by a Columbia University professor, with the idea of it becoming the third largest city in the state (insert joke about grandiose failure being conceived of by an Ivy League professor).

Countless roads were built (many named after top universities and big car companies), and though buyers came in from all over the world, few people ever built homes, and the land is filled with miles of unpaved road.

Today about 14,000 people live in one corner of the city -- hardly the third biggest city in California.

But here's the best part:

But the zombie of speculation is easily awakened. During the recent real estate boom, California City's population nearly doubled. Hundreds of homes were built in the city's core. Late-night infomercials hawked land in the distant "second community." Lots that had been selling for $3,000 fetched $20,000.



"People lined up to buy them," said Cheryl Hoffman, a local real estate agent. "They were being told, 'This is where you're going to make your fortune.' "

That's right. Even an epically bad idea will gain new adherents during bubble, kind of like how you get reports of people speculating in tulips from time to time.