Update: Apparently, some retouching shenanigans occurred with this series, and The New York Times has withdrawn the photos. Too bad we didn’t get that kind of probity from NYT before the invasion of Iraq. This project in downtown Phoenix was supposed to include nearly two dozen luxury homes, priced from $2.8 million to $4.5 million. But by early 2007, the city's high-end condominium market — which was among the country’s hottest — had become oversaturated. Prices started to fall, and Chateaux on Central’s developer, Central PHX Partners, declared bankruptcy. Photo by Edgar Martins

We have been discussing Whither the McMansion, wondering about their future; their present is equally troubling. The New York Times sent photographer Edgar Martins across America to document “the physical evidence of the real estate bust.” It is an appalling scene of excess and waste. …

Ruins of the Second Gilded Age in the New York Times via Treehugger

Technorati Tags: