Many visitors to this site have commented on how unfortunate it is that the housing wasn't repurposed for civilian families, especially the idea of providing hundreds of low income, affordable homes to a region of California that would have greatly benefited from it. The decay, vandalism, and neglect in these photos certainly makes a powerful statement. What the visitor here has to realize is that the majority of this housing is all gone now. This place where so many of you lived, grew up, had families, and served our country is an EPA Superfund site. The buildings were full of hazardous materials such as lead paint and asbestos. The soil and groundwater are contaminated with decades of jet fuel, cleaning solvents, and other chemicals related to the operations of an air force. The entire base was contaminated with a very dangerous pesticide called Dieldrin. The extent of this contamination is such that the cleanup effort, topping $150 million dollars, isn't expected to wrap up until 2020 at the earliest.

So please realize that the fate of this wasted housing extends back into the time that it was still occupied by Air Force personnel and their families.

The one thing that cannot be described, and likely cannot be experienced there anymore due to demolition, was the feeling of standing in these empty streets, with a dry, relentless high desert breeze blowing through along with the ghosts of the past. Close your eyes and you can almost hear the squeak of a swingset, a mother calling out to her kids, a baby crying, and Airmen laughing. Visiting and photographing the abandoned, decaying housing areas of GAFB has left an indelible impression in my mind and heart.