Playas, N.M., a virtual ghost town since Phelps Dodge halted operations at a nearby copper smelter in September 1999, has been put up for sale by the mining giant. Price: US$3.2 million.
The 2.6-sq.-km town was built between 1974 and 1977 to house smelter workers. Now it is home to some renters and a skeleton crew at the smelter.
“It’s really a beautiful place to live, with panoramic views,” Phelps Dodge spokesman Richard Peterson told the Associated Press.
But Playas is far from just about everything: groceries can be bought in Lordsburg, 35 minutes away by car; the nearest movie theaters are in Silver City, a 75-minute drive, and the nearest mall is in Las Cruces, a 2-hour drive.
There are a few amenities: a community centre, airstrip, fitness centre, a bank that opens on Fridays, a post office, fire station, and medical clinic with its own ambulance. Playas has a rodeo arena, two tennis courts, baseball diamonds, a bowling alley and two churches. The sale includes about 5 sq. km of surrounding land.
At its height, Playas housed about 1,000 people. Now there are about 100 residents paying rent. A 3-bedroom house goes for about US$250 a month.
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