Bombay Beach California - American Roadtrip Part 4 of 5

Bombay Beach is a census designated place. It is a recognized place, but it really isn't. There is no municipal government that looks after its people, and it is only legitimized for statistical purposes. It's generally forgotten. There were 300 people that lived there in 2010, but that population dropped after the flood. Maybe the few that still live there like it that way. As I walked down the streets plastic bags drifted by, dogs barked behind empty fences, and abandoned houses stood spilling their forgotten contents into the front yard. I can only describe it as eerie to be in a place that once thrived with community, and now only a few years later sits desolate, virtually abandoned. Yet the few people I did see on the street riding golf carts and bicycles smiled pleasantly and waved and my very surface level understanding and a short afternoon  in Bombay Beach made them all the more intriguing.