Yet Another Story...

...on the growing number of potential exurban "ghost towns":

Peek behind the palm trees and there you see the most shocking sight: abandoned swimming pools, fetid and green, left to the elements and choked with algae. Thousands of people have walked away without even draining the water. Mosquito control agents now patrol these murky pools, treating them with pesticides to keep disease-carrying larvae from forming.
“With the skyrocketing foreclosure rate, the problem is compounding daily,” said Jared Dever, a spokesman for the government district that monitors insect breeding grounds. He said about 2,000 abandoned swimming pools would have to be treated in just one part of Riverside County.

Granted, the "ghost town" label is usually hyperbole, but the image of 2,000 abandoned homes and their backyard pools filling with stale water creates a pretty compelling Daily Sprawl picture.