I have long had a deep love of abandoned and crumbling places. I know I'm not alone in this. Ruins are fascinating, a little sad, a little creepy. Of course, the beauty in ruins is made more complicated when the beautiful, crumbling structures are in the midst of modern American cities. It is easy to equate urban decay with beauty when you aren't trying to live in the middle of it...when it isn't your city that is falling apart.

The photos of 100 Abandoned Houses were shot in Detroit, which certainly has more than its fair share of urban decay. When we look at these, are we rubbernecking? Are we vultures? Do we pause and think, there but for the grace of god and the vagaries of economics goes my city? My home?

Whatever the case may be, they are beautiful, though hard to look at. They make me want to say a prayer and buy American.