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Tired of where you live? Buy yourself a new town in Latvia!

by Scott Carmichael (RSS feed) on Feb 4th 2010 at 4:30PM

Do you ever get bored of your own town? How about packing up all your stuff and moving to your very own town? This could be your once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to rename a town after yourself!

Of course, the move would involve relocating to Latvia, and you'll need to bring a decent chunk of cash along with you, but bidding has opened to find a new owner for the former top secret Russian military town of Skrunda-1.

Bids start at 150,000 Lats (about $290,000 USD). The winning bidder will become the owner of the entire town - including 5 million square feet of land, 10 apartment buildings, two nightclubs, a shopping center, a child care center, a sauna, and of course a variety of abandoned military buildings. The radar facilities were sadly destroyed, so anyone thinking of starting their own secret missile base will need to find somewhere else.

The town has been abandoned since 1999, so you'll need to make a couple of trips to the local equivalent of Home Depot to fix things up.

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Filed under: Latvia, News

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Lauren Quinn Feb 4th 2010 4:54PM

Wow, a town in Latvia costs as much as a budget condo in the Bay Area. That's a bummer of a perspective...

Chuck Feb 4th 2010 10:16PM

It reminds me of Gary, Indiana. I think the real estate is cheaper there.

john Mar 13th 2010 11:27AM

hey jerk ... i happen to live in Gary In.. this might shock you im white and have money and have been here since i was born and im only 32. gary is not bad.. crime drugs and lack of leadership is killing gary. Gary needs a new Mayor. By the way its the hometown of MICHAEL JACKSON the KING!!!!!!!

Unexpected Traveller Feb 6th 2010 4:37AM

Damn .. missed my opportunity here - it's sold now: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100205/ap_on_re_eu/eu_latvia_town_for_sale

The Unexpected Traveller

bluehawk Feb 6th 2010 6:47AM

On February 5th, 2010, the town was sold to a Russian investor at an auction for $3.1 million.

Escalonz Feb 7th 2010 6:18PM

Why not auction off Detroit? Curses! Probably no bidders....

Glenn Feb 6th 2010 11:08AM

Nice that everyone noticed that the value of the US dollar value vs. the Lat is 2 to 1.

a big bad crazy white man Feb 6th 2010 11:13AM

why not buy it with tax dolars and send the house and the senate there!

V Feb 6th 2010 12:32PM

I like big bad's idea.

Lisa Feb 6th 2010 3:24PM

Couldn't have said it better myself!

Joe Feb 6th 2010 11:29AM

Are you sure this town is not in Texas, real state in Texas is cheap, of course who would want to live in Texas??

curtis Feb 6th 2010 12:17PM

Joe,
We (from Texas) love your way of thinking, please spread your thoughts to all of the yankee friends. Make sure they know we would love for a large portion of their yankee friends be taken back to where they came from. by the way have you ever heard of retiring to Ohio?

Curtis

BOB Feb 6th 2010 11:30AM

Town was sold yesterday for 3.1 Million. This is old news.

Katzenmutter Feb 6th 2010 11:44AM

What a sad Soviet era group of buildings!

Where does AOL get these writers? "Bored of a town"? You might be bored WITH a town, but bored of a town doesn't even make sense. I've known many 4th-6th graders who wrote better than this "professional writer".