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==History== During the 1950s, Bombay Beach was a popular beach-going destination. Celebrities such as [[Frank Sinatra]], [[the Beach Boys]], and [[Bing Crosby]]<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|date=2020-06-30|title=Brush fire kills 1, destroys 40 homes in desert town along Salton Sea|url=https://ktla.com/news/local-news/brush-fire-kills-1-destroys-40-homes-in-desert-town-along-salton-sea/|access-date=2020-11-11|website=KTLA|language=en-US}}</ref> frequented the luxury resorts along the Salton Sea, which was known for its fishing, boating and water skiing. The area attracted half a million tourists annually, rivaling [[Yosemite National Park]].<ref name=":1" /><ref name="Taete 2013">{{cite web|last1=Taete|first1=Jamie Lee Curtis|date=September 26, 2013|title=I Went to California's Post-Apocalyptic Beach Town|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/i-went-to-californias-post-apocalyptic-beach-town-salton-sea/|access-date=August 13, 2016|work=[[Vice (magazine)|Vice]]|publisher=[[Vice Media]]}}</ref> Bombay Beach's decline began in the 1970s, when the runoff (full of salty chemicals) led to a warning that the salinity of the lake would no longer sustain wildlife; that occurred by the early 1980s. Many residents around the Salton Sea, including those in Bombay Beach, were eventually driven out by the odor of the dying fish, the fear of health problems, and the flooding and the draining of the Salton Sea. Many of the remaining residents are reportedly either too poor to move out or too attached to the history of the area to leave.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-01-13|title=As the Salton Sea shrinks, it leaves behind a toxic reminder of the cost of making a desert bloom|url=https://thefern.org/2020/01/as-the-salton-sea-shrinks-it-leaves-behind-a-toxic-reminder-of-the-cost-of-making-a-desert-bloom/|access-date=2020-07-07|website=Food and Environment Reporting Network|language=en-US}}</ref><ref name="Killian 2013">{{cite web|last1=Killian|first1=Chris|date=August 8, 2013|title=The Dying Sea|url=http://wmuk.org/post/day-worlds-end|access-date=August 13, 2016|work=[[WMUK]]|publisher=[[Western Michigan University]]}}</ref> A report by the ''[[Pacific Institute]]'' in September 2019 stated that ten years earlier, "there were some 100 million fish in the Sea. Now, more than 97 percent of those fish are gone."<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-09-13|title=Salton Sea +20|url=https://pacinst.org/salton-sea-20/|access-date=2020-07-07|website=Pacific Institute|language=en-US}}</ref> Most of the few residents use golf carts to get around, since the nearest gas station is {{convert|20|mi|km}} away in [[Niland, California|Niland]]. There are two stores in the town, one of which is a convenience store, and the closest hospital is over 45 minutes away in [[Brawley, California|Brawley]]. The [[Ski Inn]] bar and restaurant is the only eating and drinking establishment in the town.<ref name="Taete 2013" /> The "Bombay Beach Drive-In" is an art installation consisting of old, abandoned cars at a [[drive-in theater]]. A visitor in 2019 wrote that there were many "discarded homes and trailers long-since abandoned" and that many of the buildings were "windowless husks blanketed in graffiti, surrounded by broken furniture and rubble."<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|date=2019-02-12|title=How Bombay Beach has gone from apocalyptic desert wasteland to offbeat art hub|url=https://roadtrippers.com/magazine/bombay-beach-apocalyptic-wasteland-art-hub/|access-date=2020-11-11|website=Roadtrippers|language=en}}</ref> The derelict "living ghost town" status of Bombay Beach has attracted many photographers, filmmakers, [[Urban exploration|urban explorers]], and tourists.<ref name="Taete 2013" /><ref>{{Cite web|last=Stuart|first=Gwynedd|date=2019-03-26|title=For One Weekend a Year, a Tiny Town on the Salton Sea Becomes a Mecca for Artists and Partiers|url=https://www.lamag.com/culturefiles/bombay-beach-biennale/|access-date=2019-03-27|website=Los Angeles Magazine|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Mariah Karson Photography βΊ BOMBAY BEACH|url=https://www.mariahkarson.com/work/bombay-beach/|access-date=2020-11-11|website=Mariah Karson Photography|language=en-US}}</ref> The town, as well as others on the shores of the Salton Sea, is one of the lowest settlements in elevation in North America. The local [[American Legion]], Post 801, had 36 members in 2016 and closed down "for a few years" before reopening as a volunteer-run facility.<ref name="Walker1 2015">{{cite web|last1=Walker|first1=Tim|date=March 13, 2015|title=Postcard from... Bombay Beach|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/postcard-from-bombay-beach-10107756.html|access-date=August 13, 2016|work=[[The Independent]]|publisher=Independent Print Limited}}</ref><ref name="Zimmerman 2014">{{cite web|last1=Zimmerman|first1=Janet|date=December 18, 2014|title=Salton Sea struggles to survive|url=http://www.pe.com/articles/sea-756627-lake-water.html|access-date=August 13, 2016|work=[[The Press-Enterprise]]|publisher=[[Digital First Media]]}}</ref> In 2018, as people began to move back into Bombay Beach, house prices had risen; some bungalows were selling for "tens of thousands of dollars."<ref name=":0" /> The community has held the Bombay Beach Biennale each spring since 2016, inviting "artists, academics, writers, and film-makers to create work, give lectures, and stage happenings". The 2020 Biennale was postponed due to the [[COVID-19 pandemic]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=2020|url=http://www.bombaybeachbiennale.org/2020|access-date=2020-11-11|website=Bombay Beach Biennale|language=en-US}}</ref> The population of Bombay Beach has been described as "mostly elderly residents" who "live in a grid of mobile homes and eccentric (and, sometimes, elaborate) small homes and shacks."<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-03-04|title=Bombay Beach Riding Resurgence Wave With Literary Week Set|url=https://www.palmspringslife.com/bombay-beach-salton-sea/|access-date=2020-11-11|website=Palm Springs Life|language=en-US}}</ref>
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