forums
new posts
donate
UER Store
events
location db
db map
search
members
faq
terms of service
privacy policy
register
login




1 2  
UER Forum > Rookie Forum > Finding new locations (Viewed 8843 times)
JustMilkingCows 


Total Likes: 0 likes




 |  | 
Finding new locations
< on 3/8/2020 9:23 PM >
Reply with Quote
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
Hello, I'm a new member on this site and also pretty new explorer. I've only "explored" 1 public place where there's at least 1 other group at all times and 2 buildings in my street, which I've went to at least 35 times now. I want to explore more and get more active here, but I can't really find any good places that aren't demolished, too public or reconverted already. I don't want any locations, I just want to know ways to find new locations myself. I have a feeling I live in a location where there are not many places.




Darendor 


Location: Red Deer, Alberta, Canada, Earth, Sol System, Milky Way Galaxy
Gender: Male
Total Likes: 89 likes




 |  | 
Re: Finding new locations
< Reply # 1 on 3/8/2020 9:54 PM >
Reply with Quote
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
There's this lovely program called Google Earth...




Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.
- Leonardo da Vinci
blackhawk 

This member has been banned. See the banlist for more information.


Location: Mission Control
Total Likes: 3996 likes


UER newbie

 |  |  | 
Re: Finding new locations
< Reply # 2 on 3/8/2020 9:56 PM >
Reply with Quote
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
Well you give no location.
A one man island?
There are places to explore everywhere... even in W TX.
Start by looking around RR tracks and large rivers...




Just when I thought I was out... they pulled me back in.
blackhawk 

This member has been banned. See the banlist for more information.


Location: Mission Control
Total Likes: 3996 likes


UER newbie

 |  |  | 
Re: Finding new locations
< Reply # 3 on 3/8/2020 9:56 PM >
Reply with Quote
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
2X post, sorry
my bad I double tapped it; killer instinct.



[last edit 3/8/2020 9:58 PM by blackhawk - edited 1 times]

Just when I thought I was out... they pulled me back in.
Dee Ashley 


Location: DFW, Texas
Gender: Female
Total Likes: 1378 likes


Write something and wait expectantly.

 |  |  | My Flickr
Re: Finding new locations
< Reply # 4 on 3/8/2020 10:06 PM >
Reply with Quote
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
You can find a ton of info on the rookie forum page:
https://uer.ca/for...p?fid=1&catid=1089



Specifically here:
http://www.uer.ca/...d=1&threadid=83700

And here:
http://www.uer.ca/...=1&threadid=106602

And here:
http://www.uer.ca/...=1&threadid=106602


And probably the most informative thread of all:
https://uer.ca/for...=1&threadid=118368

If you do a simple search and type in location as your keyword, you’ll find many, many, many threads on this topic.




I wandered till the stars went dim.
Aran 


Location: Kansas City
Gender: Male
Total Likes: 1839 likes


Huh. I guess covid made me a trendsetter.

 |  | 
Re: Finding new locations
< Reply # 5 on 3/8/2020 10:13 PM >
Reply with Quote
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
Dee Ashley has some good links, I'd recommend giving them an in depth read. Blackhawk's also right on the money regarding railroad tracks and rivers.

Building on that, go on Google Maps and look around the old industrial district of your city (most have one, size may vary) for caved roofs and empty parking lots. Meander through in person and look for broken windows, overgrown/cracked parking lots, and that musty "abandoned building" smell.

As for non-abandonments, rooftops are pretty easy. Go check out tall buildings until you find an open hatch. Storm drains can also be surprisingly easy, since most cities keep GIS maps of their storm drain and sewer systems for maintenance purposes. If you're lucky, they'll be accessible to the public (online or on request). If you're really lucky, they'll be in the form of a GIS map with the pipe diameters listed so you can easily see which ones are walkable.




"Sorry, I didn't know I'm not supposed to be here," he said, knowing full well he wasn't supposed to be there.

Explorer Zero 


Total Likes: 2026 likes




 |  |  | 
Re: Finding new locations
< Reply # 6 on 3/8/2020 10:24 PM >
Reply with Quote
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
Posted by JustMilkingCows
Hello, I'm a new member on this site and also pretty new explorer. I've only "explored" 1 public place where there's at least 1 other group at all times and 2 buildings in my street, which I've went to at least 35 times now. I want to explore more and get more active here, but I can't really find any good places that aren't demolished, too public or reconverted already. I don't want any locations, I just want to know ways to find new locations myself. I have a feeling I live in a location where there are not many places.


Being "more active here" = keyboard

Urban "exploring" = actually going out in the real world and looking for stuff to explore

. . . at least it used to I don't know anymore :{




JustMilkingCows 


Total Likes: 0 likes




 |  | 
Re: Finding new locations
< Reply # 7 on 3/9/2020 10:14 AM >
Reply with Quote
Posted on Forum: UER Forum

Well you give no location.
A one man island?
There are places to explore everywhere...

I live in western europe, The Netherlands. I live south (Limburg) but am willing to explore the entire country and the whole of Belgium and the Netherlands, some Germany too.



There's this lovely program called Google Earth...
I personally can't find much on there.



And probably the most informative thread of all:
https://uer.ca/for...=1&threadid=118368

This helped and will probably contine helping a lot. Thanks. Currently I still haven't found a location yet though, but I'll keep looking



Building on that, go on Google Maps and look around the old industrial district of your city (most have one, size may vary) for caved roofs and empty parking lots. Meander through in person and look for broken windows, overgrown/cracked parking lots, and that musty "abandoned building" smell.

As for non-abandonments, rooftops are pretty easy. Go check out tall buildings until you find an open hatch. Storm drains can also be surprisingly easy, since most cities keep GIS maps of their storm drain and sewer systems for maintenance purposes. If you're lucky, they'll be accessible to the public (online or on request). If you're really lucky, they'll be in the form of a GIS map with the pipe diameters listed so you can easily see which ones are walkable.

These are some helpful tips, I'll keep them in mind, but I don't really have an "industrial district" in my area as far as I know.


Being "more active here" = keyboard

Urban "exploring" = actually going out in the real world and looking for stuff to explore
Well I actually want to do both, but I feel like if I want to post images or talk about it more I'll need some experience.

Anyways, thanks for all the tips everyone.




fruitbats 


Location: Alabama
Gender: Female
Total Likes: 14 likes




 |  | 
Re: Finding new locations
< Reply # 8 on 3/9/2020 6:24 PM >
Reply with Quote
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
This is gonna sound a little bad but find the part of town that’s new and where all the rich people live and where new things are being built, and then drive in the opposite direction. From my experience, the best stuff is in farm country, or in places where people can not afford to maintain an old house and so they just give up on it and move away




blackhawk 

This member has been banned. See the banlist for more information.


Location: Mission Control
Total Likes: 3996 likes


UER newbie

 |  |  | 
Re: Finding new locations
< Reply # 9 on 3/9/2020 7:09 PM >
Reply with Quote
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
Posted by JustMilkingCows


I live in western europe, The Netherlands. I live south (Limburg) but am willing to explore the entire country and the whole of Belgium and the Netherlands, some Germany too.




Holy fuck, you're in heaven.
Think WW2... there should be tons of stuff to run amok in.
Seaports, rivers and RRs (out of service lines/spurs from 70+ years can lead you to amazing finds).
Do searches for WW2 and cold war installations,sub pens, bunkers, etc by region, city, etc.
Abandoned mines and steel mills...

On UER, look and post here:
http://www.uer.ca/...sp?fid=1&catid=115



[last edit 3/9/2020 7:10 PM by blackhawk - edited 1 times]

Just when I thought I was out... they pulled me back in.
Synaesthoenix 


Total Likes: 1 like




 |  | 
Re: Finding new locations
< Reply # 10 on 3/31/2020 9:32 AM >
Reply with Quote
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
Posted by JustMilkingCows
Hello, I'm a new member on this site and also pretty new explorer. I've only "explored" 1 public place where there's at least 1 other group at all times and 2 buildings in my street, which I've went to at least 35 times now. I want to explore more and get more active here, but I can't really find any good places that aren't demolished, too public or reconverted already. I don't want any locations, I just want to know ways to find new locations myself. I have a feeling I live in a location where there are not many places.


I am running into this same issue with finding new locations a lot where I am from, but I have found that looking on google maps satellite view helps a lot. If you use it to identify lonely looking buildings that look out of place, that will definitely get the ball rolling. Look everywhere, even your childhood memories! Where did you frequent as a child or teen? Ar those places still open? What places were you curious about that you could never enter since you had the limitations of a child? For example, as I child there was this ranch that I always saw while biking next to this lakeside park, when I used google maps I found out that it had since been abandoned! A place that I used to frequent as a child, right near my own place just ready to explore! Lastly, ask your friends in the area, maybe they have seen something while driving that they have always been curious about and scope it out via google maps satellite imaging. Hope this was useful!




kidchaos23 


Location: Tampa Bay Area, FL
Gender: Female
Total Likes: 81 likes




 |  |  | fleet.in.being
Re: Finding new locations
< Reply # 11 on 3/31/2020 3:33 PM >
Reply with Quote
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
You'll have a lot of luck finding things by using Google Maps and following railroad tracks.

Also, any areas near you that are older than others are generally going to ante up more paydirt. Googling your local history is going to take you a long way. It also just, frankly, makes exploring more interesting.

Good luck!




IG: fleet.in.being
Steam: kidchaos23
kidchaos23 


Location: Tampa Bay Area, FL
Gender: Female
Total Likes: 81 likes




 |  |  | fleet.in.being
Re: Finding new locations
< Reply # 12 on 3/31/2020 3:35 PM >
Reply with Quote
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
Also, the "pick a location away from the city and drive" is a tried and true method, if time-intensive.




IG: fleet.in.being
Steam: kidchaos23
MercuryVapor 


Gender: Male
Total Likes: 54 likes


Camping in a coal tower.

 |  | 
Re: Finding new locations
< Reply # 13 on 4/2/2020 7:21 AM >
Reply with Quote
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
Possible signs of an abandoned structure:

- Over grown vegetation. could be anything from vines dangling off roofs, grass out of control, unkempt landscaping features like shrubs, flower bushes. stuff growing through cracked bits of pavement, driveways, fences that are overtaken by vines and trees. Even the opposite could occur such as brown grass and dead shrubs. Depends on climate and environmental conditions.

- Missing, deactivated or damaged electrical, telephone, cable, infrastructure. The modern smart meters generally flash "00000" when there is no power to the structure. Missing power meters are a sure sign that the place has no power at all. Some larger buildings have multiple meter boxes from past times when the power company rerouted their electrical feed or if the building had multiple "tenants ". Some buildings are internally sectioned off with separate electrical systems. so check around the structure take note of all meters or the lack thereof. Downed power lines, empty utility poles, scrapped or deactivated switch gear stations and disconnected cable, telephone lines are also possible signs. Sometimes they "snip" the wires right at the utility pole on the street.

- collapsed walls, cracking walls, unmaintained pavement, overgrown sidewalks, fences that are mangled and rusted, missing gas supply apparatuses (the pipe looking things with gauges on them), broken windows, boarded windows, chipping paint, other signs of structural failure/decay/neglect etc.

- graffiti

- abandoned radio, radar, cell towers generally have no lights at night. For radio towers I go by the saying "No lights at night, no power in sight" reason I go by that is because radio towers have redundancy lamps incase one burns out to prevent safety hazards. For instance the mid section of most towers has two to three smaller lights. And the top of radio towers usually has a dual 660 watt incandescent flasher. For other types of towers like radar towers they generally have a dual 60 or 135 watt incandescent flasher with 130 volt traffic light duty bulbs. The second lamp is a redundancy measure. The chance of all of that dying at once is slim. More signs of abandoned radio towers include snipped supply wires at the bottom, missing support infrastructures like generators and control boxes. Cell towers don't really need to be abandoned to climb. Just don't dangle your nut sack infront of the microwave dishes or bar antennae and you'll be fine.

- things like empty parking lots, driveways lack of activity for large amounts of time is a sign.

Observe for a COMBINATION of signs. Never assume just because some lazy person forgot to cut his shrubs that the place is abandoned. Even a place with graffiti can be active... It all depends. Scouting trips are advisable. Maybe even set up a little trail cam somewhere to see if there is any activity at any point for like a week or two. Over time it becomes easier to tell what places are abandoned and what places are not. I've trained my brain over the years to kind of "scan" for possible places and if there is one of interest I will scout it out and check for signs that are not as easily seen from afar.

Also Google maps is good if you're bored and feel like hunting for stuff. I never really use Google maps mostly because I get bored too quickly sorting through miles of suburbs and other bs. It's easier for me to hop on my bicycle and scout manually.


I'm not very good at making guides so forgive punctuation errors.



[last edit 4/2/2020 7:26 AM by MercuryVapor - edited 2 times]

If your uncle Jack were stuck on a roof. And he asked for your help. Would you help your uncle Jack off?
telefontubbie 


Location: Latvia, Riga
Gender: Female
Total Likes: 158 likes


"No Trespassing" - It's an invitation!

 |  | 
Re: Finding new locations
< Reply # 14 on 4/5/2020 10:44 AM >
Reply with Quote
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
Hi! Even very experienced explorers runs out of locations.
I would recommend to browse Youtube and Instagram, some people are using location hashtags or there are some useful details mentioned in the comments section.




Explorer Zero 


Total Likes: 2026 likes




 |  |  | 
Re: Finding new locations
< Reply # 15 on 4/5/2020 12:03 PM >
Reply with Quote
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
Posted by telefontubbie
Hi! Even very experienced explorers runs out of locations.
I would recommend to browse Youtube and Instagram, some people are using location hashtags or there are some useful details mentioned in the comments section.


Yes but don't use the UER DB it causes locations to get destroyed or shutdown.

Instagram is much more discrete LOL !




Synaesthoenix 


Total Likes: 1 like




 |  | 
Re: Finding new locations
< Reply # 16 on 4/13/2020 10:06 AM >
Reply with Quote
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
Posted by Explorer Zero


Yes but don't use the UER DB it causes locations to get destroyed or shutdown.

Instagram is much more discrete LOL !


Wait, really? So does this mean if we find a place, we shouldn't try to put it on the DB?




urbX360 


Total Likes: 70 likes




 |  | 
Re: Finding new locations
< Reply # 17 on 4/13/2020 2:32 PM >
Reply with Quote
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
At the moment you can't anyway. To do such thing you have to become a full member.




360 panoramic photography : roundme.com/@urbx_360
Explorer Zero 


Total Likes: 2026 likes




 |  |  | 
Re: Finding new locations
< Reply # 18 on 4/13/2020 4:57 PM >
Reply with Quote
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
Posted by Synaesthoenix


Wait, really? So does this mean if we find a place, we shouldn't try to put it on the DB?


I can tell sarcasm is not your strongest skill I am being facetious, once you are a Full Member yes, add locations to the DB keep just them Full Member only, its a bit safer than Instaglory or Flucker accounts...

Not long ago I was criticized widely for adding locations to the DB. Well the owner of this site built a fine DB and expected members to use it. End of argument far as Im concerned if you don't like the DB don't use it. I will still use it.




Synaesthoenix 


Total Likes: 1 like




 |  | 
Re: Finding new locations
< Reply # 19 on 4/15/2020 8:35 PM >
Reply with Quote
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
Posted by Explorer Zero


I can tell sarcasm is not your strongest skill I am being facetious, once you are a Full Member yes, add locations to the DB keep just them Full Member only, its a bit safer than Instaglory or Flucker accounts...

Not long ago I was criticized widely for adding locations to the DB. Well the owner of this site built a fine DB and expected members to use it. End of argument far as Im concerned if you don't like the DB don't use it. I will still use it.



Well, trying to discern my talent level in sarcasm would be hard to judge when you base it on my comment which was not intended to be sarcasm at all, so perhaps it is your ability to detect sarcasm that is lacking.

Since I am not a full member, as well as commenting on the rookie forums, it should be quite obvious that I probably do not know much about urban exploring and that is why I was looking for information, such as confirmation about whether or not putting a location on the DB map is actually counter intuitive if it actually makes locations torn down and demolished.

I am genuinely looking for rookie advice and find it distasteful that you had to come at me for no reason.




UER Forum > Rookie Forum > Finding new locations (Viewed 8843 times)
1 2  


Add a poll to this thread



This thread is in a public category, and can't be made private.



All content and images copyright © 2002-2024 UER.CA and respective creators. Graphical Design by Crossfire.
To contact webmaster, or click to email with problems or other questions about this site: UER CONTACT
View Terms of Service | View Privacy Policy | Server colocation provided by Beanfield
This page was generated for you in 109 milliseconds. Since June 23, 2002, a total of 737023252 pages have been generated.