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Former California boom town with population of just 30 begs for young people to move in...

• https://www.dailymail.co, By LAURA PARNABY

A former California boom town with a population that has dwindled to just 30 people is begging for young people to move in and snap up one of its cheap homes. 

Located just outside Death Valley National Park, properties in the quaint desert town of Darwin are 350 percent cheaper than the state's national average. 

What started as a bustling gold mining city in the 19th century is now on the precipice of becoming a ghost town - a status which brings in waves of content creators eager to capture its dilapidated cabins inhabited by quirky hermits. 

Many of the residents are creatives who moved in from sprawling cities like Las Vegas and San Francisco, favoring a life of solitude and space over the rat race. 

At the time of publication, two houses were on the market in Darwin, including a stunning three-bedroom, three-bathroom home surrounded by beautiful mountains. 

The luxury ranch is on sale for $245,000, which is 3.5 times cheaper than the statewide average of $861,725 for the same size property. 

Two blocks away, a run-down ranch surrounded by giant cacti is also for sale for an even bigger discount.  

The two-bedroom property is selling for $85,000, a price tag seven times cheaper than the statewide average of $619,491 for a similar size property. 

However, the town's seclusion comes at a price. Darwin sits more than five miles from the nearest highway, and water is a valuable commodity for residents. 

Water scarcity limits population growth to around a couple hundred people and residents rely on each other to keep the supply going. 

An army of volunteers must invest their time, labor and money into pumping the resource from gravity-fed pipelines from a spring in China Lake.  

With an average age of 66, Darwin residents have said they are desperate for youngsters to snap up the cheap homes on offer and help keep the water running. 


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