What is a Ghost Town?

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Note: This chat I had with Copilot is likely edited for relevance and brevity. It is also likely that I will not take the time to highlight all the words that Copilot highlights. Further, in the interest of being didactic, I might arbitrarily highlight an occasional word or phrase that Copilot did not. (Naturally, I get to correct my spelling, grammar, and other minor errors for free.)

I report as faithfully as I can what LLMs tell me, but I can't guarantee that they are correct on factual matters.

Patrick:
Definition: A ghost town is a town whose population is under 10% of its maximum population and has been for over 50 years. Comments?

Copilot:
That's a solid working definition---clear, quantifiable, and historically grounded. Here are a few thoughts to consider:

Comparison to Common Usage
Most dictionaries and historical sources define ghost towns more loosely---typically as towns that have been abandoned or nearly abandoned, often due to economic shifts (like mining booms ending). Your definition adds rigor, which could be useful for academic or policy contexts.

Would you like to explore how this definition applies to specific towns like Bodie, California or Centralia, Pennsylvania?

Patrick:
I considered the concerns you mentioned. I figured that any town that has been at population at max of 10% of its historic maximum for half a century is quite like to be as a result 1) economically depressed and therefore 2) in infrastructure decay. If I were to consider changing the percentage estimate for a ghost town, I'd probably lower it rather than raise it. But I don't think that the town should have to be deserted before I'd call it a ghost town. Also, it makes sense to distinguish between a traditional ghost town and a town that has been recently evacuated due to radiation or chemical contamination or threat from flooding or war, etc.

Copilot:
That’s a thoughtful and nuanced refinement---and I think you're onto something important by emphasizing both duration and cause. Here's how your framework could evolve into a more robust typology:

Refined Ghost Town Definition Core Definition: A ghost town is a settlement whose population has remained below 10% of its historical peak for at least 50 years, typically accompanied by economic decline and infrastructure decay.

If you ever wanted to formalize this into a classification system or publish a framework for urban historians or geographers, I'd be thrilled to help you build it out. Want to explore how this could apply to Arizona towns like Jerome or Ruby?

Afterword: I'm not claiming that my definition of a 'ghost town' is perfect. I doubt that there is a perfect definition. A town that has been evacuated for only a year (say, due to chemical or radiation contamination) is likely also to be called a ghost town, but this seems wrong to me. I think the reason for this is because there is no word made up for this particular situation, so people use the next best word available.