It wasn't until Cold Case that I realized that the environment can make or break these shows for a lot of viewers who would otherwise reach the remote. Cold Case, set in a gloomy Philadelphia, focused on forgotten and unsolved cases spanning the century. Often tapping into our city's racially divided mid-century caste system, fugitives were brought to justice amidst the backdrop of nostalgic Motown music.
Cold Case not only struck a chord by clashing cultures, it clashed decades and eras.
As the show's popularity declined and the city was unable to offer the producers the tax breaks they had previously enjoyed, filming was moved to Vancouver, BC. Occasional stock footage of Philadelphia would be shown, but the environment that made Cold Case so moving for so many was gone.
A backdrop of steam towers and oil refineries was replaced with the vast rainy sky of the Pacific Northwest. No matter how they tried to sell the location, the last ghost to say goodbye to Lilly was Philadelphia.
Detroit's abandoned Michigan Central Station100 Abandoned Houses - a great photographic journey through Detroit's abandoned residential streets.
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Brush Park, Detroit in the early 1900's
Brush Park more recently.**It should be noted that many of Brush Park's stately mansions, even those that had fallen into complete disrepair, have been restored and/or converted into apartments.
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