Eight thousand people once lived in and around Uranium City, Saskatchewan, in the northwest corner of the Canadian province. Founded as a tent outpost in the early 1950s when uranium was discovered nearby, it grew into a thriving community with dozens of mining ventures as well as hotels, apartment blocks, a movie theatre, a hospital and CANDU High School.

In the mid-1960s, however, the United States government stopped purchasing Canadian uranium, and the bottom began to fall out of both the market and the city. When the last mine closed in 1982, the exodus began.

Having grown up in the shadow of Canada's current boom, oil, I often wonder what will happen when the industry dries up. I turned to Uranium City as an example of what to expect when a 'boom town' busts.

Daniel Hayduk