I haven't been to Centralia. Too bad that they demolished the houses, but I guess they did it for safety measures in case someone decided to sneak in those, which would've been dangerous.
I live near another abandoned town. It's only about 40 minutes away by car. What's weird about that place is that it's really not abandoned. I think the government or a construction company started to destroy it for an unknown reason, but stopped because some of the people refused to leave. I saw one large house that was half-destroyed. The interior walls were visible from outside, and a picture was still hanging from one of it. As we walked by that house, we saw a lady staring out at us from one of the windows. In the commercial zone, the businesses were still there, but I saw a couple of buildings that were destroyed. It looked like a war zone. This town still has a church intact, like Centralia does now. On the hill are some abandoned cars and a bus. These vehicles don't have license plates. It bothered me that this town was being destroyed when the people refused to leave. I'm guessing that these people didn't own the land. Many people built cheap houses over unclaimed lands, which the government later declared as part of the green belts. However, I know of a lot of farmers who got their lands forcefully sold so that a railway, a road, or an apartment complex could be built over it. Most of the people from nearby cities don't know of that town. It's very isolated. I'll go and take pictures if you're interested.