re: Do you think any American city will see its end in your lifetime?

The thing about Detroit is that there's so much infrastructure and factories that are there, someone will make sure that they get used. I mean, you could see the state and local governments practically giving a plant to a manufacturer in exchange for creating a bunch of jobs. If land is cheap enough, eventually it gets to the point where it becomes worth it for someone to take a risk.

I can't see a decent sized American city ending, unless there's a gigantic natural disaster or large scale terrorist attack -- things that would wipe out interstate highways, deepwater ports or power grids. Places grow and decay, that's just kind of natural.

I saw Goodhope, La get swallowed up by the Valero refinery in my lifetime.

So, yes.

New Orleans is geographically the most likely to become a ghost town in the next 100 years due to rising sea levels and the potential for another massive hurricane.

As far as I know, New Orleans and Amsterdam are the only two major cities that are majority below sea level.

There are a bunch of cities that barely above sea level like Miami, Shanghai, Bangkok, Mumbai, Calcutta, and Dhaka that are 10-20 feet above sea level, and I think Houston and Baton Rouge are 40-50 feet above sea level, but that seems to be exponentially better for straightforward reasons.

The other issue to me, besides sea level, is earthquakes. In the US, the main concerns are the major California cities, as well as the Cascades region, between Sacramento and Vancouver. I think this one is more likely to be a problem than ones impacting LA, SF, etc.

Internationally, Istanbul, Manilla, Mexico City, Islamabad, Tokyo, Mumbai, Tehran, and Santiago are all close to major fault lines, but I don't think an earthquake is going to end any of these cities.

Richmond, CA. It's Oakland north.