42. Cemeteries

The Economics of Everyday Things

The verdant lawns promise everlasting rest — but what does it mean to sign a lease for all eternity? Zachary Crockett finds out where the bodies are buried.

• SOURCES:
  • Terry Arellano, co-founder and president of Cemetery Property Resales, Inc.
  • Jeff Lindeman, C.E.O. and General Manager of Mountain View Cemetery.
  • Tanya Marsh, professor of law at Wake Forest University.
  • Maureen Walton, founder and president of The Cemetery Exchange.

• RESOURCES:
  • "Los Angeles Burial Crypt Near Marilyn Monroe, Hugh Hefner on Sale for $2 Million," by Stephanie Nolasco (Fox 10 Phoenix, 2023).
  • "Why the Brooklyn-Queens Border Is Full of Dead People," by Keith Williams (The New York Times, 2017).
  • "Death in the City: What Happens When All Our Cemeteries Are Full?" by Ana Naomi de Sousa (The Guardian, 2015).
  • "Our First Public Parks: The Forgotten History of Cemeteries," by Rebecca Greenfield (The Atlantic, 2011).
  • "Selling a Burial Plot is a Grave Decision," by Erin Peterson (Kiplinger, 2010).

• EXTRAS:
  • "How to Be Better at Death," by Freakonomics Radio (2021).