suicide magnet n. A location such as a bridge or tower where a
high number of suicides occur.  Example Citation: Golden Gate
designer Joseph Strauss declared in 1936 that his creation was
'practically suicide proof.' But Mr. Strauss envisioned guard
rails nearly 6 feet high. The actual fence measures only 3 feet,
6 inches....Other structures that were suicide magnets, such as
the Eiffel Tower and the Empire State Building, have made
jumping an impossibility by putting up barriers. —Doug J.
Swanson, "Suicide patrol working to stop Golden Gate jumpers,"
The Dallas Morning News, June 9, 1996  Earliest Citation:
California is also home to the most powerful suicide magnet in
the Western world, the Golden Gate Bridge; more than 900 people
have leapt to their deaths since the bridge opened. The symbolic
power of the Golden Gate is a strong draw, located about as far
West as one can go, in a city Jack Kerouac once described as
possessing an "end-of-land sadness." Aesthetics also seems to
play a role in Golden Gate su