No, I don't live in the USA at all - I've just seen pictures and have a bit of an ocean liners obsession. I'd hate to see the United States scrapped, but I guess its pretty inevitable now.
The church may shout but Darwin roars

Oh, well! One man's trash is another man's treasure.
Do you actually live near that part of the Philly waterfront along Delaware Avenue? Luckily for me, I live in Turnersville, NJ and very rarely go into that part of the city, like maybe once every few years to shop at the Ikea directly across the street from that dock, so I don't feel that strongly about it either way as I can choose to look elsewhere whenever I cross the Walt Whitman.

I don't agree - the United States is pretty, even in decay (though I still think her funnels are too big).
It is probably too late, but I do wish that somebody would refit her and use her as a cruise ship. It can be done. It
has
been done - here is an ex-transatlantic liner converted to a cruise ship: -
http://www.iglucruise.com/images/_i829094.jpg
The church may shout but Darwin roars

You want an example of what a rust-bucket eyesore the
Costa Concordia
would make if it were salvaged and put on display? (And the
Titanic
as well if they ever developed the technology to bring it back to the surface?)
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d8/SS-United_St ates.JPG/1280px-SS-United_States.JPG
This is the
SS United States
, the fastest ocean liner ever built, launched in the 1950s and larger than either the
Titanic
or an
Iowa
-class battleship (one of which, the
USS New Jersey
, is nicely preserved within sight of it across the Delaware river). The
SS United States
has been sitting at a pier on the Philadelphia waterfront since 1996 and sat at a dock in Norfolk, Virginia for 27 years prior to that. IMHO, it's the worst eyesore anywhere on the Delaware river; cross the Walt Whitman Bridge between South Philly and South Jersey where you'll have a view of all of Center City Philly, and it's easily to spot with its faded paint and rust. Actually go into Philly and drive along the waterfront and it looks even worse!
If a once-glorious ocean liner like that can sit abandoned for 44 years, why would anyone want to invest in preserving a run-of-the-mill cruise ship which was run into a reef killing 32 out of 4300 passengers and crew (as opposed to a much worse shipwreck like the
Titanic
where 1500 died out of 2200 passengers and crew)?
(The
USS New Jersey
is the most decorated warship in US Navy history and is kept well-preserved for that reason.)

Ay, matey, because when yon poster posted that blarney tale that fateful day, it sounded stupid.

Why you being such a dlck? Perished is hardly an old-fashioned word. Maybe for today's generation that uses Twitterspeak instead of proper English. Thirty two people died and a "day" consists of the daylight hours as well as the night time hours, DB.

You think the Concordia was foul? Have a look at this piece of maritime drek
http://www.flickr.com/photos/15471937@N06/6105997246/in/set-7215762615 9885344
Apparently there is a whole
fleet
of the bloody things out there somewhere [shudder!]
The church may shout but Darwin roars

Why? It's a rusty piece of junk. No one can go inside it. It would just be floating off the coast for people to look at. Don't forget maintenance so that the ugly thing doesn't sink again.
Why would you save it? Put up a stone monument. Don't save a 1000ft rusty piece of junk.
"Perished"? "That terrible day"? What is this? An old seaman's tale? First, perished is an old-fashioned word that is apparently linked to every shipwreck story for some unknown reason. Second, it happened at night.
It's going to float there for a few months as crews clean out furniture and debris. They're going to search for remains but it's doubtful they'll find any. After that, they're going to tow it somewhere so that it can be mercifully ripped apart and put out of its (and our) misery. It was hideous before it sank and even more hideous now.