Posted on 06/12/2009 11:11:02 AM PDT by Schnucki
Dozens of US cities may have entire neighbourhoods bulldozed as part of drastic "shrink to survive" proposals being considered by the Obama administration to tackle economic decline.
The government looking at expanding a pioneering scheme in Flint, one of the poorest US cities, which involves razing entire districts and returning the land to nature.
Local politicians believe the city must contract by as much as 40 per cent, concentrating the dwindling population and local services into a more viable area.
The radical experiment is the brainchild of Dan Kildee, treasurer of Genesee County, which includes Flint.
Having outlined his strategy to Barack Obama during the election campaign, Mr Kildee has now been approached by the US government and a group of charities who want him to apply what he has learnt to the rest of the country.
Mr Kildee said he will concentrate on 50 cities, identified in a recent study by the Brookings Institution, an influential Washington think-tank, as potentially needing to shrink substantially to cope with their declining fortunes.
Most are former industrial cities in the "rust belt" of America's Mid-West and North East. They include Detroit, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Baltimore and Memphis.
In Detroit, shattered by the woes of the US car industry, there are already plans to split it into a collection of small urban centres separated from each other by countryside.
"The real question is not whether these cities shrink – we're all shrinking – but whether we let it happen in a destructive or sustainable way," said Mr Kildee. "Decline is a fact of life in Flint. Resisting it is like resisting gravity."
Karina Pallagst, director of the Shrinking Cities in a Global Perspective programme at the University of California, Berkeley, said there was "both a cultural and political taboo" about admitting decline in America.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
Here in Seattle at the turn of the last century they bought all the houses on the hills and water-jetted the hills to erode them to fill in the lowlands where the city is.
Old photos show nice mansions stuck on a pedestal of sand 80-foot tall. Must have waited too long to get their price! While I think the idea has merit, I would imagine the buyouts, lawyers, etc. would be pretty costly to these cities, that are already so in debt. (Seattle at the time I think was flush with Gold Rush money).
Now THAT’S keepin’ it real!
Yeah, this is really none of the Imperial Federal Gubmit's business. Sure, there's plenty of vacant, rotting buildings, but what happens to them needs to be under local control, not federal.
I’m not as convinced that this is about restoring the cities, as reducing the obscene (as the left sees it) size of our homes. Urban sprawl (favorite catchword of the left) has been high on the left’s radar. They want to see large multi-dwelling structures in as small of a footprint as they can facilitate.
They look at the square footage of the U.S. homes, and cringe. I look at their plans and cringe.
My guess is that Detroit and Michigan as a whole implemented polices that caused people to leave. Sure the auto industries left, but what’s the difference between that and the closing of military bases? Both have massive community impact.
Some places implement business friendly policies, and retain the viability of their community.
IMO< that’s what Detroit should focus on. Offer those homes real cheap to people who move into the area. Then provide incentives to spur business. The get out of the way and watch those cities refurbish themselves.
When they start talking about four island communities, and the wonders of returning property to nature, you know there’s more to this than just saving communities.
It’s the leftist dreams coming true for America. To hell with that.
Obama is literally destroying America... LOL... Shame that it won’t just be liberal constituents that are bulldozed.
Where do I get my
“Don’t Bulldoze me Bro”
Tee shirt?
Because Pravda will not report anything that could paint the Messiah in a bad light.
You are being assimilated....
Yes, you’re right on target.
And what do these cities that may have to be bulldozed in order to survive have in common?
Are they not "blue cities" in "blue states"?
And are they not highly unionized and highly taxed, thereby forcing employers to move and employees to re-locate in more favorable areas?
Why can't liberals learn from earlier mistakes? Must they destroy the entire country before they admit they were woefully mistaken?
It's not going to happen until the people in cities like Flint recognize their city -- and their lives...and their children's lives -- have been utterly FUBARed by liberalism!
The "real question", Mr. Kildee, is whether you're going to give up. Or fight back.
Obviously, you've already made up your mind to surrender. As any good liberal would do.
Lord, what pathetic Americans these people are...
I would love to see this made into a parody of Jeff Daniels' Michigan Economic Development Corporation commercials.
And my advice to those half dozen worthy souls is to avoid turning into a pillar of salt by not looking back as they GET THE HELL OUT IMMEDIATELY.
This idea in places like Detroit (iirc) where there are tens of thousands of empty houses, may not be a bad one.
___________________________________________________________
Actually, I tend to agree with the idea. I grew up in suburban Detroit and I can tell you that there are blocks and blocks and blocks where no houses have stood since the 1970’s. Many more blocks are joining them as crack houses are torn down. Cities like Flint, Gary (Indiana), Philly, Pittsburgh, etc. have sections of town that have not seen any vitality in years (only crime). The chances of any revitalization are pretty dim especially when you have DUMS running the city. The city’s population has decreased and will continue to do so.
Converting these portions back to nature would beautify the that part of the city and reduce costs (utilities, police, fire). Last but not least, crime would decrease since there would be no place to live in that area.
When I first read the article, I thought of how a business contracts by closing stores, laying people off, etc. A city could do the same.
Trust me, the Cass corrior in Motown aint never gonna come back! Make it into a park like Grant Park in Chicago or Central Park and NYC and people may come back there for concerts, festivals or just a picnic.
Once in a very rare while, a Libtart can actually stumble into a good idea.
I knew Motown was in deep trouble, but I had no idea!
Why do you assume a decrease in crime when every effort at subsidized low income housing since FDR has resulted in higher crime rates. And that encompasses every urban design scheme from high rise concentration, ro townhouse clusters, row housing you name it, it's been tried and every time it has been a tragic failure.
The only benefits are political; insuring a dense population for electoral districts, sweetheart contracts to cronies, eternal and ever increasing Federal aid, and a bloated local bureaucracy and a perpetual slave class. The socialists don't want the urban poor to be educated or trained for meaningful and rewarding work, the poor have become the raw resources by which to conquer the rest of the citizenry.
Actually, I think this is one of the better ideas to come out of the nascent (and probably failing) obama regime, reducing the housing stock in areas where it is already poorly regarded.
Something like this was done back in the early days of the LBJ “Great Society”, when it was called “Urban Renewal”, when whole blocks of older residences were summarily described as “blighted”, and bulldozed, opening up a whole new opportunity for land use change.
You’ve got to be friggin’ kidding...
Time to buy that .50 cal...
Too bad 20mm’s are frowned upon...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.