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US cities may have to be bulldozed in order to survive
Telegraph (U.K.) ^ | June 12, 2009 | Tom Leonard

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 ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News; Front Page News; Government; US: California; US: Michigan; US: Pennsylvania
KEYWORDS: agenda21; american2point0; asocialistamerica; bulldoze; bulldozers; change; communism; condemned; confiscation; demolition; dncbrownshirts; flint; housing; michigan; obama; obamalegacy; obamunism; presidentobama; privateproperty; smartgrowth; stalinisttactics; uncrap; unionlabor; wreckingcrew
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To: Richard Kimball

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).


121 posted on 06/12/2009 2:50:59 PM PDT by 21twelve (Drive Reality out with a pitchfork if you want , it always comes back.)
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To: bill1952

Now THAT’S keepin’ it real!


122 posted on 06/12/2009 2:57:33 PM PDT by SIDENET ("Join me or die. Can you do any less?" -Mr. Sparkle)
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To: GeronL
"Let the cities do what they like, especially 25% of Detroit."

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.

123 posted on 06/12/2009 2:58:05 PM PDT by Big_Monkey
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To: Clemenza

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.


124 posted on 06/12/2009 3:09:45 PM PDT by DoughtyOne (Obama post 09/11. The U.S. is sorry, we are a Muslim nation, and we surrender.)
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To: Schnucki

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?


125 posted on 06/12/2009 3:10:33 PM PDT by Typical_Whitey (Hey Obama how many Freedoms have you taken away from Americans today?)
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To: CTOCS
Have they really thought this through? A move like this will affect the census and congressional districting at the very least.

Yes. They have. Once the census is complete they will know precisely where they intend to relocate the citizens of these cities to ensure domination for at least the next generation.

"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."
126 posted on 06/12/2009 3:11:31 PM PDT by callisto (It's the three T's: Too Many Taxes, Trillions in Debt, and Transparency)
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To: Ellendra

Because Pravda will not report anything that could paint the Messiah in a bad light.

You are being assimilated....


127 posted on 06/12/2009 3:12:18 PM PDT by Typical_Whitey (Hey Obama how many Freedoms have you taken away from Americans today?)
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To: Dasaji

Yes, you’re right on target.


128 posted on 06/12/2009 3:13:46 PM PDT by DoughtyOne (Obama post 09/11. The U.S. is sorry, we are a Muslim nation, and we surrender.)
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To: Schnucki
"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."

Concentration Kamps - USA

Concentration Kamps - USA

129 posted on 06/12/2009 3:20:49 PM PDT by editor-surveyor (The beginning of the O'Bummer administration looks a lot like the end of the Nixon administration)
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To: Schnucki
US cities may have to be bulldozed in order to survive

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!

130 posted on 06/12/2009 3:26:55 PM PDT by okie01 (THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA: Ignorance on Parade)
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To: Schnucki
"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."

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...

131 posted on 06/12/2009 3:31:47 PM PDT by okie01 (THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA: Ignorance on Parade)
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To: 1000 silverlings
Detroit is returning to the countryside on its own. There's a great article online about a guy catching and eating raccoons.

I would love to see this made into a parody of Jeff Daniels' Michigan Economic Development Corporation commercials.

132 posted on 06/12/2009 3:34:46 PM PDT by magellan
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To: MrB
There are some conservative folks that live and work in those cesspools.

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.

133 posted on 06/12/2009 3:36:27 PM PDT by Costumed Vigilante
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To: DonaldC

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.


134 posted on 06/12/2009 3:41:28 PM PDT by TMA62 (TMA62)
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To: Alberta's Child
Thanks, that was an excellent read.

I knew Motown was in deep trouble, but I had no idea!

135 posted on 06/12/2009 3:46:38 PM PDT by Popman (Joe Biden REALLY can't be Vice President, can he ?)
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To: TMA62
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.

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.

136 posted on 06/12/2009 3:53:09 PM PDT by Covenantor ("Men are ruled...by liars who refuse them news, and by fools who cannot govern." Chesterton)
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To: Schnucki; All
Here we go! Here we friggin' go, and nobody listened to me! The Global Left has always wanted to herd the general population into tightly packed, controllable stables of humanity, with them being the Nanny State overlords. Give the sheeple what they need, keep them fat, stupid, and mollified, and keep them corralled in concentration camps. They've been planning this for decades, and tanking the economy is just one more way of furthering that end, in the name of some perverted 'urban renewal' that could come right out of the script of Logan's Run.

BA FUNGU!!!!


137 posted on 06/12/2009 3:55:07 PM PDT by Viking2002 (This tagline for rent.)
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To: Schnucki; All
And while I'm at it: Soylent Green is People!!!!!!


138 posted on 06/12/2009 3:57:12 PM PDT by Viking2002 (This tagline for rent.)
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To: Huskrrrr

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.


139 posted on 06/12/2009 3:58:13 PM PDT by alloysteel (Never let an inanimate object know that you are in a hurry.)
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To: a fool in paradise

You’ve got to be friggin’ kidding...

Time to buy that .50 cal...

Too bad 20mm’s are frowned upon...


140 posted on 06/12/2009 4:17:10 PM PDT by stevie_d_64
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