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 ...
This is an important point, but I would say the politicians and unions in the midwest share much of the blame due to their complacency. They were only concerned with the status quo, while other regions of the United States became the new centers of investment and development.
Having lived in Dearborn for a couple of years I think this is exactly what Detroit needs. Unbelievable how huge sections of the city are abandoned. But first elect some conservatives. I would not trust Democrats to do this properly.
To tell the truth I don't know where it's from. It's been hiding in my HTML folder since 2001.
I am quite sure that I stole it from someone here on FR though.
That’s what all of us are going to be eating in the next few years.
When science and reality prove that environmentalism is incompatible with the existence of the human race at anything like its present numbers, the greens decided they were against human life.
When reality proves incompatible with any crazy fantasy of any ideologue, the ideologue decides they are against reality.
Some men use their brains to navigate this world, and others use what passes for their brains to avoid noticing it.
Or something...
Detroit already has a solution for this problem.
It's called "Devil's Night"!
Good call Buckeye. Politicians are actors not historians
Did any of you guys see this?
>>The Democrats are doing a wonderful job destroying our cities. <<
As long as they keep their destroying activities to the cities and leave all the rural areas alone.
>>Robocops Old Detroit. <<
They wanna make Delta City?
You mean the turn of the century before last. The last turn of the century was a mere 9 years ago.
Government media is now blaming RUSH LIMBAUGH for their own idiotic plan!
I thought this was a great idea at first, but realized the .gov once it initiates such a program is on the hook to reimburse every landowner in the area bulldozed.
in all fairness, urban decay started before Obama. This started in Flint in the 60s as the article states.
making them smaller will only concentrate that problem
fools
I heard Victorville and Cerritos California have been bulldozing down brand new houses. I got this info from customers living in the area.
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