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 ...
They could think of it as going "camping".
What sho talkin bout, boy?
52nd street
This is NOT about local zoning, which I agree is a local choice and issue. This is about any agency of government, of any level, telling YOU that the local population limit has been reached, so go away.
Bulldozing huge tract of cities removes the spaces where real live people can CHOOSE to live.
“we are sorry sir and madam, the birth of your child brings the population total above the legal limit. You must vacate”
There are place in this world that have such dictatorial powers in the hands of local bureaucrats.
Now there’s a plan I would support.
I am sorry to hear that.
For the past 100 years, not so much.
These urban centers lack their prior justification for their existence and are a drain on society in general.
I HATE it when that happens.
welcome to Jonestown...............where you burp where you fart and you fart where you burp.
We are so being set up for a world government. A marxist one with Obozo wanting to play the anti Christ part.
Such jealousy and power plays must be going on among the world elites.
As for the rest of us....
Our Global Neighborhood The Report of the Commission on Global Governance
Mr. Kildee wants to killdee history.
They need to repopulate those poor cities in the northeast. Make up a large greyhound style bus with a potty and 6 MRE’s a blanket and a pillow per seat with two relocation specialists and a driver. Drive through any Florida town and pick up all the individuals with a “work for food”,”disabled vet need help”,”why lie I need a beer” or whatever sign. Transport them to their free housing in the fair northern city where they may be supported in the lifestyle they like by northerners. On their way up they can be issued their free cell phone and the local where they are going assistance numbers. Seems like they would have an endless supply of candidates.
Youngstown, Ohio has been doing this for several years & gets a lot of credit nationwide for its efforts in this regard.
Do keep in mind that even in Colonial times the city had the nickname Philthydelphia.
The good news is that even if the collectivists did succeed in oppressing the entire country,
they’d have to deal with a constant barage of snipers and guerilla warfare forever.
A more incisive title might have been: The Fruits of Democrat Rule
Elections have consequences. Decades of electing Democrats have very bad consequences.
Why do politicians and governments never learn from history???
Which city should be bulldozed first?
Washington DC
Chicago
San Francisco
New York City
Hollywood
Robocop’s Old Detroit.
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