As you are probably well aware, Detroit has been hit harder than many cities across the country with unemployment and foreclosures since we took an economic downturn a couple of years ago. Now it seems that people are moving away from the area in droves. So, what is a city to do when most of its residents move away?
Detroit’s administration is making a move to shrink the city in an effort to rejuvenate the core. They will soon announce which localities are considered the core and will start to remove essential services to those areas outside it. Most likely, the core will consist of areas that have higher numbers of residents. However this news hasn’t stopped many residents from relocating.
One group that thinks this is a great idea is Blight Busters, an organization that has helped revitalize localities through having the very poor live in abandoned houses. This organized relocation may be just what Detroit needs to make the city leaner and greener. In a way, such a move has the potential to make the city’s budget match its population size.
With the burst of the housing bubble, a good 3/2 (3 bedroom, 2 bathroom) house in a nice neighborhood can be scooped up for around $15,000. This is a great way for the very poor to leave those rundown shacks and substandard housing and move into homes that are in better condition. One factor Detroit needs to figure out is what to do with the vacant areas once this project takes hold.
Jon Huser
