Detroit Mayor Bing emphasizes need to shrink city

[bijou]

-Mayor Dave Bing said Wednesday he "absolutely" intends to relocate residents from desolate neighborhoods and is bracing for inevitable legal challenges when he unveils his downsizing plan.

In his strongest statements about shrinking the city since taking office, Bing told WJR-760 AM the city is using internal and external data to decide "winners and losers." The city plans to save some neighborhoods and encourage residents to move from others, he said.

"If we don't do it, you know this whole city is going to go down. I'm hopeful people will understand that," Bing said. "If we can incentivize some of those folks that are in those desolate areas, they can get a better situation."

Advertisement

"If they stay where they are I absolutely cannot give them all the services they require."

He said there's no timeline, price tag or estimate on the number of people who would have to be moved, but said federal funding would be needed. Bing said he plans to focus on the neighborhoods in which Detroit Public Schools plans to build schools with $500.5 million in bonds voters approved last year.

"You can't support every neighborhood," Bing told WJR's Frank Beckmann. "You can't support every community across this city. Those communities that are stable, we can't allow them to go down the tubes. That's not a good business decision from my vantage point."...

From The Detroit News: http://www.detnews.com/article/20100225/METRO01/2250391/Detroit-Mayor-Bing-emphasizes-need-to-shrink-city#ixzz0gZ43XRVu

[Chris]

Bulldoze the entire city and start over.

[NHSparky]

I say we take off, and nuke the site from orbit.  It's the only way to be sure.

[Eupher]

Bulldoze the entire city and start over.

The shithole that Detroit has become defies description.

Bing hasn't quite figured out that the city isn't a basketball court; that a full-court press isn't going to save the championship.

Speaking of sports, the Lions, Tigers, Red Wings, and Pistons really ought to seek new homes.

It's the only humane thing to do.

[littlelamb]

The city sure needs help

[DefiantSix]

I say we take off, and nuke the site from orbit.  It's the only way to be sure.

+1.  I'll have Bishop prep the other drop ship for dust-off.