The government [is] 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.
[...]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.”
[...]He said: “The obsession with growth is sadly a very American thing. Across the US, there’s an assumption that all development is good, that if communities are growing they are successful. If they’re shrinking, they’re failing.”
40,
You touch on an interesting facet of Americana: the development of the home as the apex of community involvement.
Huge backyards – no parks required
Huge entertainment centres/rooms – no external socializing
Basement bars / pool rooms – more home play
Its amazing that every aspect of socializing in modern cities is encouraged to bring within the home territory… which requires huge tracts of land.
I find that when I’m in London or Paris, the life outside of the office hours is very rich and deep. So much to do you basically go home to sleep and shower.
#40 Central planning didn’t exist till Obama…people act in their own self interest…they moved away from the crime ridden cities because Gasoline, back when we were allowed to produce it cheaply, domestically, was relatively cheap…
Your view of why people moved from the cities to suburbs…is absurd.
The left has their theories…whether they accord with reality never concerns them…
Fact is, our economy could be growing right now, if regulations allowing the courts stop development for decades, were repealed…and taxing of corporations was shifted to tax ACORN workers, Prostitutes, Drug dealers ect., via a FAIR TAX that.
42 Alfred1
“#40 Central planning didn’t exist till Obama”
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH….. oh that’s rich…
We’ll have to add it to Genius George Bush and learning from Cheney. I think you need to stop reading comic books (King James Version) and start reading historical FACT…
#43 Ok, name the planning agency that ordered people populate the suburbs…find the command.
44,
As expected, you imagine the whole of Americana to be dictated in one command… Kinda like King James Version for America?
44,
And, FWIW, I never mentioned anything about government forcing people to the burbs, did I? I guess if you had reading comprehension above, say, moron from the pews, you would have realized that I commented on the BEHAVIOUR of Americans in the burbs RE: lifestyle, and NOT government dictates. What I did ridicule is your belief that central planning originated in the US with Obama.
#46 Never mentioned it, eh:
42 Alfred1
“#40 Central planning didn’t exist till Obama”
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH….. oh that’s rich…
We’ll have to add it to Genius George Bush and learning from Cheney. I think you need to stop reading comic books (King James Version) and start reading historical FACT…
You did your usual talking and then hearing what you said, often marveling at the wisdom, before learning what you believe.
You need to add a step in the process…perhaps committing it first to writing, before you come to a final conclusion.
47,
So, by your comment, you are claiming there has been NO CENTRAL PLAN AT ALL IN THE HISTORY OF THE US UNTIL Obama?
That is what you’re claiming, correct?
#47 Its not about me…its you…
42 Alfred1
“#40 Central planning didn’t exist till Obama”
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH….. oh that’s rich…
We’ll have to add it to Genius George Bush and learning from Cheney. I think you need to stop reading comic books (King James Version) and start reading historical FACT…
#43 Ok, name the planning agency that ordered people populate the suburbs…find the command.
49,
Alfred1. I appreciate the fact that you are trying to make a point, but you’re barking up the wrong tree… In fact, you’re not even in the correct forest.
Let’s go back a bit…
You claimed central planning never existed before Obama. I LOL’d. Then you started asking me for the example of the official order to populate the burbs. I WTF’d? First off, I never said there was an official word. But, what I will say is that Central Planning has been a central TENANT of the FEDERAL government. If you knew what federal meant, you would quickly realize that the Federal government does central planning all the time.
But, you’re a jackass that can’t even read, so what should I expect?
#49 Incorrect…I said there was no central planning agency that told people to move out of the cities to the suburbs…everyone did that because it was in their own self interest to do that…you replied:
42 Alfred1
“#40 Central planning didn’t exist till Obama”
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH….. oh that’s rich…
We’ll have to add it to Genius George Bush and learning from Cheney. I think you need to stop reading comic books (King James Version) and start reading historical FACT…
All your various responses imply the intellectual capacity of a flea…that if we put your brain on the edge of a razor…it would look like a pea rolling down a four lane highway.
51,
“#49 Incorrect…I said there was no central planning agency that told people to move out of the cities to the suburbs”
I’ll grant you that, since it’s obvious you didn’t claim it. I can read your badly worded and poorly referenced claims ahead.
But, at some point I want to you to explicitly claim that I said there WAS a central plan to move to the burbs. Go ahead.
And if you say “central planning didn’t exist until Obama” as your fact, it will prove that your head isn’t even in your ass… neither would be able to find each other regardless of how much they deserve each other…
Waiting…
And, since i know you only read about 3 words per day, I’ll rephrase the claim…
But, at some point I want to you to explicitly claim that I said there WAS a central plan to move to the burbs.
#52 You have a way to go…but it appears your responses are becoming more thoughtful…rational…
I like that…this subject you want to discuss…bores the shit out of me…
But, perhaps on another topic, if you don’t do your usual raving at the Bible and Christianity, and actually ask or argue rationally, citing a reason for your claim, or against one of mine…then I’ll respond politely.
As for this subject…its time to move on.
53,
“As for this subject…its time to move on.”
Translation (King James Version) – “i have no logical answer, therefore I will deflect. Thank you for demonstrating your debating and intellectual superiority.”
Hey… No problem Alfred1! Once you take your debating 101 course, and pass, we’ll discuss again.