\nUnable to provide basic services for all of his constituents, Detroit
\nmayor Dave Bing is drafting plans starve his city down to a manageable
\nsize. Using proprietary data and a survey<\/a> released by Data Driven Detroit<\/a>, Bing and his staff will pick “winners and losers<\/a>”
\namongst the city’s neighborhoods and seek to resettle residents from
\nthe losers, those deemed most unlivable. With Detroit’s tax base
\nwithering from the implosion of two-thirds of the Big Three, the
\nhousing crisis, and an ongoing exodus, Bing believes he has no other
\nchoice.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“If we don’t do it, you know this whole city is going
\nto go down,” he told a local radio station last month. “I’m hopeful
\npeople will understand that. If we can incentivize some of those folks
\nthat are in those desolate areas, they can get a better situation” in
\none of the remaining neighborhoods with schools and buses.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Can <\/p>\n The owner of an eponymous financial services firm, Hantz is prepared<\/a> to sink $30 million of his personal fortune into coaxing peaches, <\/p>\n Get the rest of the story from our friends at Fast Company<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Related Links:<\/strong><\/p>\n A Cleveland mall turns lost retail space into farm stand<\/a><\/p>\n Garden Girl TV: indoor gardening, part four<\/a><\/p>\n
\nDetroit really shrink its way back to greatness (or at least stop the
\nbleeding)? Part of the problem is that it’s been hollowing out for
\ndecades. A city of 1.85 million residents in 1950, Detroit had just
\n951,270 as of the last national census a decade ago, and the
\nnext—which is key to obtaining millions of dollars in federal
\nfunding—is expected to turn up only 800,000 this year. Some believe it
\nmight eventually slide to 700,000 before all is said and done. A
\nquarter of the city is nothing more than vacant lots—40 square miles
\nof “urban prairie.” Bing plans to shrink the occupied portions further
\nby tearing down another 10,000 buildings. That should earn praise from
\neconomists like Harvard’s Ed Glaeser, who’s suggested similar policies<\/a> for other Rust Belt cities. And what will Bing do with all of that
\nempty space? Turn over as many as 10,000 acres to John Hantz to farm<\/a>.<\/p>\n
\nplums, lettuce, and heirloom tomatoes from the ground (or in hydroponic
\ngreenhouses). In exchange, all he’s asking for is free tax-delinquent
\nland and tax breaks on agriculture. The city is considering giving him
\nboth. Hantz told Fortune<\/a> he’s aiming for an average cost of $3,000 per acre, valuing it no
\ndifferently than outlying farmland. But he also promises to create
\nhundreds of green jobs, grow a surplus of fresh produce for residents,
\nattract tourists, and “reintroduce Detroiters to the beauty of nature.”<\/p>\n
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