http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/m...action=article&ARTICLE_ID=1482625§ionID=1 Flint Contemplates Shutting Down Some Neighborhoods Tracy Samilton ANN ARBOR, MI (2009-03-18) Nearly a third of the homes in Flint have been abandoned. Some Flint officials say it's time to consider shutting down parts of the shrinking city. Interim Mayor Mike Brown said last week the city might have to consider shutting down depopulated neighborhoods. His spokesperson later stressed the remark was hypothetical. But Dan Kildee says it's time to seriously consider it. He runs the County Land Bank, which tears down blighted houses in Flint. Kildee says the city just can't afford to provide public services for its large, underpopulated footprint. "Do we want to provide good services in higher-density neighborhoods that can be sustained, or just bad services to everybody." Kildee points out Flint has an infrastructure for 250,000 residents, which was based on a master plan created in the 1960s, when the town was growing. Since then, the city has shrunk to 110,000 people and it will likely get even smaller. Kildee says the city could convert abandoned neighborhoods to green areas after helping people find a new home in a sustainable part of Flint. The relocation might involve giving vouchers for people to buy a new home as an incentive for them to move, or swaps of Land Bank-owned properties in sustainable neighborhoods for those in depopulated areas. Kildee says many other post-industrial cities are in the same fix. He says Youngstown, Ohio is probably the closest to instituting a relocation program.