June 16, 2009

Bulldozing American Cities

There are perhaps dozens of small towns and failing neighborhoods beginning to resemble ghost towns. We’ve all seen them if we get off the Interstate and drive down state or county roads, once-thriving Main streets or into blighted neighborhoods.

The Obama administration reportedly is considering whether to broaden an experimental “shrink to survive” program in Flint, Mich., – one of the nation’s poorest cities – that proposes to raze districts within some cities and towns while bulldozing others in their entirety. Land would be returned to its pre-construction state. Local politicians in Flint believe the city must contract by as much as 40 percent. They want to focus on the population that remains and cut services to save money.

The man behind the plan is Dan Kildee, the treasurer of Genesee County, Mich., which includes Flint. Kildee told President Obama about his vision during last year’s campaign. The government and a group of charities are now asking Kildee to apply what he has learned in Flint to the rest of the country. According to a recent Daily Telegraph story, Kildee says he is looking at 50 cities that were recently identified by the Brookings Institution as potential candidates for shrinking because of their economic and population decline. “Most are former industrial cities in the ‘rust belt…’ They include Detroit, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Baltimore and Memphis.”

“The obsession with growth,” Kildee says, “is sadly a very American thing. Across the U.S. there’s an assumption that all development is good, that if communities are growing they are successful. If they’re shrinking, they’re failing.”

In reporting on this story Tom Leonard, the Daily Telegraph’s American correspondent, says that Detroit, whose economic struggles have been exacerbated by the turmoil in the automobile industry, might be “split into a collection of smaller urban centers separated from each other by countryside.” Kildee is quoted as saying, “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. Decline is a fact of life in Flint. Resisting it is like resisting gravity.”

This idea ought to have appeal across the political spectrum. Dividing up failing cities and towns into smaller entities and creating grasslands in between them might also reduce crime and urban sprawl, while lessening pollution and gridlock. Downsizing cities and towns could also serve as a model for government. Smaller government would possibly mean less waste, fraud and abuse and more power for citizens.

If the federal government wishes to proceed with this proposal, it could greatly enhance its credibility by starting with itself. How about shrinking the size, cost and reach of the federal government, since many of its components are out of date and in need of “bulldozing”?

Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW.org), one of the better organizations in Washington, monitors the ways our tax dollars are misspent. Speaking of Detroit, CAGW notes that the current budget allocates $3.8 million for the Old Tiger Stadium Conservancy. How about bulldozing the $1.8 million set aside for swine odor and manure management research in Ames, Iowa? Now there’s a pork project! There’s $1.9 million for the Pleasure Beach water taxi service in Connecticut. (The people near my home who use water taxi service pay for it themselves.)

The shrinking of American cities and towns that are not as vibrant as they once were is potentially a good idea. So is shrinking the size and cost of the federal government. If the bulldozing of outdated and unnecessary federal spending could be linked to the reduction of failing cities and towns, it would be a win-win for distressed taxpayers.

© 2009 TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC. 

Who We Are

The Patriot Post is a highly acclaimed weekday digest of news analysis, policy and opinion written from the heartland — as opposed to the MSM’s ubiquitous Beltway echo chambers — for grassroots leaders nationwide. More

What We Offer

On the Web

We provide solid conservative perspective on the most important issues, including analysis, opinion columns, headline summaries, memes, cartoons and much more.

Via Email

Choose our full-length Digest or our quick-reading Snapshot for a summary of important news. We also offer Cartoons & Memes on Monday and Alexander’s column on Wednesday.

Our Mission

The Patriot Post is steadfast in our mission to extend the endowment of Liberty to the next generation by advocating for individual rights and responsibilities, supporting the restoration of constitutional limits on government and the judiciary, and promoting free enterprise, national defense and traditional American values. We are a rock-solid conservative touchstone for the expanding ranks of grassroots Americans Patriots from all walks of life. Our mission and operation budgets are not financed by any political or special interest groups, and to protect our editorial integrity, we accept no advertising. We are sustained solely by you. Please support The Patriot Fund today!


The Patriot Post and Patriot Foundation Trust, in keeping with our Military Mission of Service to our uniformed service members and veterans, are proud to support and promote the National Medal of Honor Heritage Center, the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, both the Honoring the Sacrifice and Warrior Freedom Service Dogs aiding wounded veterans, the National Veterans Entrepreneurship Program, the Folds of Honor outreach, and Officer Christian Fellowship, the Air University Foundation, and Naval War College Foundation, and the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation. "Greater love has no one than this, to lay down one's life for his friends." (John 15:13)

★ PUBLIUS ★

“Our cause is noble; it is the cause of mankind!” —George Washington

Please join us in prayer for our nation — that righteous leaders would rise and prevail and we would be united as Americans. Pray also for the protection of our Military Patriots, Veterans, First Responders, and their families. Please lift up your Patriot team and our mission to support and defend our Republic's Founding Principle of Liberty, that the fires of freedom would be ignited in the hearts and minds of our countrymen.

The Patriot Post is protected speech, as enumerated in the First Amendment and enforced by the Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America, in accordance with the endowed and unalienable Rights of All Mankind.

Copyright © 2024 The Patriot Post. All Rights Reserved.

The Patriot Post does not support Internet Explorer. We recommend installing the latest version of Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, or Google Chrome.