Efforts to save a city - by shrinking it

Once a city of 200,000 and growing, Flint, Mich., is down to 110,000 - and it’s still shrinking. So let it, some officials suggest - and let the forests reclaim the many decaying neighborhoods.

By David Streitfeld / The Bulletin
April 26, 2009

FLINT, Mich. — Dozens of proposals have been floated over the years to slow this city’s endless decline. Now another idea is gaining support: Speed it up.

Instead of waiting for houses to become abandoned and then pulling them down, local leaders are talking about demolishing....

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