Bing encourages public safety officers to move to Detroit

More incentives are in place to encourage suburbanites to return to Detroit. This time, Mayor Dave Bing plans to target the city’s public safety officers.

Until 1999, the city maintained a residency requirement for all members of the police and firefighting forces. Bing’s program will give some of the city’s most appealing housing stock, in neighborhoods like Boston-Edison and East English Village, to Detroit cops (and eventually firefighters) for as little as $1,000. The city will pay to renovate the homes, which are vacant, and will also help cops with the down payment.

Excerpt:

The city is using $30 million of its $41 million from the
Neighborhood Stabilization Fund, a federal program to revitalize
neighborhoods, to pay for the renovations, down payments and forgivable
loans. The other $11 million is being used to help lower-income
residents buy houses. The incentives won’t cost the city a dime, Bing said.

“We hope this can be a model for the nation,” the mayor said.

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