Right-sizing in the news: Bing's not planning to shrink borders; Marketplace takes interest

The media is all over Detroit's right-sizing story. And last week, Bing was saying he won't shrink the city's size, which we really didn't think he was going to anyway. It's not the size that matters, it's how you use it, right?

Here's the latest round-up of coverage:

Excerpt from Michigan Public Radio that aired nationally on Marketplace:

So officials are considering a radical idea - shut down whole areas of the city, and move residents from decaying neighborhoods to more viable ones.

Read more and listen here.

Excerpt from the Detroit News:

Annexation is off the table, but mothballing neighborhoods isn't as Detroit draws plans to deal with its glut of fallow land, an aide to Mayor Dave Bing said Thursday.

One thing is for sure: Whatever emerges won't be called "downsizing," said Dan Lijana, a Bing spokesman.
"Downsizing implies that certain areas of the city could be something else at a later date," Lijana said. "That's not true."

Read the entire article here.

Excerpt from the Freep:

While on the campaign trail, during his State of the City address and in interviews with local and national news media, Bing has heralded the importance of a long-term strategy that would use the city's 140 square miles more productively, calling such a move critical to Detroit's survival.

Yet on Wednesday, Bing's staff backed away from what was first characterized as downsizing the city, saying, "We are stabilizing neighborhoods and the city as a result of a reduced population by centralizing resources, not shrinking its borders."

Read the entire article here.


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