June 12. 2009

President Barack Obama

In what I think is a terrible idea, President Barack Obama is reportedly contemplating bulldozing 50 or more U.S. cities during the current economic crisis. The reasoning behind it is faulty, deeming "returning the land to nature" would somehow fix America's declining fortunes.

US cities may have to be bulldozed in order to survive

Published: 6:30PM BST 12 Jun 2009 - Dozens of US cities may have entire neighbourhoods bulldozed as part of drastic "shrink to survive" proposals being considered by the Obama administration to tackle economic decline.

The government looking at expanding a pioneering scheme in Flint, one of the poorest US cities, which involves razing entire districts and returning the land to nature.

Local politicians believe the city must contract by as much as 40 per cent, concentrating the dwindling population and local services into a more viable area. The radical experiment is the brainchild of Dan Kildee, treasurer of Genesee County, which includes Flint.

Having outlined his strategy to Barack Obama during the election campaign, Mr Kildee has now been approached by the US government and a group of charities who want him to apply what he has learnt to the rest of the country.

Mr Kildee said he will concentrate on 50 cities, identified in a recent study by the Brookings Institution, an influential Washington think-tank, as potentially needing to shrink substantially to cope with their declining fortunes...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk