Urban planning expert Toni Griffin has been recruited to help Detroit downsize and recover -- thanks to an infusion of money from a private philanthropic foundation.
The Kresge Foundation has supplied the money to lure Griffin to Detroit, where she will focus on Mayor Dave Bing's plans to downsize the struggling city.
"The 45-year-old comes to the Motor City with a considerable national reputation. Enter Rip Rapson, president of the $3.1 billion Kresge Foundation. While Griffin will work inside the city's planning department, she won't be on the public payroll. Her salary, plus the cost of assembling a team of consultants, is covered by Kresge.
Philanthropic dollars are seeding the reinvention of Detroit. Demographer Kurt Metzger heads up Data Driven Detroit (DDD), an agency that just completed a plot-by-plot analysis of the city's 139-square-mile footprint, without which Griffin would be flying blind. DDD is backed by $1.85 million from the Kresge and Skillman foundations."
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