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Matt Krupnick writes about the latest examples of cities shrinking in population but embracing the change to "right size" their built environment to the new reality:
A community never wants to be known as a “shrinking city” these days, no matter what the numbers say about how many people have moved away and how many old factories or homes are vacant, weeds and trash having taken over properties that once marked important industrial centers.
Although most US cities in that predicament have gone to great lengths to avoid admitting shrinkage publicly, with many branding themselves as “legacy cities”, some have taken innovative steps to accept the new reality: that they will never return to their former glory and need to adapt to their smaller size.
There are at least 80 cities losing population in the United States, according to Krupnick, and the article surveys Baltimore, Maryland; New Bedford, Massachusetts; and Youngstown, Ohio for case studies on right sizing.
FULL STORY: How America's shrinking cities can 'rightsize'
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