Struggling Cities Meet to Brainstorm Survival Strategies

Representatives from a handful of the country's "fastest-dying cities" met recently in Dayton, Ohio to try to figure out how they could revive their economies and reverse the decline that has been slowly strangling them of jobs, money and people.

1 minute read

August 14, 2009, 9:00 AM PDT

By Nate Berg


Each city shared ideas about how to lure people back to town, how entrepreneurship could be encouraged and how to utilize now-empty space.

"What emerged was a sense of desperation over the difficulty of rebounding from both real problems -- declining populations, dwindling tax bases -- and perceived woes."

"...Representatives of Dayton, Detroit, Cleveland, Buffalo; Canton and Youngstown, Ohio; Flint, Mich.; and Charleston, W.Va., took turns talking about their plans. There was little discussion of how cities might pay for the initiatives."

Thursday, August 13, 2009 in The Wall Street Journal

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I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

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