Struggling Cities Meet to Brainstorm Survival Strategies

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."