With a fleeing population, Youngstown, Ohio was ahead of the current trend on "shrinking cities." So what can planners learn from Youngstown's example?
Philip Langdon writes:
"In declaring its willingness to accept urban shrinkage, Youngstown pioneered the path now being considered by Detroit - the largest US city to confront a decline of drastic proportions."
One way Youngstown succeeded was shifting the focus away from wooing big employers to town and instead focusing on attracting smaller, more diversified businesses.
"In all, about 4,000 jobs have been created over the past 10 years, many of them in three business parks that the city has developed on formerly contaminated land, says William D'Avignon, director of the Community Development Agency."
Thanks to Robert Steuteville
FULL STORY: ‘Shrinking’ the city cannot be the whole solution
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