Detroit Blight Fight Begins in Earnest Monday

75 teams of surveyors will fan out across Detroit on Monday to begin cataloging the city's vacant buildings block-by-block. One of the leaders of the effort is estimating that eliminating blight could cost $1 billion.

1 minute read

December 14, 2013, 5:00 AM PST

By Jonathan Nettler @nettsj


"Known as the Motor City Mapping project, the survey forms a key part of the work of a newly created blight task force headed by three co-chairs: Quicken Loans founder and Chairman Dan Gilbert, former Marygrove College President Glenda Price and community activist Linda Smith, executive director of U-Snap-Bac," writes John Gallagher. 

"The results are due by early February, and then the three co-chairs will craft a final report with policy recommendations, due probably by early March," he adds. "Price said Thursday that it may cost as much as $1 billion to totally remediate the blight in Detroit."

“It’s not as though nothing has been done,” she told the Free Press, “but the expectation, the hope is that our plan is going to give new energy, new direction, and new possibilities to having significant impact in this work.”

Thursday, December 12, 2013 in Detroit Free Press

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