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Author talks about shrinking cities

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By Kate Cole

Friday, October 14, 2011

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As Japanese poet Mizuta Masahid puts it, "Barn's burnt down — now I can see the moon."

This was the mantra for Detroit Free Press journalist and author John Gallagher when he talked to a group of students, professors and community leaders at Kettering University Oct. 12. He discussed his latest book, Reimagining Detroit, that has ideas for shrinking cities to consider.

"Smaller may be better," Gallagher said. "Consider opportunities to use vacant land from Buick City or Chevy-in-the-Hole to house solar panels that will provide energy for the city."

Gallagher argued that urban planners aren't trained to think about vacancy. They are geared towards development. Those who embrace the concept of smaller cities understand how they can become more flexible and innovative with leaner bureaucracies to deal with than its once larger inflexible structure. Fresh approaches to public challenges are more easily managed in a smaller environment, he added.

What happened in Detroit, the loss of nearly two-thirds of its population, also happened to a lesser degree in Flint. Both cities were drained of residents, businesses and brainpower. Gallagher urged listeners not to remain in the muck of difficulties, but to look for possibilities beneath the rubble. He cited cities like Kalamazoo that brought beauty up from the sewers when it lifted Arcadia Creek above ground and through the middle of its downtown.

Gallagher applauded Genesee County Land Bank and its founder Dan Kildee who he said helped unlock the value of foreclosed properties.

"He [Kildee] is regarded as an urban innovator by many people studying the decline of American cities," Gallagher said. "A land bank is the single most important tool to make smaller cities work."

In his book Gallagher said that a MSU study estimated that the Genesee County Land Bank's actions in the past several years have boosted Genesee County's property values by more than a hundred million dollars.

Gallagher talked about Detroit's urban farming that has gained in popularity since businesses declined. Detroit's urban agriculture provides thousands of pounds of nutritious produce while improving neighborhoods by connecting neighbors, providing an alternative to trash-strewn vacant lots, improving property values and reducing crime. While most of Detroit's urban agriculture is nonprofit, Gallagher said that a large commercial farm group is looking at 50-plus acres in the city to develop.

"There is some debate over whether this should happen because a commercial farm may drive people away. And once it is done, the Michigan Right to Farm Act will keep it there forever," Gallagher said.

Using public art to fill in blight, fencing vacant lots and building public greenways by stringing abandoned properties together were some successful ways Detroit and other cities learned to bring beauty from ashes. Major corporations remaining in Detroit's downtown area have offered incentives to their employees to move downtown.

Redesigning roadways that were once bumper-to-bumper expressways but now languish with a dribble of traffic is another significant challenge for declining cities, he said. Detroit's answer after years of study was a non-motorized transportation plan that welcomes bikes, wheelchairs, walking paths and sidewalk cafes.

"Thinking in new ways is what it's all about," Gallagher said. "People are the answer."

Fielding questions from the audience, an attendee described Flint's North Side and asked Gallagher what solutions he would recommend for the non-stop crime.

"Community action," Gallagher responded, saying it's happened before when people have gotten motivated and stopped the crime in their backyards.

"Block clubs or a cadre of local activists — one person can make a difference," Gallagher added.

Asked about using micro-loans to jump start entrepreneurs, Gallagher cited foundations that have taken the lead in promoting buying and hiring locally and using incentives to grow businesses.

Asked how he would go about master planning in an environment like Flint's, Gallagher said the master plan was a good way to organize growth and shore up anchor neighborhoods.

"Make sure the master plan is honest with what you have, then let others become inventive. You have hundreds of vacant acres in Buick City and Chevy-in-the-Hole. Why not get some purpose out of them?" Gallagher concluded.

John Gallagher's book, Reimagining Detroit: Opportunities for Redefining an American City was named by the Huffington Post as among the best social and political books of 2010. Gallagher is a New York City native.

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