Pruning a city in a sustainable way

Back in early January I wrote about a map that shows how big Detroit is compared to Boston, San Francisco, and Manhattan (all three fit within the space of Detroit with room to spare). Now come two more maps that compare population density of Detroit in the 1950 census (when the city population was just under 1.9 million) to the density in the 2000 census (when the city population was under 0.9 million). Top density dropped from 65,000 per square mile then to 17,000 now.

Dan Kildee of Flint, Mich. is the treasurer of Genesee County and has been pushing the idea that districts of that city should be razed and returned to nature. Kildee has been asked by Obama to spread that idea to 50 other cities around the country. It is good to hear there are plans for that idea in Detroit. The problem implementers face is that shrinking is equated with failing. We in America seem obsessed with growth. Instead, says Kildee it should be equated with "pruning an overgrown tree so it can bear fruit again."

"The real question is not whether these cities shrink – we're all shrinking – but whether we let it happen in a destructive or sustainable way," said Mr. Kildee. "Decline is a fact of life in Flint. Resisting it is like resisting gravity."