23 February 2009

Dayton Fifth Emptiest City

Is Dayton really the fifth emptiest city in the country? I hate these kind of stories, as they surely mean demolition of buildings and wasted infrastructure. Las Vegas, Detroit, Atlanta, Greesboro NC are 1-4.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

On its face it is sad, but it's also inevitable to the extent that our settlements reflect our economies that grow and shrink.

What is sad is that cities don't plan for this. Planning is overwhelmingly growth oriented. A few cities have planned for shrinkage, Youngstown Ohio being a popular example, allowing lots to "return" to nature, removing unused infrastructure and more.

There is so much interesting, but terribly overlooked work being done on "shrinking cities". Ranging from official planning to DIY activities.

My point is that tearing down buildings because of health and safety is a last resort because of poor planning. These structures, especially those deemed to be valuable, can serve other purposes and be put to use in new and creative ways.

Kevin Lynch's Wasting Away and
The Shrinking Cities Series and Exhibition are great resources.

CityKin said...

^ I'll check it out. Sounds interesting.