The incredible shrinking city - Apr. 14, 2008: "YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (CNNMoney.com) -- Youngstown, Ohio, has seen its population shrink by more than half over the past 40 years, leaving behind huge swaths of empty homes, streets and neighborhoods. Now, in a radical move, the city - which has suffered since the steel industry left town and jobs dried up - is bulldozing abandoned buildings, tearing up blighted streets and converting entire blocks into open green spaces. More than 1,000 structures have been demolished so far. Under the initiative, dubbed Plan 2010, city officials are also monitoring thinly-populated blocks. When only one or two occupied homes remain, the city offers incentives - up to $50,000 in grants - for those home owners to move, so that the entire area can be razed. The city will save by cutting back on services like garbage pick-ups and street lighting in deserted areas."
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Kind of a strange twist on eminent domain...I have never heard of a city paying people to move out so they can plow the house under. It is a sad situation. The foreclosure tsunami was the last straw. Read down and you will see that other rust belt cities are sending delegations to learn the Path of Wisdom as laid down by the Elders of Youngstown.