A new story in the New York Times by David Streitfeld highlights an initiative underway in Flint, Michigan.  The basic principle is to use the existing Land Bank to shrink the city.

The principle is this: the city’s footprint is too big for its foot.  In the 1950s, some 200,000 people lived in Flint, and the city anticipated that it would grow to 350,000.  Today, it is at 110,000.  There are blocks of the city with noone living there and even more with only a few residents.

The plan is to orchestrate a mass reimagining of the city, inviting people to “trade up” to a new home in a better part of town and then return the old property to wilderness and green space.

It is definately worth a read, and the page includes an audio interview as well that is worth listening to.  I think this is great stuff and should be taken up by other cities.