A New Strategy for Shrinking Cities

From article by Roberta Brandes Gratz on Citiwire.net:

"This auction ... gave hope to many people either unable to take advantage of other processes, or denied bank financing for pricier properties. The only obligation here is to show substantial remodeling completed within a year of closing."

"Most significantly as a lesson to other cities, properties with deteriorated houses sold better than vacant lots. This contradicts the assumption common elsewhere that the best way to deal with blight is to clear existing structures - no matter how architecturally significant they might be - and bank the land for other uses or future development."