Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder announced that five cities, including Detroit, are in line to receive $100 million of federal funds to fight blight.
In addition to Detroit, the cities include Flint, Grand Rapids, Pontiac, and Saginaw.
“This will be a major expansion of an ongoing effort by the Michigan State Housing Development Authority and other state partners to aggressively address blight,” Snyder said in a statement last week. “We will be stabilizing neighborhoods with a large-scale demolition of the abandoned properties that foster crime and push down property values. Getting rid of these properties will encourage more people to stay in their homes and be part of the effort to improve their neighborhoods.”
The money comes from the federal Hardest Hit Fund, a program created in 2010 under the U.S. Treasury Department to help address vacant buildings in blighted neighborhoods.
