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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Flint not included in Gov. Snyder's new plan to fight blight in Michigan
Amanda Emery | aemery@mlive.com By Amanda Emery | aemery@mlive.com
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on October 10, 2014 at 8:40 PM, updated October 10, 2014 at 8:41 PM
FLINT, MI -- Gov. Rick Snyder has announced Michigan's plan to combat blight in 12 cities with $75 million in federal funding -- but this year, Flint didn't make the list.
The plan created by the Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA) will help Detroit, Ecorse, Highland Park, River Rouge, Inkster, and Hamtramck in Wayne County, as well as Adrian, Ironwood, Jackson, Lansing, Muskegon Heights and Port Huron, according to a news release from Gov. Rick Snyder's office.
In 2013, MSHDA used $100 million of its Hardest Hit Fund allocation for blight elimination in Detroit, Flint, Saginaw, Grand Rapids and Pontiac. Last year Flint was awarded $20.1 million, and the city planned to raze more than 1,500 homes. Detroit is the only city that is receiving funds for a second year in a row since the 2013 kickoff.
The eligible cities for the Hardest Hit Finds were selected by MSHDA based on an evaluation system that included residential housing vacancy rates, according to the release.
Flint Mayor Dayne Walling believes his city should have been included.
"Flint absolutely should have been included because we continue to have a large need for demolition funding despite the major federal and state investments we've received so far." Walling said.
Moving forward, Walling said some of the funds may not be used, and the city will be ready to take full advantage.
"The record of these programs is that other communities don't take advantage of them fully and that they leave dollars on the table, so we'll have to go back in the coming months and see if we can take advantage of that. It happened with the other Hardest Hit Funds, it happened with the Neighborhood Stabilization Funds." Walling said. "Other communities want the dollars, but in some cases they haven't done the hard work building partnerships and doing the planning that we've done in Flint and Genesee County."
MSHDA is scheduling meetings this month with the selected cities to begin the process for submitting strategic blight remediation plans, designating at-risk areas within city limits, estimating project costs and establishing a timeline for the work to proceed, among other considerations, according to the release.
"We have the best blight elimination plan in the state and we're going to keep advocating for funding at every opportunity." Walling said.
Michigan's new $75 million anti-blight effort comes from the $498 million the state was allocated in 2010 as part of the Hardest Hit Fund Program, designed to help homeowners in states hardest hit by the housing crisis.
Amanda Emery is a police reporter for MLive-Flint Journal. Contact her at aemery@mlive.com or 810-285-0792. Follow her on Twitter or Facebook.
Last edited by untanglingwebs on Sat Oct 11, 2014 7:59 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Sat Oct 11, 2014 7:41 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Is Flint too opposed to Snyder's policies for funding? It is the policies of his emergency managers that is driving residents out of the city. I was told about a resident in Woodcroft Estates who moved because they felt the total tax imposed, including income taxes, were excessive. There is no neighborhood in Flint that is free from abandoned and/or vacant homes.
Last years funding is already spent or allocated to specific sites. As houses come down, more homes are becoming vacant and trashed by metal thieves.
Yesterday I drove down Ballenger to Miller. A vacant house 2 blocks from miller had the back door kicked open. Clearly visible from Ballenger and yet no one will probably see this house being vandalized.
Drive Mason near Welch and some blocks are totally gone. The saddest thing is to see homes throughout the city that have been renovated and see them totally gutted. Even the new windows have been removed.
Minority areas north are the most ravaged by vacancy. |
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Sat Oct 11, 2014 7:57 am |
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