Ruins Of Detroit, Michigan, United States

City planning
Detroit has a variety of neighborhood types. The revitalized Downtown, Midtown, and New Center areas feature many historic buildings and are high density, while further out, particularly in the northeast and on the fringes, the city suffers from severe vacancy issues, for which a number of solutions have been proposed. In 2007, Downtown Detroit was named 18th (out of 35) best neighborhood in which to retire among the USA's 30 largest metro areas by CNN Money Magazine editors.
Lafayette Park is a revitalized neighorhood on the city's east side, part of the Ludwig Mies van der Rohe residential district. The 78-acre (32 ha) urban renewal project was originally called the Gratiot Park Development. Planned by Mies van der Rohe, Ludwig Hilberseimer and Alfred Caldwell it includes a landscaped, 19-acre (7.7 ha) park with no through traffic, in which these and other low-rise apartment buildings are situated. Immigrants have contributed to the city's neighborhood revitalization, especially in southwest Detroit. Southwest Detroit has experienced a thriving economy in recent years, as evidenced by new housing, increased business openings and the recently opened Mexicantown International Welcome Center.
Detroit has numerous neighborhoods suffering from urban decay, consisting of vacant properties resulting in low inhabited density, stretching city services and infrastructure. These neighborhoods are concentrated in the northeast and on the city's fringes. The 2009 residential lot vacancy in Detroit was 27.8%, up from 10.3% in 2000, with the population continuing to shrink and foreclosures that exacerbate the problem. An estimated 20 to 30 percent of lots are vacant. A 2009 parcel survey found 33,527 or 10% of the city's housing to be unoccupied, but recommended that only one percent or 3,480 of the city's housing units be demolished. In 2010, the city began using federal funds on its quest to demolish 10,000 empty residential structures. About 3,000 of these of the residential structures will be torn down in 2010. A number of solutions have been proposed for dealing with the shrinkage, including resident relocation from more sparsely populated neighborhoods and converting unused space to agricultural use, though the city expects to be in the planning stages for up to another two years. Mayor Bing has also proposed a plan to cut off municipal services, including garbage pickup and police sweeps for the more sparsely-populated 20% of the city's area.