Praxis in Landscape Architecture

An interesting post in Streetsblog reveals that Youngstown, Ohio is finding it hard to shrink. Almost a decade ago (was it that long ago?), Youngstown received national attention for admitting to itself and the country that it was declining in population and not likely to grow its way out of the problem. Instead, the Youngstown 2010 plan was to “right-size” the city by disconnecting infrastructure and removing roads that it no longer needs. The city would focus on improving the quality of the smaller city, aided by reduced infrastructure maintenance costs. Streetsblog notes that right-sizing itself is hard to finance:

The plan was called Youngstown 2010, but now — in 2011 — the city of Youngstown is just getting around to removing its first street. Part of the  problem is that the state, regional and national policy framework is still oriented for growth. After all, Youngstown can’t go to the Ohio Department of Transportation and ask for money to tear out roads — yet. ODOT’s money is for building roads, and that fuels a dynamic that threatens what progress has made in Youngstown.