Detroit studies New Orleans recovery

Detroit studies New Orleans recovery
February 15, 2011
UPI.com

DETROIT, Feb. 15 (UPI) -- Detroit Mayor Dave Bing hopes to return to the motor city from New Orleans Tuesday with new ideas for fighting urban blight, a spokesman for the mayor said.

Bing and three city staffers set off for New Orleans Sunday night to talk with city officials and experts in the Crescent City about rebuilding efforts following Hurricane Katrina in 2005, The Detroit News reported.

Bing spokesman Dan Lijana told the News the trip was initiated and funded by the New York-based Ford Foundation.

"Detroit is dealing with a blight challenge that hasn't been faced in a lot of cities," Lijana said. "There are definitely some things we could learn from New Orleans."

Bing is working on a plan to reshape Detroit called the Detroit Works Project.

Last year, he led a similar delegation to the Italian auto manufacturing city of Turin, sometimes called the "Detroit of Europe."

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