Flint, Michigan is one example of, probably, hundreds of cities that are dying; high unemployment, the foreclosure crisis, and young people and families moving out of town have left whole neighborhoods is decline. Last year I drove through neighborhoods in Detroit and observed that on many streets, for every occupied home there were three or four that were vacant and boarded up.

I was saddened by the sight, especially as I’d always thought of Detriot as the quintessential city. As I drove out of town, I started to brainstorm ways that depressed communities, like Flint, Detroit, and many others around the country, can regenerate themselves.