Knocking down Detroit to revive it comes at a price - One America News Network

Knocking down Detroit to revive it comes at a price - One America News Network:
DETROIT (Reuters) – Nowhere in America bulldozes derelict homes with Detroit’s ferocity, as the city that has become a byword for U.S. urban decay seeks to engineer a recovery by tearing itself down.
A year after the city exited the biggest-ever U.S. municipal bankruptcy, a plan to demolish half of its nearly 80,000 blighted or deteriorating structures — nearly one in three city buildings — is showing some signs of success.
...But the federally backed program has been tainted by allegations that Mayor Mike Duggan favored demolition contractors who donated to his campaign and by a steep rise in costs.
But demolition prices have fluctuated sharply.
In October, he put the average 2015 price of razing a home at $16,400. 
A month later, after Heath opened his investigation, the administration cut the 2015 average to $13,830, citing lower contracting costs.
Duggan’s predecessor, Dave Bing, told Reuters prices remain too high. “The cost shouldn’t have gone up that much,” he said, noting that the price averaged as low as $8,500 per structure during his term between 2009 and 2013.
...A Department of Treasury official, whose office oversees the program, acknowledged “reported issues with Detroit’s blight program and potential rising costs,” but praised Duggan’s efforts..."