A BRACING NEW ERA OF HOPE AND CHANGE: “Dozens of US cities may have entire neighbourhoods bulldozed as part of drastic ‘shrink to survive’ proposals being considered by the Obama administration to tackle economic decline.”

Best line: “People will enjoy living near a forest or meadow.”

UPDATE: Asking the tough questions: “You can’t just return to nature by removing the streets and buildings. What will these non-urban buffer zones really look like? Even if it is something like a forest — made of very fast-growing trees? — or meadow, what sorts of animals — rodent and human — will run wild there?”

And reader Robert Tipton writes:

I don’t know, the meadows line is certainly terrific, but I liked: “Decline is a fact of life in Flint. Resisting it is like resisting gravity.”

That line just absolutely captures the ‘can do’ spirit which exemplifies the American spirit – well, the heavily unionized and “what will the government do for us” version of it, not that ‘old-fashioned’ kind which built Flint in the first place…

Hope and change!