The city of Detroit is getting more money to fight blight, thanks to the federal and state governments.
According to the city, the U.S. Treasury Department and Michigan State Housing Development Authority approved $42 million for the city's blight removal program.
The city has already been given $170 million in federal funds for blight removal. According to the city, it has used the funds to demolish for than 8,600 vacant buildings since January 2014. It hopes to have 11,000 vacant structures down by the end of 2017, according to Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan.
“This is great news for our neighborhood and the families here,” Gloria Sykes said in a release. She is a Detroit resident. “I want to be out in the yard and enjoy life, but seeing blight all around you gets depressing. This will help us. We are excited to work with the Mayor on improving our neighborhood."
The approval comes after the Detroit Land Bank submitted a request on March 1 for the MSHDA to expand the boundaries for blight removal.
With the money, the city says it hopes to add more than 2,600 houses to its demolition list.
According to the city, $188 million from the U.S. Treasury's Hardest Hit Program will be coming to Michigan. That announcement should be coming in the next several weeks
