Detroit Millionaire Throws Down $30M For City's Urban Farm Makeover
React
Follow
Millionaire John Hantz has watched Detroit's population dwindle and buildings left abandoned as businesses and residents move away from the rustbelt's capital city.
But he believes his city could see greener pastures with urban farming, which would transform large swathes of the empty city into agricultural opportunity for former industrial workers. And he's willing to foot $30 million to get the venture started, CNN Money reports.
Hantz thinks farming could do his city a lot of good: restore big chunks of tax-delinquent, resource-draining urban blight to pastoral productivity; provide decent jobs with benefits; supply local markets and restaurants with fresh produce; attract tourists from all over the world; and -- most important of all -- stimulate development around the edges as the local land market tilts from stultifying abundance to something more like scarcity and investors move in.
But not everyone in the city is in favor of Hantz's wild idea. To get the full story, visit CNN.com.
Loading comments… 
First Posted: 03/18/10 06:12 AM ET Updated: 05/25/11 04:05 PM ET