Planner hired to help Detroit's downsizing effort

DETROIT (AP) - An urban planner who has worked in cities including Washington and Newark, N.J., has been hired to help in a long-term effort to downsize Detroit.

The Troy-based Kresge Foundation said Wednesday that it was funding Toni Griffin's work in Detroit's planning department.

Mayor Dave Bing's office said in a statement that the philanthropic community offered their resources to help determine what the City of Detroit will look like in the future.

Bing's administration is studying how to shrink parts of the 139-square-mile city by moving people from deteriorating and near-empty areas to more stable neighborhoods. Bing has said the planning process could take years.

Griffin's hiring was reported earlier by Time magazine.