Post from Pittsburgh Today

His hometown of Flint, Mich. was in steep decline when Dan Kildee was elected Genesee County treasurer 14 years ago. Its days as a thriving, broad-shouldered factory town were gone. Most plants were shuttered or running well below capacity. Some 60,000 General Motors jobs alone were lost. And the city was well on its way toward shedding nearly half of its population. The fallout included an epidemic of vacant and abandoned properties. B ...