More on Youngstown

Planet Money follows up on Youngstown's decision to try to rationally shrink the city, which it undertook in 2006:

The problem with shrinking cities is that they don't shrink in a smart, organized way. It's chaotic. Thousands of people will leave one neighborhood, and maybe a dozen people will stay behind.
So Youngstown has been offering financial help for those people left behind, offering to move them to a place with more neighbors.
"The theory is streets could be closed," D'Avignon says. "Trash wouldn't have to be picked up in that area."
That would save the city a lot of money. But nearly everyone responded to the offer to move the way Dolores Marie did:
I said I had six kids I raised here. And I said another thing, I got grandkids that's coming up. I been here. I don't feel right moving in any other neighborhood. I want to be here.

So the plan is moving a little slower than expected. D'Avignon says eventually, the people left in these neighborhoods will move or they'll pass away. And no one will come to take over their houses. Then, the city will close entire neighborhoods

I have to say that I am not surprised by this.  Detroit, Dayton and other cities have taken a look at this approach, and in the real world, it will be hard to implement.