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Detroit Mayor Dangles $1,000 Homes as Incentive to Move to City

Detroit Mayor Dave Bing announced a sweet deal for Detroit firefighters and public safety officers currently not living in the city. Bing is dangling foreclosed homes for $1,000 plus funds for restoration as an incentive to get police officers and firefighters out of the burbs. Project 14 is named for a police code meaning that things are "back to normal."

In 1999, legislation was enacted that repealed an 80+ policy which stipulated that Detroit police officers and fire fighters must live in the city in which they serve. Since mandatory residency for municipal workers was overturned, many public safety officers left their metro and inner city neighborhoods and moved to one of Detroit's many suburban areas.

Dearborn, Hamtramck, Oak Park, Ferndale, Bloomfield, Warren, Royal Oak, Birmingham, Auburn Hills, Southfield, Rochester Hills and other cities near the metro Detroit area have seen an influx of municipal workers, including over half of all Detroit police officers and nearly half of all firefighters. Concern over public school systems, neighborhood safety, residential amenities, stability of localities and general environment were issues that drove many Detroit residents out of the city and into suburban life.

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