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The bankrupt U.S. city has more than 80,000 buildings and vacant lots that are in a state of disrepair and a third of its properties are empty

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Graffiti is seen along Grand River Avenue near downtown Detroit.REBECCA COOK/The Globe and Mail

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A warning to scrappers is painted on the side of a vacant home in the Brightmoor neighbourhood in Detroit.REBECCA COOK/The Globe and Mail

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The burnt remains of a home sits between two occupied homes. There are 80,000-plus blighted properties in the city.REBECCA COOK/The Globe and Mail

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Mary Fraser, 85, sits on the porch of her home on East Robinwood where most of the homes are blighted and vacant. Ms. Fraser, who has lived on East Robinwood for 20 years, cannot afford to sell her home and move.REBECCA COOK/The Globe and Mail

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One of the last two remaining vacant 15-storey towers at the Brewster-Douglas housing complex is seen during demolition with the General Motors World Headquarters in the skyline just north of downtown Detroit. The complex, vacant since 2008, is remembered as the place where Motown Stars such as Diana Ross grew up.REBECCA COOK/The Globe and Mail

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Members of the 'Motor City Blight Busters' non-profit group dispose of chunks of cement from a broken sidewalk that is being turned into a green way. The Busters have worked on 1,500 ruined properties in northwestern Detroit.REBECCA COOK/The Globe and Mail

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A notice on a vacant and blighted home in Detroit advises the owner of the property it could be seized by the newly formed Detroit Land Bank.REBECCA COOK/The Globe and Mail

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A blighted and vacant small business is seen on Grand River Avenue. A third of the city’s properties are empty.REBECCA COOK/The Globe and Mail

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A row of vacant and blighted homes. A task force convened by the Obama administration has estimated that it will cost $2-billion to remove all the blight.REBECCA COOK/The Globe and Mail

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