"If we don't take risks, all we'll wind up with is empty land and a very limited tax base," Coleman says.

Mayor William A. Johnson of Rochester, NY, described his city's efforts to revive two low-income neighborhoods with redevelopment that includes new retail centers to serve a market segment that had been ignored.

"This was a group (of residents) with low incomes, but a lot of what they had was disposable, and they had no place to shop in their neighborhoods," he says.

The city viewed the effort as a way to turn around the neighborhoods, fill a retail void, and trigger additional investment. To entice the developers, the city provided nearly $12 million in grants and loans for the projects, and it improved public services, including public safety and transit. The area now has 400 new homes, a volunteer neighborhood patrol and is thriving, he says.

"We've sent a message that bad neighbors are not welcome," Mayor Johnson says.

In Downtown Rochester, a variety of projects have either been completed orare underway that involve renovations of old industrial buildings into mixed-use projects, he notes. To keep the activity going, the city has revised its zoning code to accommodate different uses and design plans, streamlined the permitting process, is offering code waivers for certain circumstances, providing infrastructure improvements and rebuilding several streets, Johnson says.

"We've learned to preserve the unique," he says. "We've learned that healthy places don't die. And we've learned we have a responsibility to provide a vision and back it up with funds."