In 1987, General Motors(GM) closed its doors and left 4,000 people without jobs and a 3 million sq. ft. vacant plant in this small community. The city realized that in order to survive, they needed to attract new businesses and create jobs but how with this vacant, useless plant. The city decided to fight back and after 10 years, GM tore down the plant at the city’s request, absorbing the site costs. The city was able to turn this now vacant lot into high density office space and retail space. They were able to attract 80 businesses and create more than 1,000 jobs. But something else happened; this project transformed the city from a blue-collar, factory-driven area to a city with elegant workspaces. The complete story: Rust to Diamonds Source: National Real Estate Investor, October 1, 2009