States, cities ready to move on housing aid

CS Monitor reports:

States, counties, and cities with high home-foreclosure rates – now poised to reap a windfall in federal aid to help them cope with the crisis – are busy laying plans for what, exactly, they will do with the money.

So far, their blueprints are as varied as the places themselves. Some plan to use the money for demolition, some for rehabbing abandoned properties. Some even envision using the one-time bonanza to try to prevent future foreclosures.

The money, $4 billion in all, is part of a larger housing rescue package that Congress approved and President Bush signed late last month. It will go to America's hardest hit communities – and even some that aren't so hard hit.