[smurph]

The Detroit that existed for most of the 20th Century likely can't exist again in the US unless the whole nation's economy changes. You'll never have a large population of low (formal) skilled workers making good money because their experience and a general shortage of reliable labor. The corporation has figured out for the most part how to move the know-how from the worker's brain to a corporate training manual, and unskilled labor is no longer scarce anywhere for long since relocation is a lot easier than it was 50 years ago. If Detroit is going to turn around, it is going to look like most of the other American cities. Lots of young creatives move in, followed by trendy bars & restaurants, followed by young white collar workers who want to live in the new trendy area. The white collar workers price everyone else out, and the process starts again in a new neighborhood. The white collar workers could come from startups, but the area already has plenty of them working for established businesses like the auto companies. Downtown Detroit at that point would just be a bigger Royal Oak or Ferndale with some high rises and old money sprinkled in.