You need enough of a tax base. Do they have that? Nothing else matters. Are there enough paying in to support the govt. that is paying out to those not paying in? Provide necessary services as well? I think there are cities out there beyond help. Compton is beyond help. They don’t have a tax base. They have recipients.
Its nice to have a whipping boy but sometimes ideology gets in the way of reality. The fact is that some of the wealthiest neighborhoods in the state are around the outskirts of Detroit. Mitt Romney raised the bulk of his Michigan money in Detroit. My sister and her husband are both 6 figure earners in Detroit. There is money and potential there.
The thing is that we need to stop worrying about fixing cities. Do the right things for the federal and state and the cities will inevitably follow. As the state economy does better, businesses are coming and Detroit is one of the places they’re settling.
Detroit is the second busiest border crossing in the country and should be doing better. Unfortunately that single crossing is under sole control of Detroit’s wealthiest slumlord and democrat donor. Unfortunately Americans for prosperity is is on the side of the democrats in that fight.