Been to Wayne County and Downtown Detroit(as well as Windsor) several times in the past and I love the state of Michigan(first girl I ever liked moved there when I was 8). I at one time wanted to buy a second home in Detroit back in the 1990’s, I am more pissed to see what Detroit was once and how 60 years of Democrat rule turned it into. You can’t save what has been on life support for more that 6 decades with one party rule of corrupt politicians and union thugs.
But look at Jersey City. It went close to 9 decades with Democrat rule and was rapidly deteriorating when they elected a Republican Mayor (Bret Schundler) and he turned it around and the population grew on his watch. It is possible to tun around decayed cities with the right leadership. Detroit is badly decayed, but by investing efforts in the parts that can be revitalized (such as the central downtown, as was cited) and letting go of what can't, it can be turned around over time. It won't be that city of 2 million that existed until the early '60s, but we might be able to get it to be a leaner and fit and productive city of around a half-million over the next 20 years. I think it's shortsighted to begrudge our friends in Michigan attempting to try to do just that.