Saving Detroit?

With the housing market continuing to defy optimists, the economy months away from generating new jobs, and its auto industry clinging to dear life, the State of Michigan has apparently not given up on its cities.  From the South Bend Tribune: “The Michigan State Housing Development Authority is seeking $290 million from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for its New Michigan Urban Neighborhood plan targeting the 12 largest municipalities, including Lansing, Detroit, Highland Park, Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo.”  The HUD program is allocating nearly $2 billion to stabilize neighborhoods and avoid the severe deterioration of cities that has followed sustained economic crises in the past.  Detroit is hoping for $53 million, which could not come at a better time, as the city faces hundreds of millions in deficits and its commercial property values—after two years of falling home values—begin their own “ nose dive.”

And yet its downtown thrives?