The article recounts the author’s experience purchasing a house in Detroit as part of a family investment. They describe Detroit’s ongoing revitalization, marked by an influx of money and development projects, yet highlight the disparities in who benefits from this resurgence. While downtown Detroit sees significant development and investment, many longtime residents, particularly Black Detroiters, feel left out and are being priced out of their neighborhoods.

The author details the challenges they faced renovating their Detroit property, including encounters with crime and bureaucratic hurdles. They juxtapose their struggles with the grandiose developments being pursued by billionaires like Tom Gores and Henry Ford Hospital, which promise economic growth but often fail to address the needs of existing residents.

The article discusses the Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) process in Detroit, intended to ensure that development projects benefit the local community. However, the author highlights the shortcomings of the CBA negotiation for the Henry Ford Hospital project, where developers offered minimal concessions that fell short of addressing residents’ needs.

Despite efforts to hold developers accountable and push for more equitable development, the author expresses frustration with the lack of meaningful change and the disconnect between promises of community improvement and the reality experienced by Detroit residents. The article concludes with skepticism about whether Detroit’s revitalization efforts truly serve the interests of all its residents or primarily benefit wealthy developers and investors.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/02/opinion/will-detroits-comeback-benefit-detroiters.html