New hopes and old woes as Detroit exits bankruptcy

Detroit

AFTER the largest municipal bankruptcy in US history, Detroit hopes outsiders see its potential and not its history of racial conflict, financial crisis and dramatic population loss.

The city, founded as a small French fort on the Detroit River that grew to be a hub of the global auto industry, emerged from bankruptcy last month after shedding almost US$7 billion of its roughly US$18 billion debt.

Under the bankruptcy provisions, city workers made concessions and the health…