Bankrupt Detroit Doles Out Corporate Subsidies

Jan. 22 (Bloomberg) -- While the rest of the countryremains focused on Detroit’s bankruptcy travails, the big storyin the city itself is the group of private investors who areattempting an ambitious urban turnaround. Led by Dan Gilbert,owner of Quicken Loans Inc., they are trying to rebuildeverything -- retail, housing, start-ups, transit and evenstreet life -- in the seven-square-mile downtown area.

Their theory is that a thriving core will lift the rest ofthe 130-square-mile city out of its economic torpor. Thechallenge for the new mayor, Mike Duggan, will be to let thisgrand experiment in private social engineering proceed withoutshortchanging the rest of the city.