can Public-Private Partnerships save detroit?

...Detroit and Indianapolis once had much in common. Thirty years ago, both cities suffered from decreased economic activity, severe unemployment, violence, white flight and racial tensions. But Indianapolis, the nation’s 13th most populous city, has since recovered from those challenges, which were spawned by deindustrialization and suburban job growth.

In 2008, Forbes named Indianapolis as one of its “Ten Best Cities for Jobs,” and CNBC called Indiana the “most improved state for business.” Detroit, by contrast, has continued its decline. It has one of the highest foreclosure rates in the country; swaths of abandoned buildings illustrate the metaphor of a broken city. Although New Orleans and Camden, N.J., bumped Detroit from first place to third in a 2008 list of the most-dangerous cities in America, Detroit is still invoked as a preternatural example of urban blight...


http://americancity.org/daily/entry/1425/