My real point is this: Detroiters are in denial. They all cry that the media and the world doesn't portray them properly while pretending that nothing is wrong with the city.
Celebrate the beauty that exists (Michigan Central was actually what I was thinking of with the Rome comment) and take advantage of the rest. Do you know how cheap it is to live in the city? Yes: there are acres of abandoned rotting land, but what's keeping Detroit from turning it's warehouses into startups? Imagine SOMA on a city scale.
Hah. Detroiters are in denial. Right. Detroit is in revival in the sense that there is a very small amount of investment occuring in a couple of small areas. Before this, there was NOTHING. They've gotten three or four major companies to move downtown, including the major league teams and it appears that cobo hall might even get some help from the suburbs. Seriously, prior to 2003 there was very little to talk about. It's been slow going, but I think the "revival" is real.
The thing that people miss when comparing Pittsburg and other cities to Detroit is that it is square MILES upon miles of complete ruin. The "ruins porn" is good for the city because it raises awareness of what destruction can take place when you remove the underlying economic structure from a community.
In terms of "startups", you are free to do -- there are city taxes, but it's probably doable in some areas, but keep in mind the lack of city services and that it is still a very, very dangerous city.
