密歇根新闻广播 底特律的破产为经济增长奠定了基础

One of the biggest things to hit Detroit since the moving assembly line marked its fifth anniversary this week. That's when the Motor City became the largest municipality in American history to declare bankruptcy¹.

Just weeks before, a union official said, quote: "It's war." But the financial restructuring that helped deliver four balanced budgets, drew three credit upgrades, improved delivery of basic city services, and attracted billions in private-sector investment turned out to be anything but.

Any celebration, however, belongs to the city itself -- not just the lawyers, politicians and meditators who worked the case. To the residents who persevered² through bleaker³ times of dysfunction and political corruption⁴. To the city pensioners⁵ forced to surrender a portion of their expected benefits to reach a settlement. To the business leaders who invested before the downward spiral accelerated.

Quicken Loans Chairman Dan Gilbert moved his operation downtown several years before bankruptcy. He says calls from would-be investors⁶ started within days of the city's Chapter 9 filing and, quote, "the momentum⁷ continues to build."

New street lights glow every night across broad swaths of the city. An estimated 10,000 new housing units are planned or under construction. Renovation⁸ is creeping outside the 7.2 square-mile patch of downtown and Midtown.

Ford⁹ Motor now plans to anchor a campus for mobility¹⁰ and self-driving vehicle development at the 105-year-old Michigan Central Depot¹¹ in Corktown.

All of that and more is combining to revise the narrative¹² about the nation's longtime poster child for disinvestment, de-industrialization and decline. That's success, especially for a city so much of America gave up for dead.

It would be a mistake to credit Detroit's revival¹³ solely¹⁴ to its epic¹⁵ bankruptcy. But it's not a stretch to say the federally supervised restructuring helped lay a foundation for the investment and positive energy that followed and exists today.

Detroit owes its new status as one of America's hottest cities to the confluence¹⁶ of new leaders: a Republican governor who didn't act like a stereotypical¹⁷ one; a Democratic mayor focused on pragmatism and results, not ideology¹⁸ and politicking¹⁹; business and philanthropy leaders who quickly understood the stakes. They recognized the downside risks and upside potential bankruptcy could deliver – and the need to act, finally.

A new normal is setting in. Business that for decades bolted downtown for the suburbs is returning, reversing the mostly one-way capital flow. Investment in the city now is measured in billions of dollars. A new sense of civic²⁰ pride and can-do spirit has emerged.

George Jackson can feel it. He headed the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation for years. He sees a spirit and pride he hasn't seen in a long time.

He says, "We've come a long way, and we should be proud." My friend George is right.

Daniel Howes is a columnist²¹ at The Detroit News. Views expressed in his essays are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of Michigan Radio, its management or the station licensee, The University of Michigan.

1 bankruptcy   

n.破产；无偿付能力

参考例句：

• You will have to pull in if you want to escape bankruptcy.如果你想避免破产，就必须节省开支。
• His firm is just on thin ice of bankruptcy.他的商号正面临破产的危险。

2 persevered   

v.坚忍，坚持( persevere的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She persevered with her violin lessons. 她孜孜不倦地学习小提琴。
• Hard as the conditions were, he persevered in his studies. 虽然条件艰苦，但他仍坚持学习。 来自辞典例句

3 bleaker   

阴冷的( bleak的比较级 )； （状况）无望的； 没有希望的； 光秃的

参考例句：

• Horoscopes are merely harmless escapism from an ever-bleaker world. 占星术只不过是让人逃避越发令人沮丧的世界的无害消遣罢了。
• On the ground the mood is bleaker. 具体形势更加严峻。

4 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

5 pensioners   

n.领取退休、养老金或抚恤金的人( pensioner的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He intends to redistribute income from the middle class to poorer paid employees and pensioners. 他意图把中产阶级到低薪雇员和退休人员的收入做重新分配。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I am myself one of the pensioners upon the fund left by our noble benefactor. 我自己就是一个我们的高贵的施主遗留基金的养老金领取者。 来自辞典例句

6 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

7 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

8 renovation   

n.革新，整修

参考例句：

• The cinema will reopen next week after the renovation.电影院修缮后，将于下星期开业。
• The building has undergone major renovation.这座大楼已进行大整修。

9 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

10 mobility   

n.可动性，变动性，情感不定

参考例句：

• The difference in regional house prices acts as an obstacle to mobility of labour.不同地区房价的差异阻碍了劳动力的流动。
• Mobility is very important in guerrilla warfare.机动性在游击战中至关重要。

11 depot   

n.仓库，储藏处；公共汽车站；火车站

参考例句：

• The depot is only a few blocks from here.公共汽车站离这儿只有几个街区。
• They leased the building as a depot.他们租用这栋大楼作仓库。

12 narrative   

n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的

参考例句：

• He was a writer of great narrative power.他是一位颇有记述能力的作家。
• Neither author was very strong on narrative.两个作者都不是很善于讲故事。

13 revival   

n.复兴，复苏，（精力、活力等的）重振

参考例句：

• The period saw a great revival in the wine trade.这一时期葡萄酒业出现了很大的复苏。
• He claimed the housing market was showing signs of a revival.他指出房地产市场正出现复苏的迹象。

14 solely   

adv.仅仅，唯一地

参考例句：

• Success should not be measured solely by educational achievement.成功与否不应只用学业成绩来衡量。
• The town depends almost solely on the tourist trade.这座城市几乎完全靠旅游业维持。

15 epic   

n.史诗，叙事诗；adj.史诗般的，壮丽的

参考例句：

• I gave up my epic and wrote this little tale instead.我放弃了写叙事诗，而写了这个小故事。
• They held a banquet of epic proportions.他们举行了盛大的宴会。

16 confluence   

n.汇合，聚集

参考例句：

• They built the city at the confluence of two rivers.他们建造了城市的汇合两条河流。
• The whole DV movements actually was a confluence of several trends.整个当时的DV运动，实际上是几股潮流的同谋。

17 stereotypical   

n.常规

参考例句：

• Personas should be typical and believable, but not stereotypical. 人物角色应该是典型和可信赖的，但不是一成不变的。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• Anything could be stereotypical, so I guess it could be criticism. 任何东西都可以变的老套，所以我猜那就是一种批评。 来自互联网

18 ideology   

n.意识形态，(政治或社会的)思想意识

参考例句：

• The ideology has great influence in the world.这种思想体系在世界上有很大的影响。
• The ideal is to strike a medium between ideology and inspiration.我的理想是在意识思想和灵感鼓动之间找到一个折衷。

19 politicking   

n.政治活动，竞选活动v.从政( politic的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• A lot of politicking preceded the choice of the new director. 在选新领导人之前进行了大量的拉拢活动。 来自辞典例句
• This colleague is always politicking. 这位同僚总是忙于政治活动。 来自互联网

20 civic   

adj.城市的，都市的，市民的，公民的

参考例句：

• I feel it is my civic duty to vote.我认为投票选举是我作为公民的义务。
• The civic leaders helped to forward the project.市政府领导者协助促进工程的进展。

21 columnist   

n.专栏作家

参考例句：

• The host was interviewing a local columnist.节目主持人正在同一位当地的专栏作家交谈。
• She's a columnist for USA Today.她是《今日美国报》的专栏作家。