Feeding Detroit’s Rise

In the fifth chapter, the book examines the story of Detroit on the rise—the ultimate conclusion of most of the disparate narratives surrounding the city. The fascination with Detroit in the twenty-first century is due not to its ruin but to the evidence of Detroit as possible. This chapter looks explicitly at the narrative of the rise of a “new Detroit.” This rise is best seen in media portrayals of as the city’s “hungry” creative class, the billion-dollar investment of Dan Gilbert, and the media frenzy around the opening of a Whole Foods Market in Detroit and the company’s use of that store as a national platform against “racism and elitism.”