I disagree that they have a point. I think this article is such a piece of shit that I'm hesitant to even give it a comment. Vice's snarky bullshit "journalism" is terrible in general, and this piece is no different. What would the author prefer, that people who live in Detroit continue to not have decent options from which to purchase food? Should Whole Foods be ashamed because they can serve community needs and also make a profit (you know, what businesses are supposed to do in the best case scenario)?

I've been to Mission, Silver Lake and Brooklyn, and Detroit is nothing like any of them (and each is different from the others, too). Why is it that so many people can't stand groups of people who try to improve their homes? I'll never understand that. Detroit is a cheap place to live so people moved in. Then those people thought, "Wow, this place could use some art." So they made some. Then some other people thought, "You know, maybe a coffee shop would do well with all these artists around..." And so on. There's no such thing as "gentrification" when it's viewed in those terms (that is, as a spontaneous and organic event, which, um, didn't start last June when Whole Foods opened). Gentrification is simple supply and demand. And it's good for the overwhelming majority of people to boot.

Of course some people can't afford the rent anymore. Big deal. Markets change. That's the whole point of a dynamic economy. Those people can find shitty housing elsewhere not too far away. Detroit, if it is to become a viable city again, certainly isn't going to do so overnight. One thing happens and then the next thing happens, and that's all that can happen. Vice whining in their holier-than-thou bullshit crybaby tone will do nothing to help, and I wish (as I wish every time I read one of their "articles" on pretty much any topic) that they would shut the fuck up or perhaps try to do something constructive. Sorry, rant over now.