I know a lot of you have a personal stake in this piece of news. Just wanted to say I'm sorry to hear about this. Frustratingly, my wifi isn't functioning well enough tonight to click on the link itself, so I don't know the first thing about how this will affect the city itself. Layoffs? Public programs closing? Does a city declare bankruptcy just like your next door neighbor, or more like Spain?
Apparently, the biggest difference between a municipal bankruptcy and a corporate one is that municipalities don't just get to discharge their bonds the way a company can. There still are going to be a lot of negotiations about who gets paid how much and when. I think the biggest asset Detroit has is the water department, which is among the best in the world and supplies most of SE Michigan. There are going to be tons of stakeholders trying to get that sold to the highest bidder. The people in the rich counties who hate Detroit and who don't care about the city's fate are going to be in for a rude awakening when their water bills double. Other than that I can't imagine too many services getting much worse. The biggest fight will be over changes to pensions, as that is where more than half of Detroit's long tern debt is.
Yes -- just now read the article finally. Thanks for the answer. Do you live in Detroit, or just near? Also, selling various assets (including public services) to the highest presumably private bidder sounds like either a spiraling disaster or the thing that will save the city.