Jemele Hill

Detroit was in bankruptcy financially.

It just wasn't a whole lot of investment happening there.

And it had been a longstanding sort of problem that Detroit

only being recognized nationally about our crime rate and about things that were not very positive, you know?

And so, like, people see the movie RoboCop, the original RoboCop.

I think they may have remade it or whatever, but they see RoboCop and they think that's Detroit.

I mean, I don't even think RoboCop was actually filmed in Detroit, but it's based in Detroit.

The story is, but that's how people came to think of Detroit as just this barren, crime-ridden hellscape that didn't deserve anything.

And so...

It is with a lot of pride that I see Detroit being embraced now and people understanding that what's happening there is not a fluke.

We have been through some stops and starts before.

Listen, Detroit has a Gucci store downtown.

I never thought I would see that.

all right when i was growing up there were no major department department stores in downtown detroit and now there's a gucci store and an apple store and a 50s store and so um while some of this also signals a gentrification that can be create and cause some uncomfortable questions

I think I'm generally more positive about saying it because I do see that growth spreading out to other parts of the city because that's where you want to see it.

You want to see the neighborhoods come up if there's a revitalization downtown.

But downtown is cracking.

Detroit is the place.

But did it start with sports?

No, not really.