detroit_free_press

I don't know about $5. I have read some people have bought a house for $100, and I know someone who bought one for $600, and that one required massive renovation.

The major changes have been amazing, but so far the new housing, restaurants etc are mostly located in about 8 square miles of the 139-square-mile city. Detroit is cleaner and better lit all over, but stats show it is the USA's poorest and most violent big city, so it's fair to say not every neighborhood is enjoying a renaissance.

I used company cars. You can treat them like off-road vehicles.

For the most part I saw people just going about their lives, as they would be doing in any city or suburb in the country. I did come across a burning house, and people were screaming that a woman was trapped inside. The DFD rolled up and firefighters ran right into the house to try to find her. She was across the street, visiting a neighbor.

Detroit is a big place -- 139 square miles. There is everything: mansions, slums, blighted property, miles of middle-class housing. There have been many positive changes in the past 10 years, but abandoned housing remains a major problem, and is often the main thing visitors take away with them.