Now for something completely different about Detroit's economic status: upbeat news.

The city's statistical region, which includes Warren and Livonia, has the ninth-best economic recovery from the recession among the 100 largest U.S. metropolitan areas, according to the Brookings Institution.

That may seem like a head-scratcher, but data doesn't lie -- and the Detroit area had slipped so far that its comeback in employment, home values and economic activity outpaces 91 other large regions in percentage terms.

The Washington-based policy center measured each metro area’s performance since hitting bottom in 2009.

Here's what Brookings says about Detroit and the two suburbs in its latest Metro Monitor, which covers the third quarter of 2012 (July-September) :