It's good news, there's no question about that: Seven corporations donating $35 million to fund street improvements, housing stabilization, affordable housing preservation and development in seven Detroit neighborhoods — most of which haven't seen substantial outside investment in decades —is worth celebrating.

Announced Monday, this is the second round of investment in the neither-downtown-nor-Midtown parts of Detroit for Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan's Strategic Neighborhood Fund, which started work in Detroit's Villages, southwest Detroit and Six Mile Road/Livernois neighborhoods two years ago.

Added to the roster are Campau/Banglatown, East Warren/Cadieux, Grand River Northwest, Gratiot/Seven Mile, Jefferson Chalmers, Russell Woods/Nardin Park and Warrendale/Cody-Rouge, areas the city targeted because of their high retained population. It's a strategy intended to build on neighborhood strengths, and it's a departure from past decades, when funding was funneled to the neighborhoods in most distress.

More:7 Detroit neighborhoods to split $35M pledge from companies

More:Detroit mega-developer Zaid Elia is downtown's new deal guy

But beyond investment and development in the targeted neighborhoods, this project carries tremendous symbolic weight: It's a step toward making good on the mayor's contention that there are not two Detroits, and his promise that every neighborhood has a future.

Both claims can clash with Detroit's reality. Travel outside of Midtown and downtown, and it is impossible to deny that the bulk of Detroit's 139 square miles have not experienced an investment boom, an influx of new residents and development, or an increased focus on public safety. And having a future isn't the same thing as having a prosperous future.

There's a lot to like about this plan. The city is actively soliciting input from residents of the 10 neighborhoods, not imposing one-size-fits-all development. Streetscape improvements are being designed to support bike, bus and foot traffic, not just passenger vehicles.

Paired with a philanthropic grant, the fund will also bolster small businesses along the commercial corridors in each neighborhood and provide gap funding for larger mixed-use developments.

And it will preserve subsidized affordable housing in those neighborhoods. The city is in danger of losing thousands of units as the tax credits that subsidize affordable housing expire. Because property values are rising in some parts of the city, there's little incentive for developers to keep housing affordable, or build new affordable housing.

This is thoughtful planning that engages with the duality of Detroit, a city that struggles with skyrocketing rents and property values and vast poverty and housing insecurity, and we need more of it. The companies backing this investment, American Axle & Manufacturing, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, Chemical Bank, Fifth Third Bank, Flagstar Bank, Huntington Bank and Penske Corp., have committed $5 million each, with the potential to leverage further investment, and act as a roadmap for other businesses to invest in Detroit.

Kaffer:Does farming have a place in the new Detroit?

More:Mich. lawmaker pushes bill to deduct cash from paycheck for lotto game

Duggan has told residents outside the 10 targeted neighborhoods that help is coming, that it's not possible to tackle a sprawling city like Detroit at once. He's not wrong. But this isn't the first time Detroiters have been cautioned to be patient.

That's what rankles Mark Covington, of the Georgia Street Community Collective on Detroit's east side. Covington started the 19-lot urban farm 10 years ago, fighting back against the blight that has eaten away at the community where he grew up. He has expanded his operation lot by lot, adding an afterschool program for neighborhood kids and hosting community dinners and other events.

"I’m pissed, again," Covington said. "I’ve only been as involved in our neighborhood as I am for 10 years, but it’s always the same excuse any time some money comes to the city: We've got to go to these neighborhoods, because they might drop. What about neighborhoods (that are) down and need to come up? ... It’s almost like we’re always skipped."

And it's hard not to read into those decisions. Covington worries that Georgia Street is marked for industrial use, that the work he's put into the farm is destined to be bulldozed in service of some future greater good.

"I want to know if they have a plan for this neighborhood, so I can know whether we should keep fighting, or put our resources into something else," he said. "I’m happy our city is coming back, I am . . . but we’re not even getting crumbs."

Covington knows that Georgia Street has a future. He just wants to know what it will look like.

Nancy Kaffer is a Free Press columnist. Contact: nkaffer@freepress.com.