The 40-minute cab ride from the airport to the Jalen Rose Leadership Academy in Northwest Detroit isn't pleasant. Nearly every other home is boarded up, abandoned, dilapidated, with rusted-out cars in the front lawn on sale for as little as $300. Some of the houses can be snatched up for as little as $5,000, and the main commerce visible are liquor stores, auto-repair shops and seedy bars. "You may have noticed," says Jalen Rose, "there aren't any Ritz-Carltons here or five-star restaurants, or even many businesses at all." Welcome to the land of broken families and bankrupt businesses.

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