During the bankruptcy, how quickly did state officials think Detroit would be back to handling its finances on its own?

I said I expected us to be out of state oversight by the spring of 2018 — and everybody laughed. It just seemed, given where Detroit was at the time, kind of a long-shot.

Is Detroit ready?

We are. If you were with me in community meetings, you’d see where people come and say: ‘You need to reopen more recreation centers.’ And I say, ‘Look, this city ended up in financial crisis because its elected officials didn’t have the courage to say to you that with the revenue we have, we can’t afford to do that. I’m not going to allow us to get to the point where anybody from the outside ever takes over again. So I’m just going to tell you truth: We can’t afford to do that right now.’ And inevitably there’s a huge round of applause from the crowd. People in this city just want to be told the truth.

As revenues grow, Detroit is bringing basic services like street sweeping back. How’s that going?

The first time, we put up signs saying ‘Please remove your cars for the street sweeper,’ and people thought it was a joke. They didn’t move their cars. The second and third time, people said, ‘Oh my God, they’re really sweeping streets.’ It may seem like a small thing to you but for people in this city who are thinking, ‘I’m getting tired of living here, maybe I’ll move out,’ that street sweeper coming down the street says the quality of life is really being restored.

So, does this mean everything is great in Detroit now?

Each year we have moved the needle in a positive direction and you can just see it. We have a six-month wait list now to get an apartment in Midtown. But we’ve got a long way to go. Other cities have had a big advantage on us. We’re up for it.