New Detroit is interesting. They’re invested in biking as opposed to buying a car. They have a car they bought secondhand. They have a new car they bought with their hard-earned money. Their parents gave them a car. They are young. They have just graduated. They have not just graduated. They are old. They are white. They are black. They are stylish. They are not stylish but brilliant. They are not brilliant but talented. They are not talented but have friends. They have no friends but are incredibly resourceful.

They hold parties where you go and have a good time. The halls are filled with people who have amazing things to say. The food is from Honeybee. The food is from Whole Foods. The food is catered. There is no food but there is lots of beer.

The conversation is positive. The conversation is always positive. A camera crew or a team of photographers will take your picture. You will be tagged, smiling, with your new friends. You are photographed or filmed alone. You are not photographed or filmed, but your friends are. A friend of a friend is photographed. The pictures are on social media. The pictures are not on social media, but in a documentary. You catch a fleeting moment of yourself on Youtube one day from the video that has now gone viral. You and your friends all like the video. The video is posted to a cool website. You feel good for having gone to this party.

The negative aspects of the city are not discussed. If you live in an apartment and say what’s wrong with it, it’s countered with the Silver Lining.

“You have to take the good with the bad, right?” says New Detroit, holding a bottle of local beer you haven’t tried yet.

You concede and wonder where they got the beer from. You didn’t see it on the refreshments table when you came in.

New Detroit tells you about all of the great things happening here. He or she tells you what a wonderful time it is to be in the city. They say it’s a Clean Slate. You believe them, and in the energy of the party, and in the energy of the song that’s just begun to play over the loudspeakers from somewhere in the house.

The crowd swirls around you, and the rest of the evening melts into a fuzzy feeling of pleasantries and celebration. You head home later with your mind still on the conversation you’ve had earlier. Detroit is changing. You can see it; it’s present in the neighborhoods around you.

And then you take a ramp onto the freeway to speed past the streets still enshrouded in the dark.