DETROIT, MI (AP)-- Detroit may be too broke to pay its bills, but it's still thinking big.
As the debt-ridden city moves through bankruptcy proceedings, local and state leaders are backing plans to build a new hockey arena and streetcar line. The developments would cost $800 million and bet at least $300 million in future tax revenues to attract people to a city that residents have been fleeing for 60 years.
Skeptics say the plans are risky for a city with so much debt that it can't fund services as simple as streetlights. Supporters predict the downtown improvements will expand the tax base and lay the path to a brighter financial future.
The efforts are focused downtown. Outside the city center are 130 square miles of neighborhoods with vacant homes and few prospects.
