Detroit Moves Forward, Thanks to Mediation

About 15 months after becoming the largest U.S. city to file for bankruptcy, Detroit is on track to begin rebuilding and growing stronger. On November 7, a federal judge approved a plan aimed at ridding the city of its $7 billion in debt and investing about $1.7 billion in city services, the New York Times reports. As compared to recent bankruptcies of smaller cities, the decision was reached relatively quickly. The towns of Vallejo and Stockton, California, for example, spent about three years and 27 months, respectively, in bankruptcy.