… a phrase that I’ve heard uttered dozens of times in my life, but one that’s become all too common in Detroit and one that carries a very particular message behind it: gentrification.

As Detroit continues down the development road (and let’s be clear … when people talk about Detroit developing, they really mean Downtown Detroit or the 7.2), there’s been much attention brought to the inequalities in how the development funding, resources, and attention have been allocated.

Hence the “us vs. them” phrase has really come to refer to the haves, the Downtowners, the 7.2-ers, and the have nots, those who live in the other 130 square miles of the city, those in the neighborhoods.

Though it was Nolan Finley’s article who brought this conversation into the big leagues, with his “Where are all the black people?” article and subsequent follow ups, the inequality conversations have been rumbling around the city for quite some time.