DETROIT – The approval of the bankruptcy plan marks an end to the dark time that threw Detroit into the national spotlight for all the wrong reasons, and the beginning of a new era so fragile and yet so full of potential.
There's no question there are winners and losers now that the city is exiting from Chapter 9.
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It's history, it's change, it is the best possible end for a city that stared into the abyss and came out on the other side.
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"I think what you saw today was the best of us -- the best of Detroiters, the best of Michiganders, the best of Americans," said Detroit emergency manager Kevyn Orr.
The stars aligned over a town so battered and beaten down somehow the total economic collapse of the city seemed standard.
Gov. Rick Snyder comes out a big winner here for being the only one in a long history of governors who could have intervened but didn't.
"Today is a historic day, in a positive sense, for the city of Detroit. The city has a bright future," said Snyder.
The balance sheet has shed $7 billion in debt, giving Mayor Mike Duggan something to work with, but the road ahead is not a simple one: The pressure on him to perform where no one else has been able to is immense.
"We are working together to clear the blight out of the city. It's a true partnership and we're going to get that bid, that bridge built to Canada in a way that is sensitive to the natives of southwest Detroit to make sure Detroiters get a chance to work on the project," said Duggan. "We have so much that both of us are committed to."
Special section: Detroit's Bankruptcy
The biggest losers? The obstructionists. Those who said, "Me first," and, "Forget everything else" -- those who, instead of coming to the table, took their ball and sat in a corner. They are the politics-as-usual crowd.