Here's the telling thing:

A vacant block in Detroit is often platted with small enough lots to where you could fit 40 homes with backyards, producing community, urbanity, costs savings through the microclimate provided by windbreaks, and is precisely the sort of dense, walkable environment that younger folks are trending toward. It had "good bones" for dense development that uses less resources.

A block twice that size in Macomb Township could have just 20 homes, and hogs more roads, sewers, heating oil, and takes more time driving to get in and out, and is precisely the sort of environment we have an oversupply of.

So, naturally, you want to say that a block in Detroit has to be bulldozed, the street ripped up, and all services cut off.

Whereas a block of homes in Macomb Township gets subsidized.

Makes sense, yes?