And so with that, I say the odds aren't so good in Detroit. The market is constantly shrinking. That is fact (see the wiki link). This spills over to exports as well. The last saving grace are the auto manufacturers, but as most economists say the reliance on them for exports must end[5].
For all you know the 'billionaires' will frack[1] all the entire land and what will you have then? Or maybe foreign nationals are buying the land to level it for agriculture, and not high tech or manufacturing which keeps jobs [2][3][4]. That would be nice, to see a farm land back on Detroit soil.
Yes maybe selling that $1k piece of land for $2k would be a good deal. You just made 2x or maybe even 10x (if you could) there. But who are you going to sell it to?
I've seen plenty of people and huge think tank laden corps (investment firms, banks, etc...) with massive amount of money blow it all for stupid decisions. Including during the 2008 CDO mess. Or just look at the current Euro zone situation, they're STILL bleeding.
Yes what is happening to Detroit is also happening to the rest of the USA. The only thing is Detroit was ground zero.
Rather than 'follow billionaires' I choose to forge my own path with my fellow entrepreneurs learning from all of this horrible mess.
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydraulic_fracturing
[2] http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/27/world/americas/27brazil.ht...
[3] http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-10/grantham-says-farml...
[4] http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-10/being-like-soros-in...
[5] http://wallstcheatsheet.com/breaking-news/what-put-the-brake...