“This is the day to solve this debt problem, this service problem,” Snyder said Friday. “The growth of Detroit is incredibly important for all of us, but most importantly for the hard-working citizens of Detroit. We are in a comeback state here in Michigan, but to be a great state, we need to get Detroit on the path to being a great city again.”

The first step

Detroit’s case has until Aug. 19 before it could become eligible for bankruptcy. If the application is approved, it would make the city the largest in U.S. history to do so. The city’s many creditors, including General Motors, might go without their money. The future funding for more than 23,000 retired city employees hangs in the balance. But at MSU, the effect on students only scratches the surface.

MSU alumnus Deon’ta Bailey, who grew up on Detroit’s east side, said the city can only improve after coming to terms with the problem.

“I’m glad they finally came out and said, ‘We owe billions of dollars, but we don’t have it. We need help,’” Bailey said.

Despite the process it took to get there, MSU alumnus Rob Black said Detroit could come out even stronger.

“Sometimes you have to bite the bullet, and it will work out in the end,” Black said. “I feel like there’s hope.”

A plan for change

For Orr, the filing means there is no turning back to what Detroit once was.

“It would take us over 50 years to pay that debt,” Orr said Friday. “So there’s no way home from that equation. There’s no amount of revenue we could generate to try and repress it.”

Among many city factions in need of a face-lift, Snyder said he wants the filing to attack the crime rate head-on and inspire change within the police force.

“You can go back to 1985 — 27 years — and for 24 of those years, Detroit was in the top 10 most violent cities … That’s a tragic situation,” he said. “It’s time to do something about it.”

To make the final change, Bailey said the morale boost has to come in the form of a proper thank you from the city of Detroit.

“The city is definitely lacking in firefighters and policemen, and these guys are being underpaid, quite frankly,” he said. “The city is not rewarding these guys for putting their lives on the line.”

But after years of troubled leadership, such as the racketeering committed by former Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, chemistry junior Quentin Boll said the problem-solving needs to start at the top.

“They have to get mayors in the city who aren’t corrupt — someone who lives in the city and cares about it,” Boll said.

Moving forward

As the monthlong wait for eligibility carries on, Snyder said officials will continue looking for solutions for the city’s creditors.

“Currently, those creditors have a situation where they don’t know if they’re going to get paid at all,” he said. “Going through this process will allow us to give them some certainty to say this is a debt that can be paid and will be paid.”

Since a rush of young adults from Metro Detroit have begun to shift their residences downtown, Snyder said such changes could help generate the kind of growth Detroit needs. “Detroit has a tremendous amount of positive things going on, and I’m very excited about it. … In addition to that, young people are moving to Detroit,” he said. “We’re seeing that every day in terms of occupancy in midtown and downtown. But all parts of Detroit need to be moving forward.”

Growing up surrounded by Detroit’s constant changes, Bailey said he remains optimistic for the city.

“I’ve seen so many different changes from where the city was, from where the city could possibly be,” Bailey said.

“I’m definitely looking forward to the future.”

Staff writer Michael Kransz contributed to this report.