Decades in the making, Detroit’s slow-motion path towards bankruptcy is suddenly coming in a frightening rush for people like David McLeod.

对戴维•麦克劳德(David McLeod)等人来说，底特律几十年的缓慢破产之路突然加速非常可怕。

Days after the city filed for bankruptcy, the 52-year-old firefighter stood at an intersection with his wife and daughter, waving a placard and stuffing fliers through car windows protesting over public pension cuts.

在底特律提交破产申请几天后，52岁的消防队员麦克劳德和他的妻子和女儿站在一个十字路口，挥舞着标语牌，并向车窗塞入传单，抗议公共养老金的削减。

“They are telling us we have to dig our own graves,” he said.

他表示：“他们说，我们必须自行养老。”

The announcement last week by Detroit’s emergency manager, Kevyn Orr, a Washington lawyer, that the city would file for bankruptcy has created predictable panic among some city workers. But the filing, the largest municipal bankruptcy in US history, has also triggered relief and hopes in some quarters for a fresh start after decades of decline, depopulation, factory closures and service cuts.

底特律紧急财政管理人、华盛顿律师凯文•奥尔(Kevyn Orr)最近宣布该市将提交破产申请，引发市政府的部分工人出现意料之中的恐慌。但也有人对这宗美国历史上规模最大的市政破产案感到如释重负，并对这座城市翻开新的一页产生期盼。几十年来底特律不断走下坡路，人口急剧减少，工厂大量倒闭，公共服务大幅削减。

“People are tired of relatives being left to die on their living room floors while waiting for emergency calls to be answered,” said Bill McGraw, of Deadline Detroit, a local news website.

底特律地方新闻网站Deadline Detroit的比尔•麦格劳(Bill McGraw)表示：“人们厌倦了亲人躺在起居室地板上奄奄一息，却打不通急救电话。”

The early days after the filing have so far been navigated deftly by Mr Orr, a bankruptcy specialist, who has calmly delivered the grim message that the city cannot pay its $18.6bn in debts.

在提交破产申请之后的最初几天里，破产专家奥尔一直灵巧地引导着舆论走向。他平静地宣布了该市不可能偿还其186亿美元债务的糟糕消息。

The high profile of Mr Orr, an African-American, has helped sell a message that would have been much less palatable coming solely from the white Republican governor, Rick Snyder.

非裔美国人奥尔具有较高的知名度，由他宣布该消息比单单由密歇根州共和党人的白人州长里克•斯奈德(Rick Snyder)宣布更容易让人接受。

Detroit, a predominately black city, has long had a tense relationship with the state legislature, and also the predominately white, and wealthier, suburbs surrounding it.

底特律是一个以黑人为主的城市，长期与州立法机构关系紧张，也与该市郊外以白人为主的较为富裕的社区关系紧张。

“The racial hostility is intense and palpable. It is really hard to underestimate,” said Tom Sugrue, history professor at the University of Pennsylvania.

宾夕法尼亚大学(University of Pennsylvania)的历史学教授汤姆•萨格鲁(Tom Sugrue)表示：“种族对立问题非常严重，而且显而易见。真的很难低估这种对立问题。”

Few leaders expect that Mr Orr can complete the bankruptcy in his ambitious timeframe of 15 months, as he will at the very least have to overcome multiple legal challenges from creditors.

几乎没有领导人预计奥尔能够在其雄心勃勃的15个月时间框架内完成底特律的破产工作，因为他至少得克服债权人提出的多个法律挑战。

He also faces tough negotiations with public sector unions – the city has 40 to 50 of them – whose members have the same fears as Mr McLeod: that their once generous retirement benefits will be decimated.

他还面临与公共部门工会的艰难谈判——底特律有40至50个这样的工会，其成员有着与麦克劳德同样的担忧：曾经慷慨的退休福利将会大幅缩水。

Mr Orr believes that the initial estimate of $3.5bn in pension fund liabilities included in the bankruptcy filing may be understated because of overly optimistic assumptions and questionable investments.

奥尔相信，由于过分乐观的假设和有问题的投资，破产申请中最初估计的35亿美元养老金债务可能有些低估。

The unions dispute Mr Orr’s sums, saying they have been deliberately calculated to overestimate the shortfall and force their funds to merge with the state’s own pension system. For the likes of Mr McLeod, the implications are potentially devastating.

工会对奥尔估算的数字表示异议，认为他故意计算出这么高的债务来夸大资金缺口，迫使它们的基金与密歇根州的养老金体系合并。对麦克劳德之类的人来说，潜在影响可能是毁灭性的。

Mr Mcleod was looking forward to retirement in three years after a quarter-century’s employment, with a $30,000 annual pension and health benefits. Now he faces a sharply lower pension and the loss of his medical insurance.

麦克劳德本来希望在三年后达到25年的工龄之后退休，届时每年获得3万美元的养老金和医疗保险。但现在他的养老金可能大幅缩水，也不再有医疗保险。

The firefighters have been struggling for years with poor equipment and hiring freezes, with the slow drain on resources cutting their numbers in half. The average age of a Detroit firefighter is over 40.

由于设备破旧和招聘冻结，消防队员多年来一直处于苦苦挣扎的境地，而且随着资源的逐步消耗，消防队员的人数减少了一半。底特律消防队员的平均年龄超过40岁。

The intersection on which Mr McLeod had posted himself this week was much like the city’s popular image, flanked on two corners by vast vacant lots overgrown with grass, and pockmarked by abandoned buildings and boarded-up bars.

麦克劳德站立的那个十字路口很像这座城市的流行形象：两个角落是杂草丛生的巨大空地，中间可见废弃的建筑物和酒吧。

But in the past decade, another Detroit has been taking shape, as entrepreneurs bring investment back into the city centre. For them, the bankruptcy means little, except a possible delay in their projects.

但在过去10年里，随着企业家重新投资于市中心，另一个底特律正在成型。对他们来说，市政府的破产没有什么意义，除了自己的项目可能被拖延以外。

“It will place Detroit in the long term in a better position,” said Sue Mosey, a native of Detroit who has worked with the private sector to revitalise the midtown area. “The state would have had to have intervened anyway. The city does not have the resources to climb out of this itself.”

底特律本地人苏•莫西(Sue Mosey)表示：“从长期来看，这将让底特律处于更有利的地位。密歇根州本来也总得出手干预。底特律没有独自摆脱这种局面的资源。”莫西与私人部门合作，致力于重振底特律中城。

On Monday, one of Ms Mosey’s business partners, Richard Baron, a St Louis developer, announced a new $60m riverside apartment and retail development for Detroit.

莫西的一位合伙人、圣路易斯开发商理查德•巴伦(Richard Baron)最近宣布，在底特律新投资6000万美元建设河边公寓和零售区。

Detroit has tens of thousands of abandoned homes, but a shortage of livable ones, he says. It helped that the city gave Mr Baron the land, which had been sitting vacant for 20 years, for free for the riverside project, but he is building into a mini-boom.

巴伦表示，底特律拥有成千上万套废弃住房，但缺乏可居住的房子。利好因素是，市政府让巴伦免费获得了在河边开发项目的地块，这个地块已经闲置了20年。他正在掀起一个小小的开发热潮。

But a mini-boom will not be enough to rescue the whole city, even if Mr Orr can restructure Detroit’s debts.

但小小的热潮不足以挽救整个城市，即便奥尔能够重组底特律的债务。

Most of greater Detroit, a huge sprawling area, is untouched by the downtown rejuvenation.

在庞大的大底特律地区，大部分地区没有受到市中心复兴的影响。