Just before the city of Detroit filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection on July 18, Whole Foods opened a relatively low-priced version of their store in Midtown Detroit, the area around Wayne State University. Midtown is Detroit’s neighborhood with fixies and really small dogs, so it’s only natural that, like Williamsburg, Silver Lake, San Francisco's Mission district, and their ilk, despite Midtown’s relative affluence, the poor are just a few blocks away. Having a Whole Foods there is a “game changer,” according to Mayor Dave Bing, and “Detroit’s 112th grocery store,” according to those who regularly buy food there.
This is VICE, so grain of salt and whatnot, and it's not the best-written or thought out article, but they do have a good point. Massive amounts of obvious things aren't being taken care of, like developing land, or creating incentive for developing land, while a rather unnecessary upper-middle to wealthy class store is created. I'd say it's too early to call it gentrification, but I think we all know that's eventually what's going to happen. It's prime for that scene creation, and Michigan does have a large swath of young people to popularize it.