Two years after Detroit's emergence from bankruptcy, a number of indicators suggest the city is becoming more economically stable and attractive to potential investors, a report from the Kresge Foundation finds.

Based on a survey of more than three hundred national business leaders, the report, The Detroit Reinvestment Index: A Kresge Foundation Measure of Detroit's Progress (43 pages, PDF), found that 74 percent of respondents see Detroit as a city that is recovering economically, while 71 percent view it as a city with potential. According to the index, 71 percent of respondents consider the city a good place to invest; 84 percent said they were confident that Detroit can become a great city again; and 66 percent said they had developed a more favorable view of Detroit recently based on what they've seen, read, or heard.

The survey also found that business leaders ranked a turnaround of the auto industry (23 percent), the implementation of innovative approaches (22 percent) to community development, and the emergence of new industries (21 percent) as the most important elements of Detroit's recovery. In addition, the city was seen to embody racial, ethnic, and cultural diversity (74 percent), a rich cultural history (74 percent), and an affordable cost of living (70 percent). Eleven percent of respondents said the most important area in which Detroit needs to improve is crime.

When asked more broadly about attributes of cities that offer good business opportunities, survey respondents cited good public transportation (84 percent), a low crime rate (80 percent), and racial, ethnic, and cultural diversity (77 percent), while the top three economic and public-sector attributes mentioned were an effective local government (86 percent), a clean municipal balance sheet (85 percent), and low taxes (81 percent).