One a failure with similar symptoms to yours, but our smelly brown liquid came to the surface in the flower bed at the front of the house.

Civil Unrest is a symptom of a failing government, because going back in history looking at failing governments Civil Unrest was ALWAYS in the mix because the "Gestalt Principle" no longer applies and the whole is no longer greater than the sum of its parts.

One does not cause the other, they are ALL symptoms of a Dynamic Climate.

Two hollow feeding tubes are inserted into your skin- one injects its saliva while the other drinks your blood- all while you are asleep and barely feeling a thing.The Symptoms: Detecting symptoms is often tricky because it may look like a mosquito bite as it too can itch.

Then I would take a step back and reassess where things went wrong ... being broke is a symptom, not the disease IMO ... figure out what the root cause of this bad situation was/is and attack the problem at its root.

Detroit is merely a symptom of that.Nevertheless, if the bottom line is "other places have trouble, too, so investing in Detriot is OK", I'm not sure I buy that.

Unfortunately that does mean excavating the footer, which with old block walls can be a scary proposition.Unfortunately the interior solutions are ultimately dealing with the symptom not really the problem.

Being broke is a symptom of past choices.  

Having no money is a symptom of a deeper issue. 

Bad credit / no money is a SYMPTOM of larger issues.