City workers and politicians and budget analysts in Detroit know the numbers behind the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history.

The city owes $20 billion in long term debt, to just about 100,000 different creditors.

But the residents of Detroit — the people living the impacts of the bankruptcy — have their own thoughts.

Charlie LeDuff is a reporter who grew up in Detroit. He told Marketplace Host Kai Ryssdal that the mood isn’t so great in his hometown city.

“If you’re a retiree from the municipality, you’re a cop, a fireman, anybody earning a pension now, you’re screwed,” LeDuff says. And even though Detroit’s restoration could take years, LeDuff hasn’t given up all hope. “If you could say it poetically, Detroit is a town built by the little man. Where is his future? That’s the true question. “

LeDuff says that even though the city may face some tough times, he’ll stick it out in the city he grew up in.