After many months of private mediation sessions, Detroit’s exit plan was more a deal than a court-imposed solution, largely agreed to by the major groups involved, including the city’s retired workers and financial creditors. That significantly quieted the court fight and limited the possibility of years of appeals.

The ruling marks an end to one chapter for Detroit, which, when the case began, had accumulated roughly $18 billion of debt and was wrestling with annual budget deficits, miserable city services and a nonstop exodus of residents and investment dollars. The exit plan sets aside $1.7 billion over a decade to remove blighted buildings, to buy fire trucks and ambulances, and to upgrade the city’s antiquated computer systems.

“Getting this resolved is a huge issue in terms of creating a great environment for the city, and not just the city but for the state, to all rally on focusing on growing Detroit,” said Gov. Rick Snyder of Michigan, who approved the city’s bankruptcy filing on July 18, 2013. “It really takes care of the city government issue and gets a normal context to be a more traditional government structure again.”

Image Judge Steven W. Rhodes Credit John Meiu/Detroit Legal News, via Associated Press

The plan requires strict oversight of the city’s finances in the years ahead by a commission that includes representatives of the state.

Detroit’s price tag for lawyers, experts and other costs of the bankruptcy proceedings was $150 million. But the city’s departure from bankruptcy does not mean an end to its challenges. While the court plan permits the city to free up additional money to make desperately needed improvements, it does not ensure that the city will not fall into financial distress once more, or that it will attract businesses that create jobs, or that it can lure enough new residents to end a decades-long population decline.