and its attempt to become a tourist destination, is really interesting. I used to live in the area and concur that the city (at least the city core) has changed a ton and has been revitalized over the last ~15 years or so. It’s actually a pretty cool town now. But it’ll probably take a long time for its reputation to catch up to reality.

“When the hip travel magazine Afar selected the most exciting places to visit this year, the list was packed with ‘awe-inspiring, joy-inducing’ spots like Paris, Rome, Fiji, Bhutan, Detroit and Machu Picchu.

“Wait.

“Detroit?…

“The city’s homicide count last year was the lowest since the 1960s, and crime rates have fallen significantly…Still, three of four Americans believe Detroit is unsafe.

“America’s most beleaguered city is remaking itself as ‘America’s most unlikely real-estate boomtown’…

“Towers are rising. Shops are opening. Beautiful old buildings are being converted into apartments. The dilapidated train station is being redeveloped as an ‘epicenter of innovation.’ Areas that were great places to get your car stolen have become Molinari’s favorite places to get brunch. And downtown neighborhoods that Detroit residents once avoided now have women coming from the suburbs for Botox.

“‘Nothing speaks about the progress as much as skyscrapers, cranes and plastic surgeons,” Molinari says.’”