You've heard Detroit's riches-to-rags story, from its heady days as the globe's car maker to industrial collapse, mega blight and bankruptcy. But the tide is beginning to turn. Today there's a raw urban energy here unlike anywhere else, attracting artists and entrepreneurs like moths to a flame.
Downtown you can sample a coney (chili-smothered hot dog), catch a Tigers game and meander along the RiverWalk. Greektown bustles with restaurants, bakeries and a casino. Corktown shows Detroit's can-do spirit, with hipster joints slinging burgers, cocktails and pour-over coffee in the shadow of crumbling Michigan Central Station.
Birthplace of the Motown Sound, Detroit is still a live music mecca. In Midtown rock clubs thrash and the Detroit Institute of Arts unfurls one helluva Diego Rivera mural. Eastern Market's halls reverberate with produce and flower vendors' shouts. Next door in Dearborn, the Henry Ford Museum offers an unparalleled spread of vintage vehicles, like the bus on which Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat. So ignore the naysayers. Detroit rocks its gritty charm.