More than a decade has passed since my last visit to downtown Detroit. I was meeting an architect in an Art Deco high-rise that had few-if any-other tenants. His office's setback terrace offered panoramic views of the surrounding blight. Equally cinematic, but on a discomfortingly intimate scale, was the walk to and from my rental car, through a post-apocalyptic gauntlet of abandoned and graffitied storefronts, bedraggled figures of indeterminate age and gender, and even-hand over heart-a fire in an oil drum. Last month I returned to find the central business district transformed. Professionals and tourists were walking the streets well into the evening, past busy restaurants and shops. A streetcar line is in the works for the main drag, Woodward Avenue. Scaffolding and "Coming Soon" banners appear on seemingly every block, attesting to dramatically dropping vacancy rates. Without a doubt, downtown Detroit is making a comeback.
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