I lived in Detroit in the 1980s, and I’ll admit I liked the city. At the time, nobody called it “the Comeback City.” It was “Crime City, USA,” but it had assets that made the place livable, which included verdant Belle Isle.

That ’80s image began to change when, surprisingly, people took those assets and put them to better use. Remember, Detroit had this marvelous riverfront that, for the most part, had gone undeveloped. It had neighborhoods that once thrived but had been allowed to atrophy. It had politicians who made excuses about what couldn’t be done, leading to a middle-class exodus.

Yes, that was Detroit in the latter part of  last century. No, it’s not the Detroit of the 2000s. That Detroit has had transformational investments in its downtown and launched a cultural revitalization that’s turned downtown around.

In 2025, Detroit has officially risen for the trash heap, and it has a future that should be the envy of any Rust Belt City. In my mind, I’m thinking here of Cleveland, because it surely needs to have Detroit on its mind.

I can’t think of a metropolis — either in the U.S. or abroad — that hasn’t made downtown its hub. In Detroit, everything that matters is either downtown or on the edge of it. The casinos are there; the upscale restaurants are there; the pricy condos are there; a major university is there; museums are there; and, of course, every sports franchise is either downtown or in the shadow of downtown.

More than all these brick-and-mortar structures, downtown has something more important: folks who want to spend time there. People want to eat there; they want to go to sporting events there; they want to walk the riverfront; they want to dance their nights away in places where fun is at the center of it all.

Pulling a city from urban dystopia ain’t a task for the feckless. It takes bold leadership; it takes entrepreneurs who are unafraid to invest in a renaissance; it takes men and women, young and old, who see the value of living in a downtown that’s thriving — economically, culturally and intellectually.

I always thought that any city with a riverfront or, in the case of Cleveland, a lakefront had a magnet to draw people. Think about Chicago, San Antonio and New York City and how they prosper because of their smart use of a waterfront. Likewise, international cities like Amsterdam, Paris, London, Toronto, Copenhagen, Tokyo, Bangkok, Cape Town and … have done so as well.

I think you see my point.

Turning a big city into something special, into a destination, into a hub of activity requires change and people who don’t run away from change. They plant their flag in the heart of it and dare anybody to pull it out of the ground.

I hope the political and business leaders in Cleveland will rethink their plans to revive the city. Cleveland has assets they can tap, which includes an underdeveloped lakefront and a major theater district.

What it lacks, however, is a vision. It’s not coming from Mayor Justin Bibb; it’s not coming from lawmakers in Columbus or the governor. They can’t dream beyond tomorrow, and that’s not a dream that’ll take this city somewhere.

I read an article that referred to Detroit as “one of America’s most compelling city break destinations.” I agree. It’s not the Detroit that I recall from last century, although I liked that Detroit.

I have a hunch, however, I’d like this one better; it’s proved you can comeback from the dead when you find leaders who are willing to breathe “cool” back into you.