They really are taking the midnight train going anywhere. Detroit has been touted by Travel + Leisure as a top destination for 2025 — no doubt raising eyebrows on a list that also plugged other non-traditional tourism spots like Sacramento and Uzbekistan. “It really is a magical time in Detroit right now, and we hope people will come to check it out for themselves,” Motor City Mayor Mike Duggan told an editor for the glossy mag.
And exactly what is it that sets Motown — which in 2023 reportedly gained population for the first time since the 1950s, when the automotive capital went into decline — apart from many other places the well-traveled experts might have chosen instead? Architecture and steady redevelopment of the long-sagging central core were cited as reasons to check out the brawling border town, which editors said now “has its swagger back.” One highlight mentioned was the revitalization of Michigan Central Station — a classic train hub designed by the architects of NYC’s Grand Central Terminal that shuttered decades ago and became one of the country’s most impressive ruins. More recently, Ford kicked in a healthy $950 million to convert the vandalized vacant property into a massive tech campus — a boost for the revamping Corktown section.
How could seeing a pharaoh’s tomb compete with that? Not to be left out, General Motors is building a new headquarters on the long fallow site of the old Hudson’s department store on Woodward Avenue, near .
