Detroit

Description: Detroit is the largest city in Michigan. It is located directly on the Canadian border on the Detroit River between Lake St. Clair and Lake Erie. With 4.3 million inhabitants, Detroit is the second largest metropolitan region in the Midwest after Chicago. As a major cultural center, Detroit is known for its contributions to music, art, architecture and design, as well as its historic automotive history. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the city developed into a major industrial center around the Great Lakes. With the rise of the automotive industry at the beginning of the 20th century, the city's population increased significantly by 1920. In 2013, Detroit became the largest city in the USA to file for bankruptcy. In September 2014, however, the city regained control of its finances under newly elected mayor Mike Duggan. In 2015, Detroit was named a “City of Design” by UNESCO, the first and only city in the USA to receive this accolade. In the following years, efforts were made to attract investment and Detroit, like other former industrial cities that have successfully mastered economic structural change, succeeded in bringing about a new economic boom. Detroit is an increasingly popular tourist destination with around 16 million visitors a year.

Our rating: We had a little respect before visiting the city. Although we were able to read a lot of positive things during our research, the rather negative image of the city remained in the back of our minds. Once we were there, we were presented with a very, very positive picture. We really liked the city. Much has been renovated and restored, and everywhere we went we met extremely friendly and nice people. The atmosphere in the city was chilled and pleasant. We felt very comfortable and will definitely be back.