Industry is gone, so Great Cities struggle with degraded environs, surplus infrastructure and vulnerable people. Manufacturing corridors transformed into ecology trails promote fitness and civic purpose, and draw tourists:
* Boston Harborwalk - 28 miles
* Cincinnati Mill Creek Greenway - 5 miles
* Chicago Lakefront (pictured) - 28 miles
* Detroit Dequindre Cut on a rail line - 1.5 miles
* Manhattan Hudson River Parks - 5 miles
* Milwaukee Hank Aaron Trail by the Menominee River - 12 miles
* Philadelphia Schuylkill River Trail - 10 miles
* Pittsburgh Three Rivers Heritage Trail - 24 miles
* St Louis North Riverfront Trail by the Mississippi River - 11 miles
1. VISIT ONE TODAY!
These cities increasingly draw tourists interested in world class cultural institutions of the 19th Century City Beautiful Era, in the diversity of ethnic neighborhoods, and in the amount of American history they display.
britannica.com on City Beautiful movement in urban planning:
American heritage sites in each city:
2. ENJOY THEIR CULTURE
ethnic diversity in the old cities, per U.S. Census interactive map: