Detroit is a place on the move. Largely overlooked by negative media coverage , the reactivation of a great American city's urban core is well underway. As of 2015, there were 136,401 employees and 35,037 people residing in the 7.2 square mile Greater Downtown Detroit area. In addition, 1,400 new multifamily units are expected to come on line in 2016. Campus Martius Park and Eastern Market are as popular as ever and a streetcar project promises to stimulate additional economic opportunity. Ultimately, words can't describe the turnaround underway in the city's core. Here's a photographic look at the Motor City's rebirth.

Downtown Detroit

22. The 10-story Detroit Fox Theatre and office building is one of five spectacular Fox Theatres built in the late 1920s by film pioneer William Fox. (The others were the Fox Theatres in Brooklyn, Atlanta, St. Louis, and San Francisco). The Fox was the first movie theater in the world to be constructed with built-in equipment for sound films. It opened on September 21, 1928 and remained Detroit’s premier movie destination for decades, before becoming an aging venue by the 1970s. In 1988 the theater was acquired by new owners, Mike and Marian Ilitch, who fully restored the Fox at a cost of $12 million. Their company, Ilitch Holdings, Inc., is headquartered in the Fox Theater Office Building. Today, it’s Detroit’s top venue for Broadway shows. The downtown area near Grand Circus Park which encompasses Fox Theatre is sometimes referred to as Foxtown after the theater.

23. Comerica Park is a $300-million open-air downtown ballpark that serves as the home of the Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball. It replaced historic Tiger Stadium in 2000. It was joined by Ford Field, home to the NFL’s Detroit Lions, in 2002. Together, they anchor the northern edge of downtown Detroit and have become major contributors to stimulating foot traffic throughout the city’s core.

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25. Known as “Detroit’s Main Street,” Woodard Avenue runs from downtown Detroit northwesterly to Pontiac, MI. The street is one of the five principal avenues in the city, which also include Michigan, Grand River, Gratiot and Jefferson avenues. In downtown, it directly ties Hart Plaza/Detroit International Riverwalk, Campus Martius Park, Merchant’s Row, Grand Circus Park, and Comerica Park together.

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27. Somerset Collection is an 180-store upsacle mall in suburban Detroit, owned by the Forbes Company, that is among the most profitable shopping centers in the country. In 2011, Forbes debuted pop-up mini-shops called Somerset CityLoft in buildings lining Woodward. Intended to honor the city’s history, CityLoft introduces Somerset’s retailers to a new market and audience during the summer and Christmas seasons. Retailers that have participated include Coach, Eddie Bauer, Gap, Gucci, Lilly Pulitzer, Pottery Barn, Ralph Lauren, Saks Fifth Avenue and Williams-Sonoma. In May 2016, Nike Inc. opened a 22,000-square foot permanent store in the space where CityLoft popped up before moving to the nearby First National Building.

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The original Campus Martius Park was created in 1805 and covered several acres and was a major gathering area for citizens. The park was lost in the 1900s as the city’s downtown was reconfigured to accommodate increased vehicular traffic. Due to a lack of a true park space in the heart of downtown, a new 1.2-acre Campus Martius Park was created in the median of Woodard Avenue in 2004. It features two performance stages, sculptures, public spaces, a seasonal ice skating rink, and cafe. Today, Campus Martius Park is the home of the annual Motown Winter Blast, an event that has drawn more than 450,000 people to the downtown area every year.

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34. Cadillac Square Park was the site of the Detroit Farmer’s Market between 1841 and 1891. In the 1960s, the space was occupied by a bus transfer station. In 2001, the space was re-established as a linear park.

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36. Bisected by Woodward Avenue, Grand Circus Park connects Foxtown with downtown’s financial district. A part of Augustus Woodward’s plan to rebuild the city in 1805, the park dates back to 1850. Since 2012, foundations, nearby businesses and downtown consortiums like the Downtown Detroit Partnership have helped pour more than $100,000 a year into the 5-acre park to repair fountains, install new sidewalks and umbrella benches.