Dearborn, Michigan. Its history is built on the industrial innovation of Henry Ford I. We see that influence as Ford’s world headquarters towers over the city, as we take a tour through a 21st-century truck manufacturing plant and visit a living history museum.

Other, more recent, historical forces are at work here, too, particularly a substantial Middle Eastern community, both newcomers and families that have lived in southeast Michigan for generations. Experience it along avenues of tidy shops, in restaurants redolent with the smell of garlic and spices and at an annual festival swirling with colors and bewitching music.

In addition to a regional shopping center, Dearborn has not one but two traditional downtown districts, alive with shops, restaurants, and nightclubs. Redevelopment is bringing full time residents into the business districts, offering urban townhouses only a few steps away from coffee shops and outdoor plazas.