Those of you who tune into The Drew Carey Show have already heard the news: Cleveland rocks! Sprawling for 50 miles along the shores of Lake Erie, this industrial hub of the heartland has reinvented itself as a city for the new millennium. Once a microcosm of American industrial revolution--with steel mills, oil refineries, and auto and electronics plants as far as the eye could see--the city that served as the butt of many a joke has left behind its gritty, grimy past to become a model of urban reengineering.

Cleveland's rebirth is the result of luck, vision, and good old American-style fortitude. The city had a lot going for it from the start: George Washington himself said that a great city would stand in the blessed spot where the Cuyahoga River met Lake Erie. Industrial success infused money into the city early on, as its steel and oil barons drew upon their vast fortunes to build a monumental downtown and a rich cultural legacy that includes the well-regarded Cleveland Museum of Art, Case Western Reserve University, and the Cleveland Orchestra, America's most recorded symphony (and recently touted as its best by The New Yorker magazine). It was a solid foundation for the post-industrial urban vision, which took giant steps forward with the opening of Jacobs Field, the first of the nation's new wave of wonderfully retro-modern major league ballparks, at the gateway to downtown in 1994. A year later came I. M. Pei's splendid Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, which mirrors Pei's own grand Louvre expansion with its imposing yet playful pyramid-shaped design.

Despite its forward-thinking vitality, Cleveland's industrial foundation is very much in evidence. But the heavy industry has moved beyond the city limits; today, downtown's steel warehouses and tool-and-die factories house trendy clubs and restaurants, and its many bridges lead to gentrified neighborhoods fueled by the optimism that comes with a measure of achievement. The city is still a work in progress, and plenty of areas are still rough around the edges. The message couldn't be clearer, however: Cleveland is striving for global recognition, and the droves of American and international visitors flocking to the reenergized city indicate that success is in the air.