“Cities are Fun”

As Americans prepared to enjoy the final days of summer 1981, they were greeted with a surprising message on the 24 August cover of TIME magazine: “Cities Are Fun.” The article celebrated the new pride and vitality which had come to US cities, as symbolized by the transformation of Baltimore's “Inner Harbor” from a 250-acre wasteland of disused wharves, markets, warehouses and railroad yards into a retail/entertainment wonderland full of “jams and jollity” ( Demarest 1981). Fourteen years after the urban riots had devastated inner-city neighborhoods in Cleveland, Detroit, Los Angeles and other major cities, downtown appeared to be making a comeback.