Cleveland has the resilient, no-nonsense attitude of any hard-working, Upper Midwest city. It's rock and roll, football and beer, and polka and kielbasa. And although it hasn't blinked as some of the elements of its 1990s renaissance have faded a bit, the long-term trend is still toward improvement. While some efforts have failed, new restaurants and nightspots have joined old favorites to give the city an impressive variety of entertainment options and a cultural diversity that might come as a surprise to first-time visitors. Whatever the future holds, you can be sure that Cleveland will continue to change—for the better—defying expectations along the way.