Girl in the D: Detroit gets ready for some football

From California to New York and everywhere in between, people all over the country are buzzing about Super Bowl XL, football's big game that's now just 9 days away.

Washington Boulevard’s recent streetscape projects brought back the wide boulevard and German-style lamp posts that were part of the area's original design plan.

While the match-up between the Steelers and Seahawks has garnered its fair share of attention, the teams and players about to partake in the NFL's annual romp aren't the only subjects on tap at watercoolers and newsrooms across the nation; Detroit, the early-twentieth century powerhouse that for decades has struggled to lift itself up after a devastating fall from grace has also found its way into pre-SBXL discussions.

Borders opened up its first store in Downtown Detroit in 2004

The Motor City, compared to a Post-War battleground just a few years ago, is generating new headlines - this time for its impressive clean-up and team work efforts that have turned the city from drab to fab.

The metamorphosis of the city's downtown area within the last five years has been amazing. Dozens of new businesses, restaurants, housing units and facade improvements have been completed, and many more are currently underway or in the planning stages.

Downtown Detroit has welcomed several new restaurants in the past two years, including Vincente's, pictured above, which specializes in cuban cuisine.

Curious about all the new development? Want to see it in person?

Lucky for you, Detroit Synergy and Inside Detroit offer the opportunity to do just that this evening through their collaborative initiative, the Inside Detroit Orientation.

The night kicks off with dinner at Harmonie Park's Coaches Corner at 6 pm, and will be followed by free guided tours in and around several revamped downtown districts, including Harmonie Park, Campus Martius, the Art Deco office district and Woodward's emerging loft district.

Tours start at 7 pm and participants are encouraged to have dinner (at their own expense) at Coaches Corner prior to embarking on the tours. For more information, please click here.