Downtown Raleigh has definitely changed for the better even if, like a lot of similar cities, the gentrified core with its craft cocktails and trendy restaurants is fairly small.

I'd also say NYC--for all the complaints about Disneyfication. As a visitor, I'd much rather have today's 42nd Street, Lower East Side, Chelsea, etc. than I would the 1980s version. People have certainly been priced out but, then, it's not like Manhattan was cheap even in the 80s.