When I was growing up Eskisehir (located in Central Western Turkey or Turkiye as it is called now in English) was a very introvert and conservative city. It's endowed with the Porsuk river, a natural attraction on its own, to otherwise a not very green city. The population was low and people were acquainted with each other either through kinship, ethnic relationship, or by living in the same neighborhood for many years. The locals were divided in three groups mainly: those who were the old residents of Eskisehir, the Balkan immigrants, and the Tartars from Asia, Crimea, and Romania. They lived in their separate quarters. The old families lived in the elevated part of the city called Odunpazari because it was safer against the floods which happened frequently in those days, before a dam was built to control the water level of the river. The Balkan immigrants lived in Gocmen Mahallesi, which when translated means The Immigrant Quarter.  It was the same for the Tartars; they lived in the Tartar Quarter. The distinction was not radical in terms of racism; there were always intermarriages and other social connections between these groups but people preferred living in their own neighborhoods. It’s not the same anymore at all, districts and quarters have blended with each other, the names of the quarters are forgotten, and it has become a very different city than it was half a century ago.

The first wave of change came with the establishment of higher education institutions. A small and timid three year education college had the courage to become the city's first university subsequently calling itself the Anadolu University of Eskisehir. Two others followed, bringing the total number of universities to three. An influx of students who came from all over Turkey to attend these universities brought a new blood by contributing to its economy and giving the city a youthful face. The students rented homes, ate at restaurants, did their shopping at local shops, and they also wanted entertainment. Indoor and outdoor cafes gradually started emerging all over the city so much so that in present day cafes of every type, from those with a few tables to the bigger sports bars, dot the streets with their colorful existence.

Eskisehir sits on a railroad system built in 1892, more than a century ago when Turkey was still the Ottoman Empire. In 1903 the very ambitous Berlin-Bagdad railway construction began to connect Berlin to a port in the Persian Gulf. It was passing through Eskisehir and helped the already exisiting rails to be upgraded. The addition of fast trains made Eskisehir's central station a railroad hub joining the city to the big cities like Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, and Konya. 

Another indisputable factor in its growth was the industrial investments that went into building factories and providing employment opportunities for thousands of people. Infrastructure developments included a public transportation system with electric trolleys reaching to the most busy and needed locations.

What was probably an unexpected turn of good fortune was tourism. As the economy and the population grew the Municipality of Eskisehir focused on embellishments and began by renovating the old mansions and homes in the Odunpazari district. More came with statues decorating the main roads, new theme parks opened, swimming pools, children’s parks, a zoo, a science park, a modern art museum, all added up to attract people from other cities to come and visit Eskisehir. On weekends it’s a challenge to find a free cab or a free seat in a local eatery serving local food.

One of major achievements of the city has been to be crime-free with a population close to a million, which is a very valuable attribute for modern-day urban life. Today the transformation of a sleepy town to a vibrant city looks like nothing other than a leap of faith taken by the modest inhabitants of Eskisehir.