Sometimes called America's Champs-Élysées, the strip of Wilshire Boulevard between La Brea and Fairfax avenues was vacant land in the 1920s, when a developer bought the parcel to build a shopping and business district that catered to automobile traffic. Nobody thought the venture could be successful, but the auto age was just emerging, and the strip became known as Miracle Mile. It was the world's first linear Downtown, with building designs incorporating wide store windows to attract attention from passing cars. The area went into a decline in the 1950s and '60s, when high-rises began to break up its cohesiveness, but it's now enjoying a comeback as Los Angeles's art deco architecture has come to be appreciated, preserved, and restored. The exemplary architecture includes the El Rey Theater (5515 Wilshire Blvd., Miracle Mile. 323/936-6400), now a regular concert hall.