Two blocks north of Fenway Park is Kenmore Square, where you'll find fast-food joints, record stores, and an enormous sign advertising Citgo gasoline. The red, white, and blue neon sign from 1965 is so thoroughly identified with the area that historic preservationists fought, successfully, to save it -- proof that Bostonians are an open-minded lot who don't insist that their landmarks be identified with the American Revolution. The old Kenmore Square punk clubs have recently given way to a block-long development of chain stores and pricey restaurants, as well as brick sidewalks, gaslight-style street lamps, and tree plantings. The Hotel Commonwealth, a six-story luxury European-style hotel, sits smack in the middle of Kenmore Square.

In the shadow of Fenway Park between Brookline and Ipswich is Lansdowne Street, a nightlife magnet for the young and trendy who have their pick of can't-hear-yourself-think dance clubs such as Avalon and Axis. The urban campus of Boston University begins farther west on Commonwealth Avenue, in blocks thick with dorms, shops, and restaurants.

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