60 Best Sights in USA

In the early 1900s, 4th Street, today's Fabric Row, was teeming with pushcarts selling calico, notions, and trimming. It was known as "der Ferder," or "the Fourth" in Yiddish. Today, several century-old fabric stores still stand, like stalwart Fleishman Fabrics and Supplies, but many of the storefronts are home to locals selling wares from European-label shoes to fair-trade coffee.

A curved, one-block lane lined with small row houses, Gay Street was probably named after an early landowner and definitely had nothing to do with gay rights. In the 1930s, this tiny thoroughfare and nearby Christopher Street became famous nationwide after Ruth McKenney began to publish somewhat zany autobiographical stories based on what happened when she and her sister moved to No. 14 from Ohio. The stories, first published in the New Yorker, birthed many adaptations, including the 1953 Broadway musical Wonderful Town and the 1942 and 1955 movies My Sister Eileen.

Originally called Calle de la Fundación, Grant Avenue is the oldest street in the city, but it's got plenty of young blood. Dusty bars such as The Saloon mix with independent boutiques, odd curio shops, and curated gourmet stores. While the street runs from Union Square through Chinatown, North Beach, and beyond, the fun stuff in this neighborhood is jammed into the four blocks from Columbus Avenue north to Filbert Street.

On October 6, 1967, hippies took over the intersection of Haight and Ashbury streets to proclaim the "Death of Hip." If they thought hip was dead then, they'd find absolute confirmation of it today—the only tie-dye in sight on the famed corner is a Ben & Jerry's storefront.

This is the North End's main thoroughfare, along with the smaller and narrower Salem Street. It was named for the ruling dynasty of 18th- and 19th-century England; the label was retained after the Revolution, despite a flurry of patriotic renaming (King Street became State Street, for example). Hanover's business center is thick with restaurants, pastry shops, and cafés, all celebrating the cuisine of the Old Country and most offering valet parking to combat the lack of parking. Hanover is one of Boston's oldest public roads, once the site of the residences of the Rev. Cotton Mather and the Colonial-era patriot Dr. Joseph Warren, as well as a small dry-goods store run by Eben D. Jordan—who went on to launch the now-defunct Jordan Marsh department stores.

The mere mention of this intersection inspires images of a street corner bustling with movie stars, hopefuls, and moguls arriving on foot or in a Duesenberg or a Rolls-Royce. In the old days this was the hub of the radio and movie industry: film stars like Gable and Garbo hustled in and out of their agents' office buildings (some now converted to luxury condos) at these fabled cross streets. Even the B Line Metro station here keeps up the Hollywood theme, with a Wizard of Oz–style yellow brick road and movie-themed artworks in tile on permanent display. Sights visible from this intersection include the Capitol Records Building, the Avalon Hollywood nightclub, Pantages Theater, and the W Hollywood Hotel.

Buildings here have been restored to their original 1920s and '30s vintage plantation styles. Although most shopping is along Kamehameha Avenue two blocks below, the ambience on Keawe Street offers a nostalgic sampling of Hilo as it might have been decades ago.

Four down-and-out prospectors designated this spot their "last chance" after they'd followed played-out gold strikes across the West. Their perseverance paid off when they discovered the first of several gold deposits here, which propelled Helena to the ranks of Montana's leading gold producers. Many of the mansions and businesses that resulted from the discovery of gold still stand on this historic route, also known as Main Street.

Known as Morton Street in the raffish Barbary Coast era, this former red-light district reported at least one murder a week during the late 19th century, though things cooled down after the 1906 fire. These days Maiden Lane is a chic, designer-boutique-lined pedestrian mall. Wrought-iron gates close the street to traffic most days between 11 and 5, when the lane becomes an alfresco hot spot dotted with umbrella-shaded tables. It's also popular with photographers and Instagrammers for its quaint-chic aesthetic. At  140 Maiden Lane is the only Frank Lloyd Wright building in San Francisco, fronted by a large brick archway. The curving ramp and skylights of the interior, which houses exclusive Italian menswear boutique Isaia, are said to have been his model for the Guggenheim Museum in New York.

This thoroughfare is a great spot for star sightings or for strolling among the laid-back California crowd. Streets are lined with old-fashioned, colorful, and cozy boutiques that stock everything from high-end garments to bohemian favorites. There's also a standard crop of shopping mall outposts plus a good selection of casual restaurants and cafés. If you're in town on the last Saturday of the month, check out the sidewalk sale.

Majestic royal palms, some planted by Thomas Edison, line one of the city's most scenic streets and are the root of its "City of Palms" moniker. The boulevard runs from downtown to Summerlin Road, which takes you to the barrier islands.

Melrose Avenue is a tale of two streets. West of Fairfax Avenue is vibrant with boutique shops, international restaurants, and avant-garde galleries. East of Fairfax is more eclectic with street art and murals, sneaker stores, and thrift and vintage shops. The open-air Melrose Trading Post Artisan Market is every Sunday at Fairfax High School starting at 10 am. There are rows of antiques, vintage clothing, art, furniture, and collectibles.

Mt. Vernon Street runs from the flat of the Hill, past Louisburg Square, and all the way up to the Massachusetts State House. Along with Chestnut Street, it has some of Beacon Hill's most distinguished addresses, but Mt. Vernon is the grander of the two, with houses set back farther and rising taller. Henry James once wrote that Mt. Vernon Street was "the only respectable street in America," and he must have known, as he lived with his brother William at No. 131 in the 1860s. James was just one of many literary luminaries who resided here, including Julia Ward Howe, who composed "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" and lived at No. 32, and the poet Robert Frost, who lived at No. 88.

Eight-block-long Newbury Street has been compared to New York's 5th Avenue, and certainly this is the city's poshest shopping area, with branches of Chanel, Tiffany & Co., Valentino, Max Mara, Longchamp, and other top names in fashion. But here the pricey boutiques are more intimate than grand, and people live above the trendy restaurants and ubiquitous hair salons, giving the place a neighborhood feel. Toward the Massachusetts Avenue end, cafés proliferate and the stores get funkier, ending with Newbury Comics and Urban Outfitters.

Both Chinatown's main mauka–makai drag and Bethel Street, which runs parallel, are lined with art galleries, restaurants, tattoo parlors, bars and pubs, an antiques auctioneer, dress shops, one small theater/exhibition space (The ARTS at Marks Garage), and one historic stage (the Hawaii Theatre). You can also take in the unique early 1900s architecture of the buildings.

The work of local artists is displayed in the Spanish-style shopping arcade along the avenue downtown. On Sunday between 9 and 1, organic and specialty growers sell their produce at the outdoor market behind the arcade.

If you're looking for a good place to start your exploration of the Lower East Side, Orchard Street, from Houston all the way down to Canal Street, is probably the densest conglomeration of restaurants, cafés, boutiques, and art galleries. It's the perfect place to wander, checking out the art, browsing for clothes and knickknacks, stopping for a coffee or a glass of wine, and having a meal. Although no one gallery really stands out—you're best off visiting whatever catches your eye—look out for Perrotin ( 130 Orchard St.) and Krause Gallery ( 149 Orchard St.).

When you've had your fill of the city's beaches and waters, take a stroll in downtown Santa Cruz, especially on Pacific Avenue between Laurel and Water streets. Vintage boutiques and mountain-sports stores, sushi bars, and Mexican restaurants, day spas, and nightclubs keep the main drag and the surrounding streets hopping from midmorning until late evening.

Massive steel Puerto Rican flags proudly straddle the road along this six-block stretch of Division Street in Humboldt Park, marking out the nucleus of Chicago’s large Puerto Rican community. This is the place to be for mofongo and café con leche in easygoing sidewalk cafés. Keep your eyes peeled for murals by street artists and a walk of fame celebrating Puerto Rican luminaries.

This narrow, gated cul-de-sac off West 10th Street between Greenwich and 6th Avenues has 10 diminutive 1848 row houses. Around the corner on 6th Avenue is a similar dead-end street, Milligan Place, with five small houses completed in 1852. The houses in both quiet enclaves were originally built for waiters who worked at 5th Avenue's high-society Brevoort Hotel, long since demolished. Later Patchin Place residents included writers Theodore Dreiser, E. E. Cummings, Jane Bowles, and Djuna Barnes. Milligan Place became popular among playwrights, including Eugene O'Neill.

This ancient and constricted thoroughfare, one of the two main North End streets, cuts through the heart of the neighborhood and runs parallel to and one block west of Hanover. Between Cross and Prince streets, Salem Street contains numerous restaurants and shops. One of the best is Shake the Tree, one of the North End's trendiest boutiques, selling stylish clothing, gifts, and jewelry. The rest of Salem Street is mostly residential, but makes a nice walk to the Copp's Hill Burying Ground.

Santa Monica Boulevard is part of the historic Route 66. As American songwriter Bobby Troup sang, "Get Your Kicks on Route 66," along this lively commercial core of West Hollywood. It's filled with trendy restaurants and cafés, shops and galleries, and LGBTQIA+-friendly bars and clubs. Park your car and walk from Fairfax Avenue to Doheny Drive. The fashionable West Hollywood Design District runs between La Cienega Boulevard and Doheny Drive. 

The buildings on South Franklin Street and neighboring Front Street house curio and crafts shops, snack shops, and a salmon shop. Though some have fallen into disrepair, many reflect the architecture of the 1920s and 1930s; the older structures are located closer to the center of town. When the small Alaskan Hotel opened in 1913, Juneau was home to 30 saloons; the Alaskan gives today's visitors the most authentic glimpse of the town's whiskey-rich history—and, true to that history, is still a bit rough around the edges. Topped by a wood-shingled turret, the 1901 Alaska Steam Laundry Building now houses a toy store and other shops. The Senate Building, another of South Franklin's landmarks, is across the street.

“Where do all the hippies (or "hippest," depending on your source) meet? South Street.” So goes a 1963 song by Philadelphia R&B group the Orlons, helping this west-to-east strip of pavement develop a reputation as a gathering place for counterculture types. In its day, the immediate street was populated by artists and musicians and their left-of-center bars, galleries, and stores. Nowadays, this bohemian energy is far less palpable, but the section between Broad and Front streets still hosts many gems amid duller holdings like chain pharmacies and cell phone stores. Peruse the various antiques and vintage stores, clothing boutiques, bookstores, and record sellers between people-watching. There’s a vast range of culinary options, too, from classic cheesesteak shops (Jim’s and Ishkabibble’s) to Peruvian chicken at Braza’s and vegan-friendly eats at Tattooed Moms.

Steeped in New York City history and shaded by graceful gingko trees, this somewhat-hard-to-find section of Leroy Street has 15 classic Italianate brownstone and brick town houses (1851–54). Novelist Theodore Dreiser wrote An American Tragedy at No. 16, and poet Marianne Moore resided at No. 14. (Robert De Niro later lived here for decades—in mid-2012 he sold it for $9.5 million.) The colorful (and corrupt) Mayor Jimmy Walker (first elected in 1926) lived at No. 6; the lampposts in front are "mayor's lamps," which were sometimes placed in front of the residences of New York mayors. This block is often used as a film location: No. 4 was the setting of the Audrey Hepburn thriller Wait Until Dark. Before 1890, the James J. Walker Park, on the south side of the street near Hudson, was a graveyard where, according to legend, the dauphin of France—the lost son of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette—is buried.

Once the hub of the edgy East Village, St. Marks Place is the name given to idiosyncratic East 8th Street between 3rd Avenue and Avenue A. During the 1950s, beatniks Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac lived in the area; the 1960s brought Bill Graham's Fillmore East ( 105 2nd Ave.) and the experimental Electric Circus nightclub (at Nos. 19–25 St. Marks), where the Velvet Underground and the Grateful Dead played. The shaved-head punk scene followed, and at No. 33, is where the punk store Manic Panic first foisted its lurid hair dyes on the world. At No. 57 stood the short-lived Club 57, which attracted such 1980s stalwarts as artist Keith Haring.

These days, there's not much cutting edge left. Some of the facades lead to luxury condos, and there are a number of global fast-food restaurants for ramen and dumplings. The block between 2nd and 3rd Avenues has turned into a bit of a global fast-food mecca, with boba tea shops and several Asian restaurants alongside stores selling cheap jewelry, smoking paraphernalia, and souvenir T-shirts. The cafés and bars from here over to Avenue A attract customers late into the night—thanks partly to lower drink prices.

In the mid-19th century, when Italians started to migrate to Chicago, about one-third of them settled in and around Taylor Street, a 12-block stretch between Ashland and the University of Illinois at Chicago. It is best known for its Italian restaurants, though Thai food, tacos, and other ethnic options are here, too.

Bustling Thayer Street bears a proud old New England name and is very much a part of campus life at Brown, RISD, and other local colleges. Gentrification has resulted in an influx of chain stores. In the blocks between Waterman and Bowen Streets, though, you'll still find fashion boutiques, shops selling funky gifts, the art deco--style Avon Cinema, and restaurants serving every kind of cuisine from Greek to Korean.

A rarity in Manhattan, this pretty, brick-covered street—really a glorified alley—is lined on the north side with the former mews (carriage houses) of the area's homes. Although the street is private, gated, and owned by New York University, which uses many of the buildings for clubs and offices, it's open to pedestrian traffic.

Named for a Baptist minister who was one of Providence's first settlers, this main artery in the Fox Point district is home to antiques stores, art galleries, and trendy cafés. It also hosts the Coffee Exchange, one of the area's most popular gathering spots. Sidewalk sales are held in the spring and fall. Once home to mainly working-class Portuguese-Americans, the Wickenden Street area has become a popular area for off-campus student housing; Our Lady of the Rosary Church on adjacent Traverse Street still conducts some weekend Masses in Portuguese. Broadway impresario George M. Cohan was born at 536 Wickenden St.; look for his statue at the corner of Governor St.