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In Mississippi, the downtowns of Bay St. Louis, Ocean Springs, and Oxford classify as adorable and were chosen as the nation's best coastal towns and best college town. Also the Belhaven and Fondren neighborhoods in Jackson are in the adorable and authentic category.
In Memphis, the South Main/ South Front Street isn't magical but I will say it's quickly evolving into a legitimate urban neighborhood, with new hotels, parks, apartments, restaurants, and galleries. Combined with Mud Island on the Mississippi River it's a great area.
Lots of people on here seem more familiar with the east coast/southeast, and I'd agree places like Savannah, Charleston, Marigny in New Orleans, North End in Boston etc are magical.
But I think you can find magical neighborhoods in any region if you look hard enough:
Midwest
German Village, Columbus
Old Market, Omaha
Old Third Ward, Milwaukee
Southwest
Barrio Viejo, Tucson
Nob Hill, Albuquerque
Downtown Santa Fe
Boston’s North End is especially magical during the summer festivals like the Fisherman’s and Saint Anthony’s feast. Nothing quite like the packed narrow streets with the lights, vendors, music, etc.
This could be an entirely different thread and topic, but I've been to many university campuses that are absolutely incredibly magical, dense "villages" that transport you away to another world.
Here are some of the best campuses I've been to that succeed in doing this--
Yale University, New Haven, CT
Univ of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
Duke University, Durham, NC
University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
Michigan State Univ, Lansing, MI
Columbia University, NYC, NY
Interesting thread. I prefer the neighborhoods in the Northeast, so agree with whoever highlighted Georgetown, Dupont, NYC, etc. Organic matters. I like Austin, but I wouldn't describe Rainey as magical at all. Drunk hipsters drinking PBR doesn't do it. Pretty contrived
This could be an entirely different thread and topic, but I've been to many university campuses that are absolutely incredibly magical, dense "villages" that transport you away to another world.
Here are some of the best campuses I've been to that succeed in doing this--
Yale University, New Haven, CT
Univ of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
Duke University, Durham, NC
University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
Michigan State Univ, Lansing, MI
Columbia University, NYC, NY
Agreed on Yale and Columbia. NYU before the Olsen Twins & Starbucks invaded its otherwise quaint and free-spirited former (much smaller) campus, was very lovely with spirit and energy. (I randomly came across an out-of-print John Lennon book with his autograph and doodling. Right in front of some NYU building with a hippie street vendor.)
The Berkeley in the ‘90s. My sister went to UC Berkeley and lived on a Victorian house on Prince St. I stayed with her every summer and just fell in love with Berkeley. The Berkeley Bowl drilled my love for big, warehouse-like, colorful and warm grocery shopping. Telegraph Avenue, while some might frown upon the “homeless” population (back in the ‘90s was mostly wannabe hippies and young kids who wanted to be Jimi Hendrix.), was bustling with excitement and novelty. (for the then-teenager me anyway.) I still miss the pizza from Blondie.
My husband and I both aren’t big fans of NJ, but we like Princeton NJ. We often went down there from NYC for a quick trip at Princeton Record Exchange,(where I tasted my first Wawa coffee ant Princeton Junction train station! I love that cute little train stop. Quaint and unassuming.) then ate at this very nice Indian restaurant on Weatherspoon (?) (or is it Washington Rd?) and bookstores hunting. My good friend lived in Cranbury NJ (who also didn’t care for the rest of Jersey.) so we often met in Princeton (I just remember one year going to the Middlesex county fair with her that she pointed out a bunch of big hair, stonewashed denim-clad older ladies and told me they are the Bon Jovi groupies because it wasn’t far from where Bon Jovi was from.-I thought they were so adorable! They looked so happy!)
We went to Ann Arbor one year to visit a friend. Ann Arbor was supposed to be this “enlightening” cool college town but maybe it’s the company we kept (she and her husband only eat at the Vegan restaurants.) that I found Ann Arbor kind of depressing.
There is a saying "experience the magic of Christmas in New York City". I echo the statements of Rockefeller Center, 5th Avenue, Bryant Park, etc., during the Christmas season.
For traditional urban neighborhoods, I've always found the unique colonial streets of Philadelphia and Boston to be some of the most enjoyable and "magical". Plenty of spots in NYC too.
Agree, agree, agree. It's like you're transformed back in time. Hard to beat Christmas in NYC.
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