Los Angeles is not a town known for its urban walking. Real Angelenos drive, or they go to Universal City's City Walk. Otherwise, they head out to one of the many nearby parks and have a near wilderness experience.
Of course, it is possible to have a pleasant urban walk in LA. There are parts of Wilshire Boulevard, Sunset Boulevard in the hills, and, one of our favorites, Melrose Boulevard.
If you start at La Cienega and head east, the neighborhood starts out upmarket, with fancy clothing shops and designer soaps. Then it starts getting a bit rattier, but still interesting.
There are little restaurants, garden furniture places, used clothing stores, and boutiques. As you get closer to Fairfax Boulevard and Fairfax, the neighborhood becomes distinctly hip hop, with baggy pant shops, cell phone joints, record shops and a wild grafitti signage out of the 1980s New York subways.
There is always something coming up - be it a stylish household furnishings shop, an antiquery or a place selling Doc Martin's.
East of Fairfax, things start moving upmarket again and you'll find some Melrose perrenials. There is Maya, the mask shop, and Wound and Wound Toys, selling all sorts of wind up gizmos.
As you approach Highland, you'll find more expensive clothing shops, with an emphasis on black and sleek lines. After Highland, the urban fabric starts to get weaker. You'll go longer without finding an interesting store front. You can head on to Citrus or Patina, or turn around and head back to La Cienega and check out the other side of the street.
