Because tourists think it's the ritziest spot in town, and because wealthy shoppers try to prove the tourists right, and because alternakids like to mock both the wealthy and the tourists, Newbury Street is the ideal people-watching spot in Boston. With the Ritz on one end and Allston Beat on the other, the personality of the street could not be more oppositional. Snag a seat at an outdoor café and you can check out the latest designer styles strutting by on parade, or eavesdrop on unwashed hipsters arguing over which underground bands really matter.

If you head over to Harvard Square, the next hot musician might be playing on one of a half-dozen street corners or in "the pit" (home to irony-free late-model punks dressed in would-be Ramones and Sid Vicious costumes). Professors from around the globe stroll past Irish boys seeking bars; baby dykes scowl at Abercrombie & Fitch preppies; and Lyndon LaRouche acolytes try to out-talk street preachers. Even the arrival of chain stores hasn't dampened the surreal mix of characters here.