Foxxxy

This isn't New York City, but the Avenida de Las Americas in Houston is interesting all by itself. The street, part of the new east Downtown redevelopment, runs behind the shiny new Minute Maid ballpark, along the very fancy George R Brown Convention Center, and plumb into Houston's new downtown meeting place, the very pretty Discovery Green Park.

Discovery Green on the Avenida de Las Americas has a great little snackhouse disguised as a boathouse, wooden walkways crossing scenic little ponds, and coolest of all: remote control boats that you can drive around the miniature lakes!

This is a terrific street through an amazing park that makes a bright, refreshing Sunday afternoon for families, couples, retired people, children... everyone!

Even though I am a girl, I love going to baseball games. I've been to a Houston Astros game four times, and my favorite place to sit is in the "Crawford Boxes", which are cheap and fun seats with their backs facing Crawford Street.

(There are no boxes, these are just regular seats in the left field outfield, but they have a great view because this is such a nice ballpark and it's a very fun area, even when there are annoying vulgar guys from Las Vegas sitting behind you who should probably have left earlier and gone back to the bar where they belonged... but that is another story.)

Besides baseball, Crawford Street runs through the parky wetlands near Minute Maid Park, and ends at the Toyota Center which has lots of rock concerts and other events year round. It's a lovely neighborhood, all very new and clean and shiny.

Every city's Main Street is supposed to be a key street and the center of commerce and travel, and Houston's Main Street lives up to this. The shuttle train runs down this street, cutting downtown perfectly in half and connecting lower and upper Houston.

This street is wide, bright, and clean (like most of Houston's downtown) and the train is fascinating because instead of just tracks in the middle of the road, parts of the route are actually tracks running through shallow pools and fountains. I have no idea how this isn't dangerous, with all that electricity and water, but it look amazing, both while you're walking past and when the train makes it all ripple and shimmer.

The street has many late night and 24 hour grocery stores and drug stores and such, and seemed very safe to me even at midnight.

I love Houston but it is a very expensive place to visit, and I can only imagine it's an expensive place to live. It's a city full of rich oil people, after all. I can only look at so many $5000.00 handbags on the fancy shopping streets before I go crazy, though, so even though I have fun looking at the fancy Galleria shops, I prefer the bargain neighborhoods, which also have the bonus of being more interesting, too.

Way, way, way further down the street from the Galleria is the Meyerland Shopping Plaza at Beechnut Street... which is actually more my kind of street since I love bargains. All in a row here there is a Ross Store and a Target and a 99 Cents Only... and a giant bookstore for the geeky boyfriend!

Post Oak Boulevard is a long street that connects the more workaday parts of Houston (see Westheimer) to the ritzier suburbs, and then exits out in the cheaper landscape of the south. Right smack in the middle, under a giant circular roadsign marking the intersection, is Post Oak Blvd and the Galleria, Houston's biggest and fanciest shopping mall.

The Galleria is where all the big label shops are in Houston, plus the expensive and luxurious smaller stores. There are not one, but two Godiva Chocolate shops in this mall, but all my crazy boyfriend cared about was the shiny Apple store here (he is a geek but I love him anyway.)

Rice Boulevard is the main street into "Rice Village", and the main street that runs through it too. The Village is the neighborhood of small shops, restaurants and cafes next to Rice University, and the whole area has a young, alternative feel.

There are rasta shops on Rice, sexy alternative clothing shops, tattoo parlors, and healthy food stores.... I just love wandering around here and enjoying the street life, which is lower on car traffic and higher on cute people than most of Houston. This street would be right at home on one of the more progressive coasts, so finding it in the middle of conservative Houston is a blessing!

Westheimer Street in Houston is such an amazing and long street that it's almost impossible to described it all at once.

My very most favorite shopping neighborhood in Houston is at the downtown end of Westheimer street. Here there are dozens and dozens of alternative, hand-made, exclusive and second-hand clothing shops that are unlike anything else. Usually they seem to be run by the owner alone in a tiny building. I also had the most amazing omelettes at a hidden little French/Belgian cafe here called Cafe Montrose. It looks like nothing special, just a tiny restaurant tucked at the end of a strip mall, but the food and the staff were amazing, and still inexpensive. I'm now going back there every single time I am in Houston.

Bagby Street in the northern tip of downtown Houston is home to the "Houston Aquarium" which probably attracts a lot of people who come to see a giant aquarium full of first. But this is a tourist trap. Instead of a fish museum, the "Houston Aquarium" is 90 percent theme restaurant and only 10 percent fish. It's as if someone told you you were going on a safari, but took you to the Rainforest Cafe instead.

Better to ignore the fake aquarium and walk a couple of blocks south to the very pretty Tranquility Park, or the more exciting Sam Houston park just down the street.

Louisiana Street in downtown Houston is the heart of the business district. I like the Hyatt Regency here, a great hotel that has a street-facing glass elevator -- if you don't get enough of an eyeful of the city from the 30th floor that way, there's always the restaurant on the top floor with its 360 degree views of downtown!

My favorite part of Louisiana Street, though, is probably to the southwest of downtown, where 'Little Vietnam" always gives me Houston's best pho soup, noodles, and other Vietnamese treats. No matter how tired I am from shopping or visiting my sexy Houston Astros, I always have energy left to go for some pho refueling!

Milam Street is one of the first streets you'll encounter in downtown Houston. Whenever I arrive, whether I take a taxi into the city, or a shuttle bus, or even the (shockingly nice) city bus from the airport, the freeway empties out here, and I always end up on Milam Street in the middle of downtown Houston.

Milam Street is in the middle of the business district, which means it's only really busy during office hours, but it's home to many of the city's biggest hotels (including my favorite (the Hyatt Regency). It doesn't have many great places on its own, but it's a fine street to know if you want to reach shopping, parks or museums on your trip.

I don't walk Jackson Heights in the the upper west side much (that's the part of Manhattan that's West of Central Park, a few miles north of Times Square and all the bustle). But when I do, I always remember to sample some of the amazing street food in the area, which I am sure is the best in New York.

Right at the corner of the Apple Bank for Savings (73rd and Broadway) are two of the best street-food vendors I've ever tasted. One is called Sammy's Halal and it has amazing chicken and rice with a green sauce that I crave whenever I am away from New York for too long. The other one, just next door, is called Khan's and is almost as good, which is good to remember when the line at Sammy's is too long!

If you're ever wandering west of the park and getting hungry, I strongly recommend you find 73rd street and get ready to enjoy some amazing eats!

55th Street starts at Sutton Place South on the East Side and doesn't turn into West 55th until the usual time (by crossing 5th Avenue), after which it runs all the way to the 9A West Side Highway. It crosses all of Manhattan along the way, making it a great street to walk for a (long) day's work.

I first came to 55th Street many years ago on a personal mission looking for... you guessed it... the Soup Nazi! The real life inspiration for the Seinfeld character ran a restaurant here called The Soup Kitchen, near the corner of West 55th and 8th Avenue. It's closed now, but there are still signs and funny graffiti ("NO SOUP FOR YOU!") to mark the original location.

West 57th Street in New York City is one of the City's most famous and fun streets. I always spend time on 57th Street when I am in New York, especially around Midtown.

In addition to Tiffany & Co. and Bergdorf Goodman on the East side, there's two of the must-see places in New York in Carnegie Hall and the Russian Tea Room to the west. Some of the biggest buildings in Manhattan are here too, including the CBS Building and the Hearst Tower. It's a very photogenic part of the city, and one of the essential streets of New York in my opinion.

Whenever I go to New York City, I make at least one trip up to the Bronx, and it's not for the Yankees! Instead, I have to make my pilgrimmage to Loehmann's, the oldest and coolest discount fashion store in New York, America... or maybe even the whole world. It's a real part of New York's history and cool-factor.

The Bronx isn't the sexiest part of New York, but between Loehmann's and the other big stores on Seventh Ave, I can always have fun here. Every time I come to this street, I end up with a big bag from the Back Room.

Prince Street in Soho is a terrific artsy street, everything New York's Soho is supposed to be. It's an excellent place to spend an entire day (and I've done that many times!), because in addition to big-ticket shopping like H&M and the Apple Store, it's also full of tiny terrific shopping, including stationery and novelty shops like Japan's Muji and my favorite, the Ritz Shoe Store!

A great shopping street that's also dotted with cafes and bistros, perfect for a light snack to refuel. Prince Street is within walking distance of Canal Street and Chinatown, another of my favorite places to walk, shop, and nibble!

Everyone says 46th Street is all about Little Brazil and Restaurant Row, and that's all great, but it's so much more than that. I stayed at the Muse Hotel here (a cute little boutique hotel) and it's now one of my favorite hotels in the world. The neighborhood up and down 46th is dotted with cool statues and some amazing turn of the century fashion stores -- this is the street where Israel Miller built all her amazing shoe stores, so it's a magical place for me!

I have such fond memories of State Street that it's almost a magical place for me. Running the length of Battery Park, it's one of the most romantic places I have ever walked in the City, with the lights of the Park reflecting off the water and the Statue of Liberty shining in the distance. The park side is dotted with interesting statues, and there are cafes that are open late at night for a great espresso.

Some of the best nights of my life happened on this street.

Canal Street is the long, exciting edge of New York's Chinatown and it's one of my favorite bargain hunting streets.

There are so many tiny perfume and fashion shops on Canal that it's difficult to visit them all on the same day. Luckily there are also enough cafes and excellent Chinese restaurants (have some dim sum!) that I have never had a problem taking a little break.

I've also managed to get some very good deals on costume jewelry here. It's a bit busy and crowded, and I imagine there might be some pickpockets and street crime going on, but the police have a pretty visible presence, and I've never been robbed here! This is as close as I have found to a bustling old-style market in New York, and I love it very much.

If you've ever seen a Woody Allen movie, you have probably seen New York's Cherry Street. An upscale neighborhood from the 1920's, today it's mostly full of older tenement buildings and co-op apartments. I've often stayed with friends here, and I think it's one of Manhattan's nicest and quietest areas.

Cherry Street has some lovely midtown-style parks and many smaller schools and day-cares, which makes it one of very few neighborhoods I know in Manhattan where you can see children running and playing every day.

Delancey Street is one of my favorite streets in New York. I went here first because it's mentioned in a song by Regina Spektor (who I love), and I fell in love with this neighborhood!

Delancey cuts across the island all the way from the Williamsburgh Bridge to the Bowery, and taking a walk here puts you back in the Manhattan of the movies, from the Godfather to every film Woody Allen ever made. I've walked here with my boyfriend and it's the quintessenial New York Experience.

The shops of Orchard Street are just to the south, and the entire street is jam packed with discount and bargain shops (my favorite kind!). At night there are lots of great old dive bars here, too.

I love Manhattan's Grand Street on the Lower East Side, on the edge of Little Italy. Not only does it have my favorite coffee shop in the world, it's a classic of New York Life, as it's been featured in so many movies and TV shows that it feels familiar every time you walk down the road. It's a terrific place to visit for a stroll to one of the great cafes, and with the subway station at Grand and Sixth, you can get to or from anywhere in minutes.

East 40th street in eastern Manhattan is only a few blocks from the busy FDR Drive, but it's also only a few blocks away from Park Avenue in the other direction. I love this area because it's full of expensive, exclusive, and quirky out-of-the-way shops like the Ritzy Dog Grooming shop and the Berkeley Center for Acupuncture. It's a neighborhood in which you can really indulge yourself.