[dharper6]

Here's a new topic (hopefully it hasn't been already discussed).

What are your city's nicest and ugliest looking thoroughfares? A lot of forumers who travel might want to at least know about the nice ones. I know Austin and Houston the best.

Austin:

Nicest drives:

Riverside Dr. from I-35 west to S. Lamar (parks, river, skyline views)
Shoal Creek Blvd from 38th north to about Anderson (winding, tree lined residential area very popular with bicyclists. This is my neighborhood!)
N. Lamar from about 29th south to 15th (winding parkway along a creek).
S. Lamar going down the hill to the river from Oltorf (spectacular views of skyline, capitol)
Most of the streets on the west side of town up in the hills.

Ugliest:

Burnet Rd. from 45th north to Braker Ln. (great small businesses but uuugggly)
N. Lamar from Koenig north to Parmer (extremely cluttered but these businesses are a positive impact on people's lives. The Asian community lives largely in this area, at least north of about Morrow; great restaurants; this is our Chinatown).

Houston

Nicest:

Main St. from Braeswood north to the Museum (Medical Center skyline views, huge oaks, parks, museums, Rice Univ.). This is one of the best of what I would call the nation's grand avenues.

Allen Parkway from about Shepherd to downtown (best skyline views, parkway along the bayou, greenery)

Memorial Dr. from about the Beltway all the way into downtown (winding road through pine forest, beautiful homes, skyline views, Memorial Park)

Post Oak Rd. from San Felipe south to the Galleria (Uptown skylines, looks totally unreal in places due to the variations in architecture...I can't get enough of this area).

Ugliest:

Countless thoroughfares - clutter, strip centers, but thriving small businesses that have a positive impact on a lot of people's lives. Westheimer, Richmond, Bellaire Blvd come to mind as examples.

Phoenix:

My favorite is Hayden Rd. through Scottsdale. About 5 miles of parkway, flowers everywhere you look.

Central Ave. through downtown is beautiful.

Ugliest: Not sure...a lot of thoroughfares aren't pretty, but most aren't bad, either.

[urbanactivistTX]

Little Rock, Arkansas...

Best:
There's actually quite a few. Even Interstate 430 (western bypass) is very pretty just before it crosses the Arkansas River

-Cantrell Road from I-430 to Downtown. This road was made famous for the Osborne light display, which has now moved to Disneyworld.

-JFK (North Little Rock) from McCain Blvd to Downtown LR

-US 65 from Toad Suck into Conway (greater LR metro)

--Almost ANY drive in the Hot Springs area :tup: :tup:

Ugliest:
-US 67/167 from Searcy into NLR... eeek, are did we suddenly land in strip center/car lot world???!
-I 40 from Memphis to LR.... if you like farmland and midwest stuff, then have at it!!

[OhioGuy]

Houston

Nicest:

Main St. from Braeswood north to the Museum (Medical Center skyline views, huge oaks, parks, museums, Rice Univ.). This is one of the best of what I would call the nation's grand avenues.

Allen Parkway from about Shepherd to downtown (best skyline views, parkway along the bayou, greenery)

Memorial Dr. from about the Beltway all the way into downtown (winding road through pine forest, beautiful homes, skyline views, Memorial Park)

Post Oak Rd. from San Felipe south to the Galleria (Uptown skylines, looks totally unreal in places due to the variations in architecture...I can't get enough of this area).

Those are good ones. I immediately thought of the Allen Parkway when I saw this topic. I always loved driving down Memorial Drive as well. And my best friend lived near Main St & Kirby, so I would drive up & down Main quite frequently. I always enjoyed the drive through the Medical Center and then past the beautiful Live Oaks at Rice & Herman Park.

For Chicago:

I don't think anything tops Lake Shore Drive. A beautiful lakefront on the east side and possibly the world's greatest collection of skyscrapers on the west side. I LOVE it! :)

And while Lincoln Ave isn't impressive for creating any type of "skyscraper canyon", it does present an impressive urban environment of shops & restaurants lining it from Lincoln Square to Lincoln Park - a nearly 5 mile stretch from Lawrence Ave in the north to its intersection with Clark Ave in the south.

[Echo Park]

best:
Mulholland Drive
Wilshire Blvd
Arroyo Seco parkway
sunset

i dont know about ugliest since a majority of LA's main thoroughfares are quite ugly.

[Jeff_in_Dayton]

Lake Shore Drive is one of the great corniche drives in the world, not just the US.

@@@@

Ugly for Cincinnati: Probably Colrain Avenue or Route 4 north of I-675
Soul killing suburban strip development.

Best for Cincinnati: I-75 @ Dead Mans Hill (for the skyline view)
Grandin Road (big fancy houses). Vine Street up to UC. Actually pretty ghetto, but the experience of driving in or to downtown on this street was pretty impressive due to the big hill one has to negotiate, and its sort of neat as one transitions from a dense urban neighborhood into downtown.

###

Ugly for Dayton: Keowee/North Dixie drive : Meth labs meet cheap hotesl meet "gentlemens clubs".

Best for Dayton: Far Hills Avenue in Oakwood. Suburban parkway. Wayne Avenue, for the suprising vista of downtown, then changing to a vista of old church steeple/factory skyline

###

Ugly for Louisville: Preston Highway or Outer Loop.

Nice for Louisville: The 3rd Street/Southern Parkway cooridor from Downtown to Iroquis Park.

###

Nice for Sacramento: 16th Street/Land Park Drive, from say J Street to Land Park. Experience to old city, the landmark Tower Theatre, then the very pleasant Land Park area to the park itself

Ugly for Sacramento: I am trying to think of the worst suburban strip, maybe West Capital in West Sac. Stockton Blvd also comes to mind.

[DFW LUV]

Dallas.

Nice:
- N Buckner Blvd between N Garland Rd and E Mockingbird around White Rock Lake, much of Dallas' urban forest in this area.
- Woodall Rodgers Frwy between 75 and 35E, some of the best freeway views of the Dallas skyline.

Ugly:
Interstate 35E N, Mockingbird to 635.

[stranger]

Dallas.

Nice:
- N Buckner Blvd between N Garland Rd and E Mockingbird around White Rock Lake, much of Dallas' urban forest in this area.
- Woodall Rodgers Frwy between 75 and 35E, some of the best freeway views of the Dallas skyline.

Ugly:
Interstate 35E N, Mockingbird to 635.

Dallas Continued --

Woodall Rogers for sure. I'd also add in I-75 from Downtown into Richardson. The sunken highway design and countless highrises are eye candy.

McKinney Ave. going through uptown is very nice.

Los Angeles --

Wilshire Blvd going through Westwood.

Wilshire Blvd going through Santa Monica.

Oklahoma City --

Western Ave. from downtown to Nichols Hills

New York City --

Anywhere.

[rockyi]

Quad Cities...

Ugliest - 97-way tie..
.Avenue Of The Cities in Moline (From I-74 to the East Moline border)
.North Brady in Davenport (North of Kimberly Road)
.All of the old industrial drives and 1950's - 1970's sprawl (now getting seedy) that are scattered everywhere.

Nicest -
.East River Drive, Davenport. The Mississippi River on one side (with Arsenal Island in the middle), with the "Village of East Davenport" on the other side followed by turn of the (20th) century mansions sitting on bluffs and the twin span suspension bridge of I-74 in the distance.

[Xelebes]

Edmonton

Best: Whitemud Freeway at the Quesnell, Jasper Ave from 109th street to 124th Street, Whyte Avenue, Groat Road, Victoria Trail

Worst: 107 Street in North Edge (improving), 118th Ave in the old Beverley Townsite (improving), Stony Plain road in the old Jasper Place townsite (not improving so much), 101st Street in North Edge (will improve once the construction projects start.)

[Jobohimself]

San Diego:

-Interstate 8 West from Alpine to Chula Vista.
-SR 163 into or out of Downtown.
-SR 52 to I-5 Junction in La Jolla.
-Interstate 5 between Downtown and Camp Pendleton.

[DFW LUV]

Atlanta =
Kicka$$:
- Peachtree St starting at 400 in Buckhead winding through Midtown to Downtown. < My all time favorite cityscape drive. :worship:
- 400 N through Alpharetta and beyond.

Ugly:
- Buford Hwy Doraville to Duluth.
- I-85, 285 Perimeter to Duluth.

Washington DC =
Nice:
- Capital Beltway from 95 around the westside through Northern VA. I'm a pushover for heavily wooded thoroughfares with occasional midrises and highrises peeking over the treeline.
- Dupont Circle down Pennsylvannia Ave to westbound M St through Georgetown.

[krudmonk]

SJ
nice: Alum Rock - Santa Clara - The Alameda (one road by three names)
ugly: Capitol Expressway (imagine the ugliest freeway without even the functionality)

[Thundertubs]

Chicago:

Nicest- (in terms of structural cohesiveness)
-Lincoln Ave
-Cermak (west of the river)
-18th
-parts of Armitage
-many of the Boulevards

Ugliest-
-Roosevelt
-Cicero
-Western
-Most of the commercial thoroughfares on the south and west sides are awful looking, even in areas where the residential streets are beautiful.

[illmatic774]

Most of Detroit's thoroughfares are damn ugly. WIDE streets, crooked telephone lines, abandoned storefronts. From the road it may be the least photogenic major city in the country.

[seaskyfan]

Some nice ones in Seattle:

Harbor Ave/Alki Ave SW in West Seattle

California Ave SW up to Hamilton Viewpoint (one of my favorite skyline views)

Highland Drive atop Queen Anne (this is where Kerry Park is where a lot of skyline photos are taken from)

Lake Washington Boulevard (Olmstead designed - by the firm I believe rather than the original)

NW Market Street headed west from Phinney Ridge into Ballard (great Olympic Mountain Views). To see some neighborhoods a great drive is across North Seattle on NE 45th/N 45th/N 46th/NW Market.

Madison Street is the only east/west street that makes it all the way across the city, and goes from the Ferry Terminal through Downtown and First Hill through a bunch of different neighborhoods before ending in schmancy Madison Park at Lake Washington.

Viaduct/SR 99/Aurora Ave through Downtown and across the Aurora Bridge.

Ugly Drives

The rest of SR 99/Aurora Ave

Pretty much anything near Northgate Mall (Northgate Way, etc.)

Rainier Ave S (except through Columbia City)

[Michi]

Most of Detroit's thoroughfares are damn ugly. WIDE streets, crooked telephone lines, abandoned storefronts. From the road it may be the least photogenic major city in the country.
Yep, I was going to say every one of the spoke roads (Detroit's major thoroughfares that all meet downtown).

Woodward is especially ugly considering it's prestiege.

[neuhickman79]

Sacramento:

BEST
21st and 22nd Sts between D St and H St.
T St Pkwy between 39th and 53rd.
Land Park Dr between Broadway and Sutterville
any street between roughly 40th and 47th and H and J (The Fabulous 40's).

WORST
12th St between Richards Blvd and C St
Folsom Blvd between Howe Ave and Watt Ave
Franklin Blvd between 26th St and Florin Rd
Countless sprawltastic thoroughfares in North Natomas!

[TWAK]

Ugly for Sacramento: I am trying to think of the worst suburban strip, maybe West Capital in West Sac. Stockton Blvd also comes to mind.
Wouldn't west capitol that be considered "grit", one of those key words that people like to use on this forum?

[ardecila]

Chicago:

Nicest- (in terms of structural cohesiveness)
-Lincoln Ave
-Cermak (west of the river)
-18th
-parts of Armitage
-many of the Boulevards

Ugliest-
-Roosevelt
-Cicero
-Western
-Most of the commercial thoroughfares on the south and west sides are awful looking, even in areas where the residential streets are beautiful.

To the "nicest" list I will add Damen (my personal favorite) from Irving Park south to Grand, and Milwaukee from Division to Diversey.

[Buckeye Native 001]

Phoenix

Nicest: Central Avenue from about Buckeye up through the Sunnyslope neighborhood

Ugliest: Grand Avenue for pretty much its entire run up until Sun City. Rundown strip malls galore.

[SuburbanNation]

Lindell Boulevard along the north edge of Forest Park is among the finest urban streets i've ever seen.

Cass Ave./MLK is among the worst i've seen.

[JV_325i]

For Chicago I can't really say anything beats Lake Shore Drive for me. I enjoy Wells a lot, specifically the part under the L.

As for the ugliest, my vote has to go to Clybourn between North and Fullerton.

[PhillyRising]

Philadelphia

Both the Kelly and the Martin Luther King Drives (East and West River Drive to old people like me) along the Schuylkill are magnificent to drive, walk, rollerblade along. Both of them empty onto the Benjamin Franklin Parkway which offers an amazing vista of the Center City skyline. It was modeled after the Champs Elysee in Paris.

Other roads that are pleasant are the Henry Drive & Germantown Ave in Northwest Philly.

[Nowhereman1280]

In Chicago one of my favorites (besides the obvious LSD) is Clark Street, it has a wonderful series of densities and different feels the whole way up from the loop to Andersonville...


Milwaukee would be:

Lake Dr. (no LSD where its like a free way, but Lake Dr. or Street, where it is lined by Mansions and parks the whole way) is by far the prettiest.

North Ave. West of I-43 is absolutely horrid and far worse than anything I've seen anywhere else, it is a desolate wasteland of garbage filled open lots and abandoned storefronts and thrift stores...

[Rusty van Reddick]

Calgary:

Best: Memorial Dr, especially coming east off Barlow: Great skyline with mountain backdrop, the descending into a beautiful riverside avenue between Centre and 10 St NW, cute and trendy on one side, big glam condos on the other. I'm always proud to take visitors home from the airport along this route.

Worst: Since there's remediation happening to improve the Trans Canada Highway (which is NOT an expressway despite the name- it's 16th Ave N in Calgary, with stoplights and everything), I have to nominate MacLeod Trail, especially its mid-southern reaches. All strip malls and parking lots, reminds me of Airport Blvd in Mobile Alabama.

[NYaMtl]

Montreal

Best (obvious picks and tourist magnets):
St-Catharine
St-Laurent
St-Denis
Parc
de la Commune
Duluth

(not my favorite but pretty or at least lively streets):
Crescent
Prince Arthur
Notre-Dame and St-Jacques in the Old Port
Mont-Royal
Laurier
Sherbrooke
Ontario
Runner up: St-Hubert

Ugliest:
Rene-Levesque
St-Antoine
Berri below Roy
Papineau (!)
the Decarie
Runner up: Notre-Dame and St-Jacques outside of the old port

Most Potential:
St-Joseph
Jean-Talon
de Maisonneuve
Queen Mary
anything in Griffintown

[MolsonExport]

I wanna see photos!

[rockyi]

Ugliest:
Rene-Levesque
St-Antoine
Berri below Roy
Papineau (!)
the Decarie
Runner up: Notre-Dame and St-Jacques outside of the old port


Your ugly streets have such beautiful names, though.

[MplsTodd]

Minneapolis:

Nicest:
(all are landscaped boulevards lined with nice residential):
Minnehaha Parkway
Lake of the Isles Parkway
Lake Calhoun Parkway
Lake Harriet Parkway
Mississippi River Boulevard

Most Interesting commercial:
Lyndale Ave S. (from downtown to Lake Street): starts with historic churches, Loring Park and the Walker Art Ctr, then goes by lots of great independant businesses (coffeehouses, radical bookstore, co-op, organic restaurants, teashop etc...), plus arts groups
Nicollet Avenue: Franklin to Lake Street: they don't call it Eat Street for nothing (lots of ethnic restaurants)
Nicollet Mall - Downtown (retail)
First Avenue - downtown (clubland)
Hennepin Ave - downtown (theaters, restaurants and a bit of sleaze)
Lake Street - a polyglot five mile stretch from the Lakes District on the west through Yuppie Uptown to hip Lyn-Lake to the ethnic areas of East Lake to working class far east Lake to the Mississippi River
Franklin Avenue: another interesting route through the central city from mansions in Kenwood to trendy apts in the Wedge to Stevens square to an improved, but still troubled area around Chicago/Franklin, to the artsy E. Franklin area near the river

Most Ugly:

Hiawatha Avenue (site of our LRT) gets my vote
Broadway: strip malls and boarded up buildings in North Mpls, though there is hope for an improvement
Lake Street: Parts of this long street are pretty banal especially between Hiawatha Ave and the river.
Several Downtown streets (especially around the metrodome)


SAINT PAUL:

I won't go into as much detail for St. Paul, but I have to mention the following:

Best:

Summit Avenue: the nicest and most historic street in the Twin Cities. It starts at the towering Cathedral of St. Paul (overlooking dt St Paul and the State Capitol) and heads west about 5 miles to the Mississippi River, lined with elegant old mansions, churches and several colleges

Grand Avenue: from Dale Street to Fairview, lined with a nice collection of shops and restaurants, intermixed with the retail are many older 2-3 story walk-up apts from the 1910s and 1920s.
Selby: like Grand Ave, only more eclectic

[Boris2k7]

Calgary:

Best: Memorial Dr, especially coming east off Barlow: Great skyline with mountain backdrop, the descending into a beautiful riverside avenue between Centre and 10 St NW, cute and trendy on one side, big glam condos on the other. I'm always proud to take visitors home from the airport along this route.

http://img248.imageshack.us/img248/2920/2052250105dfaed0d7cfxr1.jpg
© yycrob (http://www.flickr.com/photos/21059969@N05/)

http://img248.imageshack.us/img248/4387/376733076a35bafe949sp0.jpg
© Edmund Wang (http://www.flickr.com/photos/edmundwang/376733076/sizes/m/)

Worst: Since there's remediation happening to improve the Trans Canada Highway (which is NOT an expressway despite the name- it's 16th Ave N in Calgary, with stoplights and everything), I have to nominate Macleod Trail, especially its mid-southern reaches. All strip malls and parking lots, reminds me of Airport Blvd in Mobile Alabama.

http://img247.imageshack.us/img247/681/img1819xx6.jpg
http://img297.imageshack.us/img297/7459/img1816fp0.jpg
Both images © myself (Boris2k7)

Though I disagree on this one; 17th Ave SE is by far the worst in Calgary.

[The Chemist]

http://img248.imageshack.us/img248/2920/2052250105dfaed0d7cfxr1.jpg
© yycrob (http://www.flickr.com/photos/21059969@N05/)

http://img248.imageshack.us/img248/4387/376733076a35bafe949sp0.jpg
© Edmund Wang (http://www.flickr.com/photos/edmundwang/376733076/sizes/m/)



http://img247.imageshack.us/img247/681/img1819xx6.jpg
http://img297.imageshack.us/img297/7459/img1816fp0.jpg
Both images © myself (Boris2k7)

Though I disagree on this one; 17th Ave SE is by far the worst in Calgary.

The only thing that Macleod Trail has going for it is the view coming northbound just as you drive over the crest of Cemetary Hill. That's one of the best driving views in the city right there.

The portion of Macleod from south of Cemetary Hill to Anderson Road is definitely very shitty, though 17th SE is just as bad, you're right.

[Pinion]

Vancouver:

Best: Northwest on Georgia St through Stanley park and over Lions Gate Bridge (my photos)

http://www.canuckscentral.com/myvancouver/1.jpg

http://www.canuckscentral.com/driving/driving011.jpg

Worst: East on East Hastings (from flickr)

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/157/398342984_ad7ebcd4cd.jpg

No highways/freeways exist in Vancouver proper.

[flar]

James St. in Hamilton is nice:
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/corktwn/00052a.jpg

[scguy]

I was just in Atlanta this past weekend and wow, was Forest parkway (near the Farmers Market) ever ugly! I'll have to agree with the other forumer as well on Buford Highway although it is an interesting road and I think they were working on new sidewalks/beautification last time I was in that area. My favorite in Atlanta would be Peachtree or Ponce de Leon avenue.

[Rusty van Reddick]

Though I disagree on this one; 17th Ave SE is by far the worst in Calgary.

Oh- right. Icky for sure, disgusting even. Good call.

Bowness is pretty crappy too.

[jodelli]

The nicest in my town is Riverside Drive from about Little River on the east end to the Ambassador Bridge on the west side, but especially the portion between the bridge and Hiram Walker Distillery.
Some pics I've taken before along the route:

Hiram Walker headquarters
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2285/2273230269_1dfb84afcc_b.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2359/2273230131_870561be42_b.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2304/2274025900_9e32394eaa_b.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2339/2274025702_91f87edd41_b.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2325/2231796666_aacc9e0fb0_b.jpg


Not pictured here yet:

The ugliest is Ojibway Parkway in the industrial part of the west end from near the end of Sandwich Street including some views of Zug Island steel mills on the American side. The irony is that all three roads including Riverside are essentially the same waterfront route.

jodelli

[jeffwhit]

Calgary:

Best: Memorial Dr, especially coming east off Barlow: Great skyline with mountain backdrop, the descending into a beautiful riverside avenue between Centre and 10 St NW, cute and trendy on one side, big glam condos on the other. I'm always proud to take visitors home from the airport along this route.

Worst: Since there's remediation happening to improve the Trans Canada Highway (which is NOT an expressway despite the name- it's 16th Ave N in Calgary, with stoplights and everything), I have to nominate MacLeod Trail, especially its mid-southern reaches. All strip malls and parking lots, reminds me of Airport Blvd in Mobile Alabama.

Exactly what I was thinking. I'd also add Elbow Drive from its northern terminus to Britannia or so as one of my favourite drives in Calgary.

[sprtsluvr8]

I was just in Atlanta this past weekend and wow, was Forest parkway (near the Farmers Market) ever ugly! I'll have to agree with the other forumer as well on Buford Highway although it is an interesting road and I think they were working on new sidewalks/beautification last time I was in that area. My favorite in Atlanta would be Peachtree or Ponce de Leon avenue.

Peachtree Street, Midtown, from the intersection with Ponce:
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/91/270786701_e4aed26b2d.jpg?v=0
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kinsi/270786701/


Peachtree Street, Downtown, from Five Points:
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/51/154407548_9236d284fa.jpg?v=0
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kuzquiano/154407548/


Peachtree Street, Midtown leading into Buckhead, from 14th Street:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2337/2038607735_1d169c75e3.jpg?v=0
http://www.flickr.com/photos/13024185@N05/2038607735/


Two sections of Buford Highway:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2015/1509072194_472f8bac1b.jpg?v=0
http://www.flickr.com/photos/39793557@N00/1509072194/

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/103/253728520_52c19b1542.jpg?v=0
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dannyyang/253728520/

[staff]

Anyone got some Yan'An Expressway imagery? It's hard to beat.

[hymalaia]

while I've yet to truly experience every urban thoroughfare in Portland I'd break it down something like this;

the good;

Burnside St (esp close to downtown)
Broadway (again, esp close to dt)
39th/33rd St
Stark St
Marine Dr (kind of out of the way from the city but there are great river, airport and mountain views)
MLK Jr Blvd
Interstate Ave (has a light rail line)

The bad; I actually find these three streets somewhat endearing even if on the whole they are not nice places.

Sandy Blvd (good in a couple places)
Lombard St. (ditto)
82nd Avenue (shady second).

The ugly

122nd st. (hope you like strip malls)
Powell Blvd

[Chriss]

For Philly I'll echo the river drives, but my favorite is the route from where I grew up to downtown in its entirety:

Stenton Avenue - Cresheim Valley Drive - Lincoln Drive - Kelly Drive - Ben Franklin Parkway.

Lincoln Drive in particular is spectacular but easily missed - for much of its length it follows the gorgeous Wissahickon Valley as a winding cattle-chuted four lane road with so many sharp curves that it has a posted speed limit of 25. But everyone does 40-50, so driving it is quite an adventure, and sometimes it's hard to enjoy the sights.