Western Addition, San Francisco, CA

Pinpointing the actual boundaries of Western Addition can be tricky, but most consider it to be the area sandwiched between Golden Gate Park, the main thoroughfare of Van Ness Avenue, The Haight, and Pacific Heights.

Alamo Square Park on the southern edge is easily the most recognizable – and most photographed – site, where an open field is bordered by a half-dozen restored Victorians (aka “The Painted Ladies”) back-dropped by a stellar city skyline view. Things get a little grittier heading north on Fillmore Street, though ongoing urban renewal has seen this stretch improve markedly in recent years, and the historic Fillmore Auditorium remains as important a concert hall as it was when The Grateful Dead used to regularly take the stage.

Those looking for a bit of Asian flavor head further north to Japantown, where the main drag of Post Street welcomes visitors with Japanese-oriented shopping centers, several authentic restaurants, and a looming Buddhist peace pagoda.

A good assortment of wine bars and chichi lounges have sprung up in the Addition due to ongoing gentrification, while stellar old jazz haunts highlight the time when luminaries like Louis Armstrong and Billie Holiday played the local scene so often people called it the Harlem of the West.

Nightlife options in general are by no means endless, but whether visitors are on the hunt for music, mixology, or mahi-mahi, Western Addition has plenty up its sleeve worth adding to the social calendar.