Mills Ave., Tempe, Arizona

Mill Ave is a beautiful street in Tempe full of restaurants, shops, and bars. You can find antiques at shops like 'Those Were The Days'. There is lots of shopping, to quote the official website, 'With nearly 60 different retailers, downtown Tempe offers visitors the variety of a mall while providing a unique, outdoor shopping experience. Shopper favorites such as Urban Outfitters, Bath and Body Works and Sunglass Hut maintain locations in the downtown. Meanwhile longtime local favorites like Yucatecan Imports, Urban Angels and Headquarters provide unique stores where shoppers can find a variety of interesting merchandise. '

There are great restaurants on Mill Ave, like PF Changs, RA Sushi and Ziggys. Mill Ave is also full of characters. On a weekend night you can see street performers and musicians. Crazy people hang out there, like the Mill Ave Food Critic, a homeless man who cons people out of money by giving restaurant reviews and cons businesses out of free food by threatening them with bad reviews.

At the tip of the street is Tempe Town Lake and nearby are both Arizona State University and Arizona Mills Mall, so you may want to add them to your Tempe itinerary. Although you can't compare it to the nightlife in a place like Rush Street in Chicago or the West End in Dallas, Mill Ave is safe and it is also warm all winter long. When you are in Phoenix, make sure and visit.