Newbury Street

Newbury Street is located in the Back Bay area of Boston, Massachusetts, in the United States. It runs roughly east-to-west, from the Boston Public Garden to Massachusetts Ave. The road crosses many major arteries along its path, with an entrance to the Mass Pike westbound at Mass Ave. East of Mass Ave, it is lined with historic 19th-century brownstones that contain hundreds of shops and restaurants, making it a popular destination for tourists and locals. The most expensive boutiques are located near the Boston Public Garden end of Newbury Street. The shops gradually become slightly less expensive and more bohemian toward Massachusetts Avenue. West of Mass Ave the street abuts the Mass Pike on its southern side, with no buildings to speak of; the northern side is mainly loading docks and garages of buildings fronted on Commonwealth Ave. A proposed, major decking project over the Pike in the area would reestablish the southern side of the road and expand the shopping district to Brookline Ave.

Newbury Street is an eclectic mix of shops in renovated brownstone buildings, with stores at all levels, -- physically (basement, street level, and above), stylistically (elegant to shabby), and financially (affordable to upscale). It is touted as one the most expensive streets in the world. High-end stores include Ralph Lauren, Chanel, Armani, Nanette Lepore, Ted Baker, Ben Sherman, Donna Karan, Burberry, Cartier, Loro Piana, Kate Spade, Bang & Olufsen, Valentino, Marc Jacobs and Ermenegildo Zegna, as well as many more.

Donlyn Lyndon writes that west of Clarendon Street,

"Newbury Street develops its own very distinctive and appealing character and becomes one of the nicest shopping streets in Boston, or anywhere. Renovated town houses with large glass bays on the ground floor produce a delightful urban landscape.... Owners and tenants... have further animated the street by using the 25-foot (7.6 m) space between the building and the sidewalk for various purposes. Some areas are paved and used for displays or sidewalk sales. Others have thick planting... Some lots have stairs up and down to shops and galleries; others have show windows and display cases for flowers or fashions or other items for sale. But each contributes something extra, and together they make these blocks of Newbury Street genuinely attractive."