Hyde Park

There's no better place to watch the melting pot that Boston is becoming than River Street and Fairmount Avenue in Hyde Park (it's basically one street; River jags off by the municipal building).

Buy some black-pride t-shirts right down the block from an old Irish bar. Visit J&M (above) for an eclectic variety of figurines (and basics such as pots and pans). Hungry? Try some Dominican seafood at El Fogon (right next door to Melinda's Taqueria and across the street from the old-time Dotty's ice-cream parlor). And check out the small but growing number of galleries and gift shops:

At the Fairmount commuter-rail stop in Hyde Park.