If it weren't for Washington Square Park, Thomson Street would really just be Fifth Avenue. Feeding directly off the east-bound traffic from Washington Square South, these blocks aren't terribly busy when it comes to cars. People, however, are a different matter.

Sitting right in the middle of Greenwich Village, these streets are chock full of interesting shops, beautiful buildings, and restaurants & bars of all sorts. It's not uncommon to see everything from musicians playing on the corner, to tourists gawking through windows. If you want to see the New York of Dylan and Ginsberg, this is where you start.

But with that being said, this is not the same place that existed 60 years ago. NYU has tightened is stranglehold on the neighborhood, constructing massive towers that stick out so badly that phrases like "sore thumb" would be too kind. You can also find everything from Dunkin Donuts to Subway popping up. No, it's not the same New York at all. But if you can ignore the modernisms, there's still much to be taken from here.