Today the APA announced its annual list of Great Places.  Take a look.

New England has a few entries.  Boston itself has one -- no, not Government Center (shock!), but the South End section of Washington Street.  The piece makes some good points regarding recent investments, including in increasing the area's affordable housing stock, although I'm always skeptical of anything that makes the Silver Line sound like anything more than a regular bus route.  By the way, Washington Street actually extends, uninterrupted, from Government Center all the way to...Pawtucket.  Given the depth of this region's history, I think there's a good documentary idea there somewhere.

The only other selection I can speak to with any authority is Pioneer Courthouse Square in my hometown of Portland, Oregon.  For years the site of a big surface parking lot, the fact that the square exists at all is a testament to the potential of grassroots citizen advocacy (there is a fantastic history of the site and the struggle to convert it into a civic center here).   It's often included on lists like this (i.e. this one), and with good reason.

I asked my Tampa friends if they felt 7th Avenue in Ybor City qualifies as a Great Street.  One of them responded:

Uhh, in the sense that it's one of maybe 3 places in Florida that have a sort of authentic 'character', yes.  In the sense that said 'character' mostly consists of Girls Gone Wild videos and frat dudes dressed like Ricky Martin's cousin, no.