Refurbished Old Town Pasadena gets all the press, but it’s the South Lake Avenue district that locals have cherished since 1947, when famed architect Welton Becket designed a Bullock’s Department Store with the sleek, then-futuristic, curves that would come to be known as mid-century style. Bullock’s (now a Macy’s) put this stretch of Lake Avenue, from Colorado to California boulevards, on the retail map. Immortalized in the Jan and Dean song, little old ladies from Pasadena can still find their floral-print pantsuits at one of the many boutiques, but Ann Taylor, Borders and Anthropologie also dot the landscape. The New Age bookstore Alexandria II has your metaphysical needs covered, and Tower Records still rocks hard. Eateries abound; families will dig Souplantation’s endless salad, soup, pasta and bakery buffet; namedroppers will want to hit Jennifer Lopez’s Madre’s; and the old school should saddle up to the counter at Pie ‘N Burger. The bizarre Burger Continental trades uneventful American and Middle-Eastern food for the fun of its backyard patio with live music and belly dancers. And the hub of South Lake Avenue is at the Wild Oats Market plaza, where dogs and kids run around while happy campers sip lattes in the sunshine and wonder why anyone would live anywhere else.