The Mill Avenue District in Tempe is arguably the city's cultural and entertainment center. Within walking distance of Arizona State University, the district is overflowing with shopping, dining and entertainment options.

At the north end is Tempe Town Lake and Tempe Beach Park with boating and fishing as well as over 100 days of special events throughout the year. These events include everything from Fourth of July Fireworks to Ironman competitions and the Tempe Music Festival.

At the sound is the ASU Gammage Auditorium where all of the popular traveling musicals and plays reside. Gammage is known, infamously, for its steep construction. Concert goes on the balcony have a great view, and maybe a little vertigo as well.

The Harkins Valley Art Theatre is a historical landmark that recently enjoyed a million dollar renovation. The "one room, one big screen" setup is a rarity in the Valley, but makes this theatre a favorite among the indie and documentary film fans. Movie aficionados with a more mainstream taste can enjoy the state of the art Harkins theatre – with multiple screens – just down the street.

The Tempe Center of the Arts provides – just as the Valley Art Theatre – an alternative for fans of the arts. The center houses a theatre with work from Childsplay (a for-the-youth-by-the-youth art group), the Tempe Symphony Orchestra and the Tempe Community Chorus, among many others.

Shoppers have a choice of Urban Outfitters, American Apparel, Bath and Body Works, Borders and many unique boutique stores that struggle to compete with the big name stores. The boutiques are the draw though, as the other stores are not anything special that you could not find at a regular mall.

Many of the restaurants in the district are frequent award winners, including some of the Valley's best Chinese, Mediterranean, Mexican and Italian cuisines. There is also a Jack in the Box.

With is close proximity to ASU, naturally the Mill Avenue District is a popular nighttime destination. A number of bars and clubs offer many varied music choices. Everything from country to rock and hip-hop. You can cheer on the ASU Sun Devils from a number of sports clubs if you were unable to get tickets to a home game. Sun Devil Stadium just happens to be about half a mile east of Mill Avenue.

As expected, the district is very busy when ASU is in session, and often the best entertainment is just walking down the street when the sun goes down. Mill Avenue is also the location of the Tempe Festival of Lights Parade – a favorite in the Valley – as well as the Tempe New Years Party.