The stretch of North Michigan Avenue from the Chicago River north to Oak Street, known as the Magnificent Mile, is Chicago's main luxury shopping street — a mile of department stores, flagship brand stores, and the vertical mall towers that define Chicago's retail landscape. The Water Tower (the 1869 standpipe that survived the Great Chicago Fire) stands in the middle of the strip at Pearson Street.
For visitors uninterested in shopping, the architecture alone makes the street worth walking: the Wrigley Building, Tribune Tower, the 875 N Michigan building (formerly the John Hancock Center) with its distinctive cross-bracing, and a succession of major mid-20th-century commercial buildings. The observation deck at 875 N Michigan (360 Chicago) is a less crowded alternative to Willis Tower.