The Ladder District, One Step at a Time

Up on School Street is Ruth's Chris Steakhouse (Old City Hall, 45 School St., 617-742-8401, http://www.ruthschris.com; entrees from about $30), an elegant surprise tucked inside the grand 1865 Old City Hall building guarded by tall statues of Benjamin Franklin and Josiah Quincy. Over on Bromfield Street is the down-home, downstairs Silvertone Bar and Grill (69 Bromfield St., 617-338-7887), jammed nightly with office workers and neighborhood regulars, all shunning the specialty cocktails for beer and wine, and the few pricey entrees for grilled cheese and steak and onion sandwiches.

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Any one of these restaurants is a destination in itself, especially on weekends, when serious partying goes on. But lots of people dine here, then head to one of the Ladder District's entertainment venues. Down an alley off Tremont Street is the Orpheum Theater (1 Hamilton Pl., 617-482-0650); built in 1852 to stage symphony performances, it has for decades featured rock and alternative music performers, from the Clash to the Decembrists.

The 1928 Opera House (539 Washington St., 617-259-3400, http://www.bostonoperahouse.com) reopened in 2004 after a $30 million renovation and books sold-out Broadway musicals. Right next door is Felt (533 Washington St., 617-350-5555, http://www.feltclubboston.com), a four-story nightclub playground with billiards and booze.

On the Horizon

Bostonians who aren't yet hip to the Ladder District (or its name) no doubt soon will be, as every day brings news of another redevelopment project.

The $625 million Franklin Street Plan promises to create a 24-hour neighborhood and the feel of an "urban oasis park" as it sets about transforming the landmark Filene's (closed last year) and adjacent 1905 Filene's Basement buildings in a way that marries "historic preservation with a 21st-century mixed-use design."

Luxury condos, a celebrity-chef restaurant and a spa are coming to Province Street, and renovation of two historic theaters on Washington Street, the 1932 Paramount and the 1876 Modern, soon will be underway.

Completion of these ventures is a way off. Visit the Ladder District now, though, and you'll discover a neighborhood that's still trying to figure out how cool it wants to be. It's a dilemma any hipster might relate to: how to adopt an au courant pose without jettisoning one's essential identity.

The new name was the easy part, it turns out. Mixing all the ingredients -- the pushcart vendors and the sexy restaurants, the old-time jewelers and the reinvented department stores, the historic attractions and the nightclub playgrounds -- into a genuine, viable and beckoning concoction: There's the riddle.

Or is the Ladder District's contradictory personality its distinct attraction? That's for you to find out.

For more information on Boston and the Ladder District, contact the Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau (888-733- 2678, http://www.bostonusa.com) or the Downtown Crossing Association (617-482-2139, http://www.downtowncrossing.org).

Elise Hartman Ford last wrote for Travel about literary festivals.