I really like Scottsdale, especially Old Town, but 5th Avenue is not really worth the time. Basically, it's a few blocks of tourist shops that all sell the same thing. It's Old Town without the Old West atmosphere, good restaurants, and history. We definitely expected something a bit more out of 5th Avenue. We left after walking up and down the strip - about 15 minutes. I believe they have the Art Walk here on Fridays, maybe that would have been a better experience. My biggest complaint is that 5th Avenue is labeled as a tourist destination, an actual district worth traveling to, but there is simply nothing to make anyone want to come back more than once. We were here on a Thursday, right after a nearby Giants spring training game, and were literally the only people walking in the area. This is a pretty boring and dead area - sad to say. I can appreciate the effort by the Scottsdale tourism people to push 5th Avenue as a bustling tourist area, but let's not trick ourselves into believing that it's something it's really not.
The only good thing about the area is the horse statue. read more