Hamra

and the lavishly rebuilt downtown area and since 2014/2015, the neighborhood of Badaro,[2] [3] In the mid 1990s, the Municipality of Beirut gave a face lift to the street to reattract tourists all year round. Hamra Street was known as Beirut's Champs Elysées as it was frequented by tourists, mostly Americans, Europeans and mega-rich Arabs, all year round. Today it is a commercial district with a numerous amount of prestigious universities (such as: American University of Beirut, Lebanese American University, and Haigazian University), hotels, furnished apartments, libraries, restaurants and coffee shops, with "78 Street" (commonly known as "the Alleyway") being Hamra's main pubbing and clubbing hub.