The ceramic fire-breathing dragons in the window of Gifts East West, a curio shop owned by Ing and John Watts, have seen neighbors come and go during their 40-year tenure at 57 Halsey Street in Newark. Today the dragons look out to an empty lot and a mural painted on a wall of a shuttered department store, Hahne & Company, which last saw customers in the late 1980s. In two years the building will house a Whole Foods Market, with mixed-income rental apartments stacked above it. Another construction site across the street is for the Prudential Tower, which will give the financial services giant a new home next year, with room for retail as well.

“I’ve been here so long that I know this is for real,” Mr. Watts said.

Over the past six years, a number of cafes and art collectives have opened along Halsey Street, a side street that runs parallel to the Broad Street thoroughfare, giving New Jersey’s largest city (population 277,000) a denser downtown culture district. Lined with three-story brick townhouses, Halsey Street links the century-old Newark Museum (49 Washington Street; 973-596-6550; newarkmuseum.org) and the Rutgers University campus to central downtown. It recalls the West Village circa 1990, pre-sweeping gentrification.

Cafes include a fusion bistro, 27 Mix (27 Halsey Street; 973-648-0643; 27mix.com); Coffee Cave, a performance space and espresso bar (45 Halsey; 973-368-4654); Art Kitchen (61 Halsey; 973-732-1278); the 10-month-old Green Chicpea (59 Halsey Street; 862-240-1500); and Elbow Room (41 Halsey; 973-642-2300; elbowroombrooklyn.com), a Brooklyn import that serves only mac ’n’ cheese varieties.