The Odori district runs along the broad central park that splits Sapporo into its northern and southern halves. The park itself is the obvious draw — a tree-lined kilometre and a half of green space — but the neighbourhood around it is where Sapporo's civic life concentrates. The TV Tower stands at the eastern end. The Sapporo Grand Hotel, one of Hokkaido's oldest Western-style hotels, faces the park from the north. Major department stores line the streets on both sides, and the underground shopping arcade below Odori runs several blocks in each direction from the subway station.
The grid layout of the city is best understood from here. Sapporo was planned from scratch in the 1870s, and the Odori park was laid out as the central axis dividing the city into north and south. The addressing system still reflects this — buildings are identified by their block position north or south of Odori, east or west of a central line — and navigating on foot is easier here than in most Japanese cities. In summer the park fills with open-air beer gardens run by the major breweries; in February the Snow Festival covers it with enormous ice and snow sculptures. Most visits to Sapporo pass through Odori multiple times.