Gowanus keeps an understated style up front, but tucked away in its hidden venues is a burgeoning art scene, cultivated and curated by its creative residents who shape it just away from the bridges. Its bars and lounges are laidback, but take pride in their crafts, and intimate the personality of this piece of Brooklyn. The neighborhood shares its name with the canal the runs through it, which while in the midst of a cleanup effort, hearkens back to its early days as a point for shipping and industry.