Writer Honore de Balzac spent hours every day walking the streets of Paris in order to create vivid settings for his novels. Charles Dickens strolled the streets of London to gather material for picturesque descriptions.
Detailed description adds a great deal to any story.
While writers do not want to bog readers down in unnecessary detail, stories do need a strong sense of place. Setting answers two of a journalist's six questions - where and when. Both are extremely important. In a good story, the place, the people and the action are smoothly integrated. Setting or mood also help in character development.