Davis Square
Encyclopedia
Somerville, Massachusetts
Somerville is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, located just north of Boston. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 75,754 and was the most densely populated municipality in New England. It is also the 17th most densely populated incorporated place in...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
where several streets meet: Holland Street, Dover Street, Day Street, Elm Street, Highland Avenue, and College Avenue.
Location
The name is often used to refer to the neighborhood surrounding the square, encompassing parts of both SomervilleSomerville, Massachusetts
Somerville is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, located just north of Boston. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 75,754 and was the most densely populated municipality in New England. It is also the 17th most densely populated incorporated place in...
and Cambridge
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
. The Davis Square T station
Davis (MBTA station)
Davis Station is located at the intersection of Holland Street, Elm Street, and College Avenue , in Somerville, Massachusetts. It opened on December 8, 1984. Davis Station is named after the Davis family of Massachusetts, a political dynasty whose members, over 220 years, have held at least...
is one of the stops on the Red Line
Red Line (MBTA)
The Red Line is a rapid transit line operated by the MBTA running roughly north-south through Boston, Massachusetts into neighboring communities. The line begins west of Boston, in Cambridge, Massachusetts at Alewife station, near the intersection of Alewife Brook Parkway and Route 2...
of the MBTA
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, often referred to as the MBTA or simply The T, is the public operator of most bus, subway, commuter rail and ferry systems in the greater Boston, Massachusetts, area. Officially a "body politic and corporate, and a political subdivision" of the...
subway. Davis Square is 0.7 miles (1.1 km) from Porter Square
Porter Square
Porter Square is a neighborhood in Cambridge and Somerville, Massachusetts in the USA, located around the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Somerville Avenue, between Harvard and Davis Squares...
, 0.8 miles (1.3 km) from Tufts University
Tufts University
Tufts University is a private research university located in Medford/Somerville, near Boston, Massachusetts. It is organized into ten schools, including two undergraduate programs and eight graduate divisions, on four campuses in Massachusetts and on the eastern border of France...
, 1.1 miles (1.8 km) from Alewife
Alewife (MBTA station)
Alewife, located at the intersection of Alewife Brook Parkway and Cambridgepark West in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is a local intermodal transportation hub. It is the northern terminus of the MBTA's Red Line, and a bus terminal for several local routes and one intercity route. It opened in 1985.The...
, 1.7 miles (2.7 km) from Harvard Square
Harvard Square
Harvard Square is a large triangular area in the center of Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue, Brattle Street, and John F. Kennedy Street. It is the historic center of Cambridge...
, and 1.8 miles (2.9 km) from Union Square
Union Square
Union Square may refer to:Asia* Union Square * Union Square station on Dubai MetroCanada* Union Square, Nova ScotiaUnited States* Union Square, Baltimore, Maryland* Union Square * Union Square, San Francisco, California...
. The Somerville Community Path
Somerville Community Path
The Somerville Community Path is a project to build a mixed-use path in Somerville, Massachusetts, from the Cambridge border near Davis Square to the Cambridge border near Lechmere Square. Roughly 0.8 miles of the path is finished and in use...
runs through the middle of the square on a former rail line, leading to the popular Minuteman Bikeway.
With so many streets converging, several of which are one-way, Davis Square is infamously difficult to navigate.
Scene
Café
A café , also spelled cafe, in most countries refers to an establishment which focuses on serving coffee, like an American coffeehouse. In the United States, it may refer to an informal restaurant, offering a range of hot meals and made-to-order sandwiches...
, and stores catering to students and young urban professionals coexist with working class
Working class
Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...
diners
Diners
Diners can mean:* Diners Club International, a credit card company* plural of "diner", see Diner * Diners are type of North American restaurant...
and tailors that predate Davis Square's trendy period.
The brick
Brick
A brick is a block of ceramic material used in masonry construction, usually laid using various kinds of mortar. It has been regarded as one of the longest lasting and strongest building materials used throughout history.-History:...
-paved square contains a rich mixture of shops, restaurants, bars, coffee shops, a 1000 seat movie theater complex, a smaller 200 seat live performance theater, and other attractions.
In 1997, Davis Square was listed by the Utne Reader
Utne Reader
Utne Reader is an American bimonthly magazine. The magazine collects and reprints articles on politics, culture, and the environment from generally alternative media sources, including journals, newsletters, weeklies, zines, music and DVDs...
as one of the fifteen "hippest places to live" in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
In 2005, The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993...
reported the first million dollar condo
Condominium
A condominium, or condo, is the form of housing tenure and other real property where a specified part of a piece of real estate is individually owned while use of and access to common facilities in the piece such as hallways, heating system, elevators, exterior areas is executed under legal rights...
sale in Davis Square, which marked a major shift for a neighborhood once known as affordable. It now contains some of the priciest homes in Somerville and is significantly more expensive than the average for eastern Massachusetts.
Arts
Davis Square itself is decorated with many colorful pieces of art, including tiles made by local schoolchildren, sculptures of prominent local figures, the untitled Davis Square statuesDavis Square statues
The untitled Davis Square statues are life-sized cast masonry public sculpture, created by James Tyler, located in Davis Square, Somerville, Massachusetts at the Davis, Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority subway station. The statues are based on people that lived near Davis Square in the 1980s...
and a flying cow.
The square also hosts many popular arts institutions and events. The Somerville Arts Council's popular ArtBeat festival takes place here every year on the third weekend of July, while the HONK!
HONK!
HONK! is a series of music festivals held in various cities across North America. These festivals showcase ambulatory, acoustic bands playing music in public spaces.-Description:...
Festival of activist brass bands occurs here every October, on Columbus Day weekend. During the summer months there are free public folk dances. The Public Radio International
Public Radio International
Public Radio International is a Minneapolis-based American public radio organization, with locations in Boston, New York, London and Beijing. PRI's tagline is "Hear a different voice." PRI is a major public media content creator and also distributes programs from many sources...
show, Living on Earth
Living on Earth
Living on Earth is a weekly, hour-long and award-winning environmental news program distributed by Public Radio International.Hosted by Steve Curwood, the program features interviews and commentary on a broad range of ecological issues, exploring how humans interact with their landscape. The show...
is recorded in its studios in Davis Square. For five years, the Jimmy Tingle Off-Broadway Theater boasted a variety of nationally and regionally known acts, both comedic and musical, including Jimmy Tingle
Jimmy Tingle
Jimmy Tingle is an American comic and occasional actor.-Life and career:Tingle was the American correspondent for Sir David Frost’s show for PBS and the BBC, The Strategic Humor Initiative. He completed two seasons with 60 Minutes II on CBS as the humorist / commentator in the Andy Rooney spot...
himself, but closed at the end of October 2007.