This made me start looking, and what I found answered a lot of questions for me.
I did not realize there was a cap on "fast food" in the Kendall Square MXD district (whatever that is), in that "fast food" establishments are limited to 3. By the loose definition in the area of "fast food" those 3 licenses are Chipotle, Starbucks, and Clover.
The article is full of so much opinion that I can't agree with, but won't get into. People seem to think that 15 fast food joints will cause the sky to fall and kill off all the local brands. I tend to disagree based on the number of people in the area who local, healthy, organic, etc. are all very important to. I'm not sure that I can support the 'residents' who oppose this, as there are not enough of them yet to make that call. That's not being a dick, but it's reminding them that all the mid to high end restaurants in the area are only there because of the incredible amount of businesses and workers in the area. Those workers in the area include many middle and upper class folks, or health conscious people who patronize the existing restaurant stock.
My argument is always to have more equal options. I don't love fast food by any means, but I will eat it once or twice a week, and I feel many others are in the same boat. Many of us have a desire for a 6-8 dollar lunch option in lieu of 10-13 dollar lunches. There is enough to go around in this growing district.
The sheer amount of people that will be added to the area over the next decade will dictate the need for many more food options, and with new residential units hopefully, all those new options can't be 9-5'ers.
The definition of allowable fast food joints also is significantly lacking. No offense to Clover, but a place that is serving a specific portion of the population as a vegetarian food provider, should not take a 'fast food' option for an area. Additionally, classifying Starbucks (all of my hatred for this company aside) as a 'fast food' joint is ridiculous. It's a coffee shop, that has some pastry options.
While I'd love a few more actual pizza/sub type places, or some other neighborhood style options, I know I'll either be disappointed or have to wait for some that aren't gimmicky to show up. But, a BK, Taco Bell, or what have you is not going to kill the area. Particularly when there is no real classic neighborhood to destroy. The arguments made seem to be closer to the ones you'd hear from the North End, where there is a classic neighborhood that has some merit to it's arguments to keep out chains. Kendall was a corporate waste land, that is finally getting better, but the arguments are a bit too much of the new 'Muppie' (yes another awful term someone coined, but it's an accurate description) mentality. The 'we're so socially aware, smart, and health conscious, that we need to change everything else for those less educated than we' mindset only works to alienate these others who would rather live their own lives.
I eat at a number of these places around Kendall, sometimes out of necessity, sometimes just to try something new, sometimes because a rep is paying for it, but I can't do it that often nor would I want to. That's the key point, offer alternatives for all, not just alternatives to the norm (or the old norm that is corporate chains, etc.)
And yes, it is a bit ironic that so much of this mentality exists in Kendall, when the whole place is made up of (or supported by) huge corporations. Huge corporations who are developing new and weirder chemicals to 'save the world' and employ so many people who are trying to eat all natural, and think the rest of us should too to 'save the world'.
Yup, turned into a rant.
