"Largest" Squares in Cambridge/Somerville?

[BostonUrbEx]

I was wondering if there was any way to actually rank the squares of Cambridge and Somerville by their size or significance. It seems to be a bit ambiguous, but maybe you guys could rank them based on what YOU think their significance is. Do squares have specific boundaries so I'd be able to pull actual population/business statistics from them?

Ball
Central/Lafayette
Davis
Gilman
Harvard/Brattle
Inman
Kendall/Reardon
Lechmere
Magoun
Porter
Powder House
Teele
Union
Wilson

I'm sure there's more, but these are the ones I know.

Does that one at the intersection of Beacon and Washington have a name?

 

[Ron Newman]

For Somerville, I'd rank them this way:

Davis - major commercial center and T station
Union - formerly major commercial center, revived in recent years, future T station

Ball, Teele, Magoun - smaller neighborhood commercial squares. Ball Square is site of future T station

Powder House - nice park but only a small amount of commercial activity

Gilman - not much here now. Used to be more significant, could be again in the future with a T station

Wilson - a place of no significance at all. Most people wouldn't recognize the name.

 

[GW2500]

It will be interesting to see how some of these square transform after the green line comes in. Union Sq will probably become Somerville's biggest square 20 years after the green line begins.

 

[Ron Newman]

I should add that Ball Square is a hot spot for weekend brunch (so much that two neighboring cafe owners have come to fisticuffs), and Magoun Square and Teele Square each have some popular bars and restaurants.

I'd shy away from ranking the Cambridge squares because they are each so different in character:

Harvard - large commercial and cultural center next to famous university
Central - large commercial and civic center (city hall, post office, YMCA, YWCA)
Kendall - major office and high-tech r&d district, weak on retail
Porter - busy utlitarian strip-mall with some surrounding restaurants and stores
Inman - restaurant row

Lechmere doesn't really fit with the others since it's just a street intersection overshadowed by an elevated rail line. The Galleria Mall is nearby but not really in the square.

I've never heard of Reardon square. Where is it?

 

[Shepard]

If the Green Line stop at Union Square is along the CR tracks, as I believe is planned, I think we'll see a rapid development of both Prospect Street and Webster Ave down to Inman Square at Cambridge Street. I think the two neighborhoods of Inman and Union will be fused together as a result.