What I love about Somerville

That the upwardly mobile of Chelsea and Everett aspire to it.
 
^^ And East Boston as well, Toby. In may ways, Somerville is the template for the evolution I'd hope to see in East Boston, Winthrop, and Revere over the next decade. The Suffolk Downs casino proposal, if built, will capsize that evolution.
 
Suffolk Downs seems like such a bad spot for one. They'd do better building it over the train tracks behind North or South Station.

If Charlie Baker and company need handouts, well, the casino law already gives a cut of the handle to the turf owners.

Anyway, Somerville has distinguished itself.
 
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Question.

Who, if anybody, deserves credit for turning Somerville around?

Was it completely organic? Was it a result of planning, community activism, economics or some combination?

Is there some sort of blueprint that other communities can follow?
 
Organic, with a dash of heavy rail. Having a few world class universities (and their faculty, staff, and adult students) as satellites has been a catalyst as well.

Ron -- you're our resident expert. Am I close?
 
Part of it was that Cambridge got so damned expensive.
 
When statewide voters revoked Cambridge's rent control (and Boston's, and Brookline's), Cambridge became more expensive and lots of folks looked next door to Somerville as an alternative. The Red Line station in Davis was also a huge factor.

After that, I'd say things proceeded fairly organically, to the point where even areas not yet especially well served by public transit (Union Square, Ball Square, Magoun Square) have become popular.

Relentless self-promoting boosterism by several successive mayors (not just the current one) has helped, too.

I'm not convinced the Somerville model can readily transfer to Everett or Revere or Lynn. Being sandwiched between Tufts and Harvard, with MIT also reasonably nearby, gives Somerville a huge leg up in attracting a culturally lively population.
 
Somverville Theater in Davis Sq. It serves beer, and has an exhibit of bad art in the basement to view when waiting for your show.
 
Oh yes. We came perilously close to losing it (at least in its current form) in 1988-89. In two years, it will celebrate its 100th anniversary.
 
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My brother-in-law used to work for a Major Consulting Firm that helped places like the UAE develop efficient local governments. He says Somerville was an example often brought up of an American city's turnaround.

These slides from a recent city presentation sum up what makes this a great town. What other city has Harvard conceiving its new super rec center, MIT redesigning a whole neighborhood (Winter Hill), and Tufts working on a new data system to improve the schools?
https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B1Y_jIpLYtpyY0dVT2gtaUQwS1U

Add to that the first new T stop in a generation going up at Assembly Square, itself the largest development in the area outside the Seaport, and tantalizing, almost believable, promise of GLX light rail to come...

The Best Restaurants in Boston are usually, more accurately, the Best Restaurants in Cambridgeville...

What's not to like? Oh wait, this happened outside my house:
"A Somerville man was charged with assault with intent to murder, assault and battery, threat to commit a crime and witness intimidation. According to a police report, Da Silva is accused of choking a woman he's in a relationship with and saying, "I'm going to kill you." The report says he also theatened to kill a roommate who witnessed the alleged attack."

And this
"Sandes pulled out a knife, according to the alleged victim and other witnesses, and chased the alleged victim down the street for several blocks, to Sandes’ residence, where he has been staying while he is going through a divorce."

And this
"A man driving a stolen moped ran into an investigator with the Somerville Housing Police, dragged him a few feet along the road, crashed into two parked cars and then took off on foot."

Maybe it's just my neighborhood...
 
My brother-in-law used to work for a Major Consulting Firm that helped places like the UAE develop efficient local governments. He says Somerville was an example often brought up of an American city's turnaround.
Click to expand...

I would venture to guess it has more to do with Somerville's proximity to gentrifying Boston and, especially, Cambridge than anything Somerville itself has done, though. Being on the receiving end of all the (real, Silver Line doesn't count) rapid transit expansions in Metro Boston hasn't hurt either.

People are making the same mistake about Brooklyn, assuming something about its "creative" and "artisanal" economy is an inherent success rather than a byproduct of the borough being hypergentrified because it was a cheap annex to monied Manhattan.
 
I think you are largely right in this observation, but I would say beware dismiss the turnaround entirely based on proximity. Somerville's success certainly isn't possible without the economic drivers of Cambridge and Boston, but the city is doing something right and can serve as a model for other cities that have healthy CBD's surrounded by depressed, inactive, or underutilized space nearby.

The important comparison isn't to say, of course Somerville fared better than a mid-size kansas city of 70k. The real comparison I think is why is Somerville doing better than Quincy or Roxbury. Why did Brooklyn take off and not the Bronx? It's these more regional comparisons that should be understood before you can use it as any transplantable model. {and I am too lazy, and this may not be the appropriate thread for that discussion, which would be interesting}
 
^ You're right, and I think the answer is still proximity. Brooklyn was adjacent to the coolest parts of Manhattan; the Bronx was adjacent to the poorest. Somerville's next to Cambridge, which was a hub of alternayouth culture or whatever and already well connected to Boston. Quincy is much further from the core and adjacent to Dorchester. Of course, Roxbury is another story. You'd be remiss for not saying something about race and class - gentrification has tended to affect stable working class neighborhoods more than much more than what used to be called "the inner city". Socioeconomically, Somerville was a lot like Williamsburg and Greenpoint...
 
Proximity is important, but if it was the only thing that mattered, we'd have tons of cities/towns/neighborhoods taking off around Boston simultaneously. That isn't the case. The difference between Somerville and places like East Boston, Dudley Square, Chelsea and all the other places that get the Next Greatest Place label is strong leadership (Curtatone), strong community groups (like STEP), and a mobilized general population.
 
Roxbury is an anomaly with race/class issues as I've already explained. I think East Boston and Chelsea are additionally burdened by access, though. East Boston isn't immediately adjacent to any of Boston/Cambridge's core employment areas or cool neighborhoods. Chelsea has the same problem but doesn't even have rail transit. I'm not saying Somerville's government hasn't taken influential steps (which - another thing - city neighborhoods like Roxbury and Eastie don't have the autonomy to do), but I think geography is really the deciding factor.
 
Maverick has pretty good access to downtown jobs. Some killer waterfront views. And lots of empty Massport land which isn't being used. Surprised that hasn't been jumped on yet. For Somerville, proximity to Cambridge is more valuable, apparently.
 
underground said:
Proximity is important, but if it was the only thing that mattered, we'd have tons of cities/towns/neighborhoods taking off around Boston simultaneously. That isn't the case. The difference between Somerville and places like East Boston, Dudley Square, Chelsea and all the other places that get the Next Greatest Place label is strong leadership (Curtatone), strong community groups (like STEP), and a mobilized general population.
Click to expand...

This is where leadership can be key. Somerville has a lot of inherent advantages that Chelsea will never have. Chelsea wont be within a half mile of Harvard ever. But beyond this, you see the significance of leadership in playing a role. Somerville has been aggressive in courting more access and developing community amenities. If the menino focused as much resources on Maverick as other areas, it can have a huge catalyzing impact. The moving of the BPS(?) to dudley is being done in this vain.

Imagine if Chelsea upzoned around the CR station and jumped up and down for better service. There is something to be said for political and community organization in this situation (or lack thereof).
 
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