COMMENT BY
EBlisster from Somerville, MA
COMMENT ABOUT PLACE
Somerville, MA
COMMENT
Not too bad a place to live
Living in Somerville is OK. I'm not a 'city' person and I would rather be out in the country some place, but it's not too bad here. I'm in my early 50s and own a house. I get along fine in my neighborhood and I can't say this is the worst place I've ever lived.
The winters here could be worse but I grew up in Rochester, NY and it's better here than there although they really don't know about snow removal here. Yes, people actually do 'save' their on the street parking spot with a chair or trash can. Parking is at a premium.
Summers are OK, it gets hot and sometimes humid but Somerville does get ocean breezes which apparently cool things down a couple of degrees. not too noticeable.
Generally people here are nice and helpful. The population is definitely much younger than I am as a general rule (probably due to the 60 colleges in the greater Boston area). We figure about 25% of the population changes every September (and May) because of the influx (and outpouring)of college students. At the end of May, you can drive almost any where around the Boston area about 10 to 15 minutes faster because there's that much less traffic. You just have to remember in September that things will slow down again.
We play a game on Labor Day weekend called "Count the Moving Trucks". It's not unusual to count over 100 trucks that weekend. Per day.
West Somerville, including the Davis Square area is probably the hippest area to live in. The Davis Square T (Mass Transit) station puts you on the Red line subway and you can get almost any where from here without too much trouble.
Somerville has a large population of artists.I've heard there are more artists here than in any other part of the Boston area.
Tufts University is located on the Somerville/Medford town line. Harvard University is probably about 5 miles (two T stops) from Davis Square.
Somerville is sort of a banana shape that curves around Cambridge. It borders on Medford, Arlington and Cambridge and was once part of Charlestown. The first American flag was flown in Somerville on Prospect Hill.
Somerville is sometimes referred to as Slummerville. They're talking about East Somerville. If you live in trendy West Somerville, you're good. It's expensive to live here compared to many other parts of the country and even East Somerville isn't cheap any more.
Somerville has great restaurants. There are a few nice dog parks. There's a nice movie theater in Davis Square.
I can't confirm the club scene here as I don't do the club thing. It's kind of embarrassing going into a club with friends (most of mine are younger) and realizing you're the oldest person in the club!
I also don't have children so I can't tell you what the family thing to do is around town.
Somerville is about 7 miles from Logan Airport. It can take you an hour or more during high traffic times to get there from here.
I find that people are usually very helpful to out of towners. Cabbies are fairly friendly and helpful too.
Drivers, on the other hand, are fairly nuts and not very well trained. But I'd still drive here over NYC.
Oh and don't say anything bad about the Red Sox. People here are insane about the Sox. Almost as bad over the Patriots.
Somerville is OK. It's convenient to interesting things to do and good jobs. It's convenient to go pick up a loaf of bread or go out for a good burger. There are a lot of different ethnic groups in the area and we have a rich melting pot culture. That's probably one of the best things about living here.