The harvard vanguard parking lot would be a great option for 4 hour meters. The fact is we have a unique situation here, most places in cambridge have private garaged parking for things like movie theaters, etc, and hotels that do private garaged parking with discounts for local businesses. I always enjoyed Northampton when they had a parking garage (where I grew up) you could park, validate at businesses, shop all over the very busy and business-full downtown, and then pay out the nose when you left the garage ;)

Now that they have a pay before you play setup a lot of businesses have closed. They don't have a good option of public transportation (bus's, not so good there) so cars is it.