city borders?

[metalynith.livejournal.com]

Does there somewhere exist a map that shows where the Cambridge/Sommerville border is? For, say, parking with the resident permit instead of feeding the meters on Mass Ave, purposes?

Comments

[cos]

If you google for "somerville map" or "somerville street map" you'll find the City of Somerville's maps page. There's a PDF there you can print. This one is nicer than the one that's more prominently linked.

[metalynith.livejournal.com]

perfect, thanks!

and i confess - i'm a little embarrassed that i ended my search when google maps didn't have my answer.

[bikergeek.livejournal.com]

All of Mass. Ave. from Rt 16 to the Charles River is in Cambridge. It never enters Somerville.

[talonvaki.livejournal.com]

All you have to do is look at the street signs.

If they're green, you're in Cambridge. If they're blue, you're in Somerville. Like this:




(http://www.flickr.com/photos/blackaller/4333037758/)

[lbmango.livejournal.com]

Those are great, where they are, but I don't think they're everywhere. For example, I don't recall one being on Cameron... and it's hard to see street sign colors at night.

[ron_newman]

They aren't on Day Street either.

[talonvaki.livejournal.com]

I've seen blue signs on Day Street...I guess it depends on where you are.

[ron_newman]

I live right at the city boundary on Day Street, and we don't have a CAMBRIDGE | SOMERVILLE city-line sign like in those two photos. I've seen such signs on other streets, just not mine.

[syntheticnature.livejournal.com]

Not on Chester Street either. The city line is in the middle of a block so you have to resort to arcana like watching where the "permit parking only" signs change shape, looking for a slight change in the color of the street pavement, or knowing that the small square stone marker in the middle of the driveway of 12 Chester marks the city line (but the larger rectangular stone in front of 10 Chester does not, and neither does the stone mini-obelisk at the corner of Chester and Orchard).

[ceo]

Also, the permit parking only signs in Somerville are square, and in Cambridge they're rectangular.

[zaarwin-devolve.livejournal.com]

Also, in some areas on the border, the Somerville ones will state...Somerville. :) (I think some Cambridge signs say Cambridge too.) But yeah, paying close attention to the sign shape is a better method.

[cos]

If you're actually at a particular location wondering if you can park there, you can look at the "resident parking only" sign and see if the small print says Cambridge or Somerville. Maps serve other purposes.

[ron_newman]

Most such signs don't actually have a city name printed on them.

[ckd]

Don't they at least have "C D T & P" or the like at the bottom? That's a giveaway (Cambridge Department of Traffic and Parking).

[gruene.livejournal.com]

The trick is to look at the street sweeping signs. If it indicates that the street is swept once a month, you're in Cambridge, twice a month you're in Somerville. (For residential streets anyway)

[sparkgrrl658.livejournal.com]

i guess you mean by sides? cambridge is first friday second monday. (except from december to...april i think?)

[rozhinka.livejournal.com]

No, that's the schedule in Cambridgeport (where I used to live). Cambridge has about 10 different street sweeping zones. In the North Cambridge zone adjacent to Davis it's the third Wednesday and the third Thursdays.

[sparkgrrl658.livejournal.com]

well yes, i know, obviously. (it's where i practically live too.) i just meant that it's not once a month, unless you mean per side, and could be confusing for the OP to determine based on that.

[liryon (from livejournal.com)]

In Cambridge each street sweeping sign (which is only on one side, and only lists cleanings for that side) will list only one day per month for sweeping. In Somerville the same sign will list two days per month for sweeping (for the side that it resides on).

[sparkgrrl658.livejournal.com]

gotcha, thank you! that's what i was getting at and couldn't really sort out :D

[coolerq.livejournal.com]

Wait, what? Does my Cambridge resident permit mean I can park in metered spots without feeding the meter?

--Quentin

[cos]

No. But it means nearby non-metered parking is probably available to you.

Somerville website

[lioracle.livejournal.com]

Forget about all those unreliable techniques--the map of the Somerville city website is fantastic. I've used it many a time to figure out how to park just inside the Somerville line when I needed to go to Harvard, Inman Sq, Porter.