noobie.

[midorionna.livejournal.com]

hello somervillians-

i will be moving right near davis square in approximately two weeks, and i have a few questions:

what is your favorite sushi restaurant in the area?

are there any non-permit parking areas in close proximity (i will have out of state plates and need to change them to get somerville parking after i move)?

what is the most prevalent bank in the area (i'll need to switch that too)?

what, in your opinion, is the best thing about living near davis square?

Comments

[bikergeek.livejournal.com]

Second the recommendation for Bluefin. Also try Yoshi's on College Ave. just off of Powderhouse Sq.

Call the Somerville police (or maybe it's the traffic office?) to find out what to do about temporary parking with your out of state plates until you can get them changed over.

"Most prevalent bank in the area" is either Bank of America (nee Fleet) or Citizens. They both suck. I used to bank at the dear departed US Trust before they got gobbled by Citizens; when I saw the new fee schedule, I bolted. Lots of my friends bank at Wainwright (branch in Davis Sq., across from Diesel) and recommend them. I personally bank at a credit union.

[simply-juniper.livejournal.com]

I second Yoshi's.

[prunesnprisms.livejournal.com]

Yoshi's has the worst service, EVER. The last time I went it took forever to get served and never got any more drinks for the entire, multiple hour meal. Who has time for that?

[bikergeek.livejournal.com]

Wow, I've never experienced anything like that. Not saying you didn't, but maybe they were just having an off night?

[prunesnprisms.livejournal.com]

Dunno. It happened a couple times to me, then a third to my best friend, and then we decided it was worth getting in the car for sushi. It's terribly unfair. I want to uproot Tsunami from Brookline and bring it HERE, I'm sure it would be appreciated.

[midorionna.livejournal.com]

thanks- i'll give them a call. maybe i won't have to rent a space for a month :)

[bikergeek.livejournal.com]

Somerville PD tends to be reasonable about that kinda stuff. One thing IMO that Somerville does better than a few other places in the Boston area. Cambridge in particular is nasty about parking enforcement, but they've had 100 years of being a college/young person's town with too many cars. Somerville--except for the area right around Tufts--has only been like that for maybe a decade, and they're still getting used to it. :-)

[unferth.livejournal.com]

You want the Somerville Traffic and Parking office:
http://www.ci.somerville.ma.us/Department.cfm?orgunit=TRAFFIC

(617) 625-6600 ext. 7900

Hours: Monday thru Friday 9:00 am - 4:00 pm Wednesday 9:00 am - 6:00 pm

When I moved to Somerville they were very helpful, giving me an official 'grace period' over the phone until all the paperwork got finalized. My car was ticketed during the grace period, but they were able to remove the tickets when I visited the office to get my resident permit. My car was already registered in MA, though, and it's always possible that mattered. This was a couple of years back, and the situation might have changed, but it's definitely worth asking.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_meej_/]

That wouldn't have mattered (the MA thing), as I had the same situation coming in with NY plates.

I *think* the official grace period that they let you work under is 7 days, but it might be longer than that.

[midorionna.livejournal.com]

i just called the parking office and they said the grace period is currently 2 weeks. that should be long enough to get my plates, license and sticker if i get on the ball.
thanks!

[danger-chick.livejournal.com]

And the even better news is that the Registry of Motor Vehicles doesn't suck. I moved to NM recently and ketchup moves faster than the RMV lines here.

Oh, and I totally agree with Blue Fin. If you want to splurge and explore, try Rokas in between Harvard and Central or Ginzas in Brookline.

[ckd]

Roka has closed.

[danger-chick.livejournal.com]

ARRRRRRRGHHHHH!!!!


I leave this town for one cruddy year and it starts to fall apart!

[sadotter.livejournal.com]

To offer a counter opinion, if you do not anticipate incurring many fees, Bank of America may be an ok choice. With direct deposit of my paycheck, the only fee I pay is $1.50/month for a checking account & savings account. I can't vouch for customer service; though when they were Fleet, I had a satisfactory experience with taking out a one-year loan.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_meej_/]

Wainwright gets high recommendations from my wife and I for good service and for socially-aware practices - they're particular about investing, etc.

Most important advice for banking, tho, in this area would be to get an account at one of the banks that's on the SUM network - that way, you can do fee-less ATM'ing all over the greater Boston area.