Gentrification

[on-reserve.livejournal.com]

Hey All,

Posting this as it came up for me in a previous post that was sort of an amalgam of "eccentric and annoying Davis Square traits."

I realize this is a hot-button issue but I trust that people can express themselves civilly. Ok, I *hope* we can.

Gentrification. It's a big deal. People in this community talk an awful lot about how we don't want Davis to "turn into another Harvard" but in some sense the people living there now and who have populated the square over the past decade *have* turned Davis into something different from what it was.

How does one say, "I don't want Davis Square to get too gentrified" without taking responsibility for being part of the gentrification that has happened thus far? Who decides how much gentrification is too much, not enough, just right?

Maybe Davis is better, maybe it's not -- it probably depends on who you ask and what they were looking for in a neighborhood when they picked Davis.

Comments

[jadelennox]

In some ways, Davis does pretty well. It supports Someday and Deisel *and* Dunkin; random snooty gift shops *and* two dollar stores; Gargoyles *and* McD's. We're certainly not Harvard Square yet.

[bikergeek.livejournal.com]

Some of the snootier-than-thou crowd have been complaining that DD and McD's and Goodwill don't fit in with the "character" of Davis Sq. Fooey on them.

[on-reserve.livejournal.com]

I love the "character" of Goodwill.

Their library section rivals some of the used book stores in terms of great scores I've gotten there. And for $0.79 a piece rather than half-price.

Book "trash" in a college/intellectual/geeky neighborhood = big bargains for yours truly :)

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

I love the Goodwill, too. I use it, both for buying and for dropping off.

[dominika-kretek.livejournal.com]

What does it say that I consider McDonald's to be part of the "new" Davis Square?

Diesel, MacIntyre & Moore, the new, improved Somerville Theater, Diva--to me these are the newcomers that breathed a bit of new life into the square. They changed things, not always for the good, but on balance made positive contributions. I can't remember what the McDonald's replaced, but even that is okay by me.

But my god, if the trend is toward things like Pluto, Gargoyle's, and Sauce, then it's all over and we may as well be living in Harvard Square. I'll take a Subway and a Quiznos both IN THE SAME BUILDING over that crap.

[ron_newman]

I don't see people in the McDonald's, which is why I'd prefer to see it replaced by something else. The Porter Square McDonald's was replaced by Qdoba which seems much cleaner, more popular, and generally more pleasant.

[on-reserve.livejournal.com]

There are plenty of people who go to McDonald's -- not many of them HANG AROUND. Which is kind of the business model for McDonald's -- grab your food and go. And honestly, the few times I did want a $3 meal and ate there I was too embarrassed to sit down and eat it since there's such tremendous pressure to not patronize McDonald's from other Davis Square'ers. Woe to the person who selfishly occasionally enjoys a $1 double cheeseburger.

[bikergeek.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the one Davis Sq. person I know who's unembarrassed about patronizing the McD's in Davis blames it on her nine year old son. :-)

[danger-chick.livejournal.com]

You know, some days you just need a McD's double cheeseburger.... After all, it is *your* stomach.

[on-reserve.livejournal.com]

and FYI, QDoba is a wholly owned subsidiary of Jack-in-the-Box. So you'd just be replacing one fast food chain store with a more expensive one when there's an Anna's right across the street. Not sure why you prefer QDoba -- I mean, maybe it "looks" more independently owned to you but it's not.

[ron_newman]

All I said was that the Porter Square Qdoba was an improvement over the former Porter Square McDonald's. I didn't say I wanted Qdoba to come to Davis -- that would be redundant.

I also said that I never saw many people in McD's, so it seemed like a waste of a good storefront. Other people have observed differently, so maybe I'm just wrong.

McDonald's, past and present

[ron_newman]

I think the current McDonald's replaced 'Friendly Family Center' (FFC), which was sort of like the current Family Dollar, except locally owned and even less well organized.

There was an earlier McDonald's a few doors away, which closed a few years before this one opened. Its sign said "McDonald's Town House", whatever that meant.

Jamaica Plain - sound familiar?

[ron_newman]

JP seems to be struggling with the same issues. Did you all see today's Sunday Globe Magazine article about it?