Local businesses

[fatcatinatophat.livejournal.com]

Hi everyone, please pardon what may be perceived as a solication, but rest assured that it's not. My wife and I moved into Davis Square a few months ago and we've hard a hard time finding our way through the neighborhoods. Who knew that every single intersection in Boston is a square of some sort named after anyone and everyone. I just discovered Livejournal and I thought I'd share what works for us. For students and newcomers looking for local businesses in Davis Square (and other 'squares') check out Citysquares.com. We've found it really useful, especially for finding some of the hidden gems of the neighhborhoods.

Just my 2 cents.

Comments

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

Welcome to Davis! Hope you're liking it here so far. :-)

[fatcatinatophat.livejournal.com]

I LOVE Davis Square. It's such a funny mix of locals, students, artists, yuppies (and I mean that in a nice way) and it's beautiful. Can't be the public transportation!

Thanks plumtreeblossom! :)

[enochs-fable.livejournal.com]

I notice that Medford Square isn't on there!

[androidqueen.livejournal.com]

neither is copley

[fatcatinatophat.livejournal.com]

Yeah I emailed them once and asked them why they don't have any BOSTON neighborhoods up there, which I thought was strange. They wrote:

"Thank you for your email. Citysquares is always launching new neighborhoods. We launched the website in October of 2005, and we strongly believe in providing quality data vs. quantity data. We take our time to ensure that all the businesses in a neighborhood are represented accurately, and we give each business an opportunity to upgrade their listings. Rest assured, we'll have a full representation of Boston on the website soon."

I subscribed to their newsletter and last week they sent one out announcing the launch of Brighton Center (which is just another place we've yet to explore) and that the neighborhoods coming soon are

? Jamaica Plain
? South End
? Beacon Hill
? South Boston
? and more

So who knows! But I find their Davis Square pages to be pretty darn comprehensive.

[fatcatinatophat.livejournal.com]

Hey I just went to their About Us page and they have their launch party video up there - IT TOOK PLACE IN DAVIS SQUARE! That's funny

[yangelina.livejournal.com]

Hmm, so which came first?

http://www.citysquares.com
or
http://www.bostonsquares.com

?
Isn't this sort of a conflict of interests? Or do they serve different purposes?

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

I hope they don't plan on listing JP as one "neighborhood." It's like 6 neighborhoods. Same with Southie.

[hockeynut77.livejournal.com]

Not sure which came first, but citysquares seems alot more interesting to me. Oh, and I actually saw that launch party somebody mentioned. I remeber because I was walking to get some ice cream at JP Licks and a giant Coookie Monster was running around the benches there, so of coarse I stopped. They had a hip-hop dance team perform... They seemd like nice guys and they were handing out coupons for some of the Davis Sq. businesses listed on the site.

[fatcatinatophat.livejournal.com]

I've only been to JP a couple times, and it seems like one very long street loaded with little shops and stuff.

[prunesnprisms.livejournal.com]

The very long street changes as it goes though. There's the trendy part of Centre street yes, but the're South St and Egleston Square--and if you go the right way it all feels like the same street without shopping. In reality it has lots of different ethnic groups and a different feel every few blocks.

Bostonsquares vs. Citysquares

[megaroo112.livejournal.com]

Bostonsquares.com definitely came before citysquares. Bostonsquares.com was registered and started in 2003 but Citysquares was just started in late 2005. The difference is that Bostonsquares.com had a slow start being that it was started and maintained by two Tufts students, who decided it would be a useful resource for college students/visitors/boston residents. Because it is a two-person team, it has been taking some time to get enough data for it to be useful. This is why they recently changed to wiki to get help out from the community (see beta.bostonsquares.com). Citysquares however is now a business with a team of members but personally I like the idea of going to a site made by people who really NEED the resource and are doing it for free vs. office suits in the Pru trying to make some money. Personally, I prefer bostonsquares.com hands down to citysquares.

[megaroo112.livejournal.com]

perhaps you havent seen the new wiki-form of bostonsquares.com

beta.bostonsquares.com

Check it out.

Re: Bostonsquares vs. Citysquares

[lama-ma.livejournal.com]

Megaroo112,

Perhaps you work for Bostonsquares.com? Cuz you sound like you have a very subjective opinion about a) a website you probably know nothing more about than the others here and b) you don't know anything about the team.

"Citysquares however is a business with a team of members... I like the idea of going to a site made by people who really NEED the resource" and "office suits in the Pru trying to make some money"

Interestingly enough, if you look at the Citysquares' mission statement (etc), read their press releases, and check out the WGBH segment on them (http://boston.citysquares.com/index.php?env=-595) you'll see that while yes, they're not a non-profit, but rather are a small company, started by some local guys (two of them live in Somerville), and their mission is a very socially responsible one Ok, they're not wearing hemp bracelets and trying to save the planet, but it sure seems like they're providing a free and useful service to people, and to local businesses. And something about an Internet company in Boston doesn't strike me as being run by "office suits in the Pru".

Not entirely sure how you can prefer bostonsquares.com "hands down" when bostonsquares barely has half of the listing that Citysquares has (I can't find a number of shops in Davis Square on Bostonsquares, that I can find on Citysquares - isn't that the bottom line?). And I doubt Citysquares is staffed with 50 people. Today's web 2.0 (if you want to call it that) don't require much staff. Is there something wrong with a couple entrepreneurs trying to make a buck? They're not owned by Microsoft, as far I know.

Lastly, what does it matter if Citysquares has a revenue stream and Bostonsquares doesnt? The difference there may, in fact, be that a company that is making a few bucks can probably afford to do better things for its users, while a couple guys in a dorm room cannot. Maybe that also explains why Citysquares is even being discussed here - Bostonsquares is barely on the radar after 3 years.

Personally, and objectively speaking, I like Citysquares.com over Bostonsquares.com. There seems to be richer content and depth, and again - if you take the time to look deeper at them and watch the WGBH program about them, I have a lot of respect for what they're doing.

LOL - Now maybe I sounds like I work for Citysquares! I do not, I'm just a very opinionated chick in high-tech, with a long history of watching (and being involved in) online communities that have come and gone. This one is no different. And there are major developments in the local search/community website arena.

Respectfully yours,
Lama Ma

Re: Bostonsquares vs. Citysquares

[megaroo112.livejournal.com]

Actually, I dont work for bostonsquares...I just have been using them since they first came out in 2003. But thanks for trying to devalidate my opinion...
for being a long-term user of community forums it seems like you might need a 101 in politeness.

Bostonsquares vs City Squares

[bsquares.livejournal.com]

I founded Bostonsquares.com in July 2003.

Citysquares was founded in August 2005, launched in Oct, 2005.

So, in terms of whom came first, technically we did.

As far as one over the other? I suppose everyone has their own opinion.

Re: Bostonsquares vs City Squares

[megaroo112.livejournal.com]

Yea and no one likes a copycat therefore bostonsquares > citysquares in my opinion.

[fatcatinatophat.livejournal.com]

Oh my! Look what I started!

I agree with bsquares. Everyone has their own opinion, and is entitled to it. This isn't a big deal, and who cares who started first.

I heard of Citysquares.com from a couple colleagues who took me to lunch when we first moved to town. A few weeks later I was at the Park Street MBTA subway station and I was handed some Citysquares.com promotional junk. I've never heard of Bostonsquares until now.

I'm glad LAMA_MA pointed out the mission statement and video. When I was a kid I lived in a small town and about 15 years ago Walmart moved in and destroyed the downtown village. When I go back to see my father, it's like tumbleweed is blowing through town. Walmart ruined my home town. I firmly believe that. I support Citysquares' efforts. But I'm not taking anything away from Bostonsquares! I'll give them a shot too! :-D

I think it was Boston Squares

[mattdm [typekey.com] (from livejournal.com)]

According to the whois database, citysquares.com was created August 14, 2005, whereas bostonsquares.com was created July 14, 2003.

I just learned about both sites here in the past few days.... From what I can see, citysquares.com is currently bigger, but the new beta.bostonsquares.com has a lot more potential. And I liked their quick response to my comments. :)

I do like how citysquares.com has a special icon for locally-owned businesses.

Re: Bostonsquares vs City Squares

[-afton-.livejournal.com]

yeah tufts!

[ron_newman]

Centre Street from Hyde to Jackson Square is substantially Latino, and very different from Centre and South streets near The Monument.

[nalz.livejournal.com]

Way to rile up the locals, n00b! Just kidding. Thanks for the link. :)

[hockeynut77.livejournal.com]

I am not the savviest web user... so I am confused a little on wiki. My understanding is that the info is all generated and written by the general public, correct? This sounds cool for reviews and insight into a business, but what would stop someone from dumping on a business because of a grudge? In other words, say I go to Orleans one night and get rowdy and they have to toss me out... then the next day when I wake up I go the wiki listing and dump on the bar and everyone who works there? Personally I like to hear both sides of the story...

Wiki

[bsquares.livejournal.com]

Hockynut,

You are correct that with wiki, registered users are able to edit the description, update detail information, write a review, rate or even add a business to the list. While this does give freedom to people to express a subjective opinion, we are working to make sure that the descriptions of the restaurants (that you see in the main list) are unopinionated and that the opinions stay in the comments page for each business.
Our rating and comments page allows multiple ratings/comments so, just as you were concerned, "both sides of the story" can be heard.
While this takes some mod-ing on our part, we feel that it is worth the extra work inorder to hear what customers think about the business vs. what the PR department of the business puts on their webpage. We have found Wiki has been especially useful when users comment on their favorite menu items, parking availability etc. that may be useful information for the public.
We also recognize that businesses come and go and move and in that way a wiki-format is especially useful in keeping the site updated.
I hope I answered your questions about wiki... the best way to see the benefits is to try it out :)

http://beta.bostonsquares.com

Enjoy! We'd love to hear what you think...this is our beta site so we are encouraging any comments/changes before we release it live on the original site (www.bostonsquares.com).