Davis Square 1997 vs. Davis Square 2007

[cvs-is-king.livejournal.com]

which do you prefer?

Comments

[mizufae.livejournal.com]

the question is, how many of us have actually been here for ten years??

[talonvaki.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I was going to say that in 1997 I was living in San Francisco, so I gotta go with 2007. But ask me again in three years :-)

[jadasc.livejournal.com]

Ask me next year and I'll tell you.

[znhoward.livejournal.com]

When I was in high school (ca. 1996), I'd skip school and come down to the city from the 'burbs. I'd drive to Alewife and T into Harvard Square. I always wondered what went on at Davis (and Porter for that matter), but was never intrepid enough to explore. And that has made all the difference.

[turil.livejournal.com]

Mememememe! Just, though. I was supposed to move into Somerville on April 1st of 1997, but then there was a 3 foot snow storm that day, so it too a couple of days before I could move in. I was right on Cutter Ave, and mad did that place suck. The landlord moved into the unfinished basement and invited hookers to hang out with him in the middle of the night. And he came into our apartment to use the phone and bathroom when he thought we weren't home. Fortunately, that wasn't enough to scare me back to JP, and I've been in Somerville ever since.

[ron_newman]

I've been here since 1992 (and elsewhere in Somerville since 1984), but I no longer remember what has opened since 1997 and what was already here then.

[cvs-is-king.livejournal.com]

I am not only talking about business changes.(although they certainly influence things) I'm talking general feel, vibe, direction, diversity, and so on.

[heliograph.livejournal.com]

I was here. Can I vote for 2006? The La Contessa thing bugs me. The good things that were here in 1997 are still here:

Sessa's
McKinnon's
Rosebud
The Singer store
The Somerville Theater
Johnny D's
Redbones
Sacco's
Dente's
Mike's
Yoshi's (really Powderhouse, and it was Chieko's back then)

And some new good things:
Out of the Blue
The UPS Store
Mr. Crepe
Macintyre & Moore
Tingle's (newish)
Comicazi
Anna's

There are some missing things. I miss Steve's and the original Bertucci's (though Steve's might have gone before '97). I miss that all night eatery that was where Out of the Blue was before OotB moved. I miss Radio Shack, as sad as that is. I really liked the used bookstore that was out towards the parking office, so I miss that.

So what do people miss? Yee's? That fish taco place? The comic and card place where Magpie is now (more or less)?

[hauntmeister.livejournal.com]

I remember when the discount liquor store turned into a discount book store. That was certainly a sign of the neighborhood going upscale!

If I remember the development of that corner correctly, it was discount liquors --> Buck-a-Book --> Expansion of Someday Cafe --> Mr. Crepe.

And the Somerville Theatre renovation and conversion to a multiplex -- while keeping the main theatre intact -- is one of the best things to happen to the square! The McDonald's and Family Dollar, both of which have opened since I've lived here ... not so much. Though it's nice to have that sort of low-end anchor around to keep up remembering our square's humble beginnings!

[danger-chick.livejournal.com]

I miss that all night eatery that was where Out of the Blue was before OotB moved.
Mmmm...Dolly's.

I really liked the used bookstore that was out towards the parking office, so I miss that.
I was just thinking of Zembla's the other day. It was one of the best used bookstores for poetry ever. I think I spent most of time by Deborah Digges', I think, used poetry books. I think I went there every Sat and bought about ten dollars worth of books.

I lived on Dover St from 1994-2001. From 1992-1994 and 2001-2004, I lived not far away in Porter. Since then I moved to NM, and life has never been the same. I think the best years in Davis (for me) were 1993-1996. I preferred the Somerville Theater as one large hall -- people danced up and down the aisle during "Muriel's Wedding." You'd see people wander around the square drinking coffee from Someday's glasses, because there wasn't enough place to sit. Steve's was still open in 1993, I believe. The armenian pizza place was still open on Mass Ave and Dover.

[alphacygni]

1997 is when I first moved to the Boston area, and I first lived on Highland Ave just down from Davis, so it was my local landing pad and I got quite attached. To place that time period in the business churn, it was right about when Blue Shirt Cafe first opened.

Food options have multiplied. Non-food options feel about the same, to me. The aesthetics of the storefronts have been kicked up a notch, most notably on Elm. I'd like to think that's because the businesses are all doing well and can afford to reinvest into improvements, but I'm not sure of that. The atmosphere feels very similar. I spent some intervening years living in exotic faraway places like Central Square and western Massachusetts, and moving back to Davis this past fall felt very familiar.

Certainly some notable establishments have gone, and I've noticed that. I didn't happen to be a major customer of any of them. The Someday closing was probably to some people like Redbones closing (heaven forbid) or other things would be to me.

I'm fond of both Davis 1997 and 2007. I might break the tie, if forced, by noting the current presence of burritos from Anna's. But really, it's still the Davis I love.

good topic

[gildersleeve.livejournal.com]

I miss Disc Diggers, but stopped going there when they stopped selling LP's back in the early 90's. I miss the original Someday Cafe when it was just one little storefront right next to the cinema entrance (and I remember paying $2.50 for a movie back before the theater had 5 screens and was not renovated, and even less than that as a kid).

Some real old school stuff: Pine Tree Diner, Somerville Books & Records, Kay & Chips, Zembla Books (when it was where JP Licks is, then moved up Holland), the little Antique store where Antonia's is, Apple-A-Day (where Dunkin Donuts is today), Friscati's restaurant (the whole block where Anna's Taqueria is), the Venice restaurant (where Orleans is). Gorin's Department Store, the Blarney bar. Or how about when the train tracks went through the center of the square. Man, now we are talking 1977 or 87.

I think that the vibe in Davis changed permanently in the mid-90's and hasn't changed much since then. Places come and go, some loved, some not, but overall it seems fairly consistent. My Davis is not your Davis is not my kids Davis is not my father's Davis. But it is all of ours, too.

[ron_newman]

The Burren opened in 1996, according to its web page. I think of that as the triggering event that turned Elm Street into what it is today. Before then, there wasn't much reason to walk east of Dover Street in the evening, except to go to Redbones.

[rmd.livejournal.com]

back in the mid-1980's, there was briefly a lesbian bar (with occasional singing/band performances) in what is now the downstairs of redbones, back when the upstairs was a townie bar whose name i've forgotten.

[cos]

I don't think Davis Square has changed all that much since 1997, except for one big thing: Dolly's Diner. Davis Square was definitely a better place with Dolly's than without. Other than that, overall, it's a pretty similar place IMO.

[spatch]

I think I'll have me a coffee at the Someday, then head over to Yee's Home for Wayward Dogs Village to get lit on some truly cheap-ass rum drinks with umbrellas in, and then have a nice late-night dinner at Dolly's.





...oh. Shit.

[cvs-is-king.livejournal.com]

The Joshua Tree wasn't here in '97.
Score a point for 97.

Rent was more reasonable in 97.
Score a point for 97.

More artists lived in Davis in 97
Score a point for 97

Less "yuppies" in 97
Score a point for 97

More and uglier statues in 97.
Score a point for 2007!

Slackers (not hipsters)were a larger part of the community.
Score a point for 97.

Your backpack wasn't stolen at the Someday in 97.
Your backpack was stolen at the Someday in 2006.
Score a point for 97.

The Someday served the best coffee in the city in 97.
Now you have to go to Union to get that same good cup of coffee.
The Diesel's coffee is just plain nasty in 2007
Score a point for 97.

There was a barter system between businesses in 97.
Pretty sure nothing of that sort in 2007.
Score a point for 97.

There was more conversation and less cellphone blathering fools in 97.
Score a point for 97.

Dolly's late night in 97.
Now...nothing.
Point for 97.

on and on and on and...

I'm sorry, but...

[aki.livejournal.com]

Wow, did you really go and create a LJ account just to troll here? Are you disappointed that this thread has remained reasonable? Am I a hypocrit for taking the bait?

Yes.

[pushupstairs.livejournal.com]

I honestly don't think I even knew Davis Square existed until about 2003. Before then, it was just some T stop I had passed through 3 or 4 times.

but, like most places I've been, I'd wager that it was better 10 years ago (or more).

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

I moved here in 1995. Back then it was a place where bohemians and artsies lived because it was cheap, mixed in with the locals who had been here all along. It was sort of the Avenue Q of the Boston area.

In spite of the gentrification though, I'm happier here now than I was in 1997. Back then I didn't know anyone locally, and everything I did in Davis I did alone. But now I'm rooted in the community and feel a part of it. If I walk through Davis or Ball, I'll always see someone I know. That feels good, regardless of the businesses that come and go.

[ron_newman]

Folks interested in the Square's commercial history may want to read these two Somerville News comment threads:

one (search the comments for "Waldorf")
two (history discussion is all mixed together with three or four other topics)

and this earlier LJ thread, about six months ago:
What has changed?

History

[rethcir.livejournal.com]

This historical info would be excellent to put into the Wikipedia article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Davis_Square).

[tut21.livejournal.com]

I'll play devil's advocate and say that if the square didn't change at all from 1997 to 2007 fewer people would still go there. Change helps keep an area vibrant.

[turil.livejournal.com]

I liked it best in 1999 or so, I think. There were some funky stores near Goodwill that I really liked, but didn't last (Planet Aid and a health-food cafe/store). Though there was that really odd store that used to be next to Goodwill and had weird stuff for sale. I don't really remember it, but it was very amusing. I also enjoyed having that old deaf guy who ran the old fashion comic book store near where Magpie is now. And I liked having the old used CD/record shop, which was much more useful (though less friendly) than CD Spins. And I liked Mikes before it went all yuppie. And I really liked the people who worked at Goodwill back then. I miss the short, older, balding guy. He was funny. Oh, and I really miss Buck-a-Book, though it had started deteriorating at that point, I think. (I don't remember when they stopped having actual $1 books, but that was their real turning point, when they started to suck for me.)

But now it's ok, too. I like Magpie. And Hollywood Express (though I haven't rented a video in 3 years or so). And Blue Shirt Cafe.

[ron_newman]

Planet Aid was part of a shady cult so I don't much miss them. Wish their collection boxes would go away, too.

Utne Reader article

[ron_newman]

I found it online again (it was gone from the web for a while):

Hip Hot Spots, by Jay Walljasper, from the November/December 1997 Issue. The Davis Square section is short, so I'll just quote it in full here for posterity:

Out in Somerville, a blue-collar suburb of Boston awash in artistic energy spillover from Cambridge, something is happening. Two of the 20 promising young fiction writers lauded in a special issue of Granta last year hail from humble Somerville, and a lively cultural milieu has popped up around the subway stop at Davis Square. With its solid bookstores, Irish pubs, the best blues joint in town, and adventuresome programming at the Somerville Theater, it's an alternative to franchise-filled Harvard Square.

Funny thing is, we didn't have any bookstores here in 1997 (Buck-a-Book doesn't count for me).

Re: Utne Reader article

[turil.livejournal.com]

McIntyre and Moore wasn't there in 1997? I thought it was... And Buck-a-book was defnitely a book store - they sold books! :-)

[jbdowse.livejournal.com]

Likewise. (especially for me as a transplant from rural NH)

[crazybone.livejournal.com]

When I was going to college in the 90's Davis was one of those places I'd go just to walk around, shop and people watch for a while. I had friends that lived in Somerville and always wanted to move there. I moved to Porter two years ago because, in addition to my other requirements, I wanted to be as close to Davis Square as I could get. It's not what it once was, but it's still pretty cool. A big part of it is the community and the people that hang out there.
And yes, I too miss Disc Diggers.