Somerville, Massachusetts

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Somerville, Massachusetts
Davis Square, Somerville
Davis Square, Somerville
Official seal of Somerville, Massachusetts
Seal
Location in Middlesex County in Massachusetts
Location in Middlesex County in Massachusetts
Coordinates: 42°23′15″N 71°06′00″W / 42.3875, -71.1
Country United States
State Massachusetts
County Middlesex
Settled 1630
Incorporated 1842
Government
 - Type Mayor-council city
 - Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone
Area
 - Total 4.2 sq mi (10.9 km²)
 - Land 4.1 sq mi (10.6 km²)
 - Water 0.1 sq mi (0.3 km²)
Elevation 12 ft (4 m)
Population (2000)
 - Total 77,478
 - Density 18,868.1/sq mi (7,285.0/km²)
Time zone Eastern (UTC-5)
 - Summer (DST) Eastern (UTC-4)
ZIP code 02143, 02144, 02145
Area code(s) 617 / 857
FIPS code 25-62535
GNIS feature ID 0612815
Website: www.somervillema.gov

Somerville (pronunciation IPA: /ˈsʌmərvɪl/) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, just north of Boston. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 77,478, and was the most densely populated municipality in New England, and the most dense in the United States outside the New York - New Jersey metropolitan area. It was established as a town in 1842, when it was separated from the urbanizing Charlestown.

Contents

[edit] History

Somerville was first settled in 1630 as part of Charlestown. It was known as "Charlestown beyond the Neck"[1] because it was part of the Massachusetts mainland, not the Charlestown Peninsula. (Charlestown Neck was the narrow strip of land that joined the two.) The incorporation of Somerville in 1842 separated the largely rural town from the urbanizing Charlestown.

The original choice for the city's new name after breaking away from Charlestown was Walford, after the first settler of Charlestown. However this name was not adopted by the separation committee. Mr. Charles Miller, a member of this committee, proposed the name "Somerville" which was chosen. It was not derived from any one person's name. A report commissioned by the Somerville Historical Society found that Somerville was a "purely fanciful name".[2]

Traffic on the Middlesex Canal began its famous journey from the mouth of the Charles River in Charlestown (now part of Boston) to Lowell by going through East Somerville, where several historical markers can be discovered today.

Historically Somerville encompassed many of the less desirable railway and industrial lands squeezed between the Charles River to the southwest and the Mystic River to the northeast. For all its problems, Somerville's late 1800s and early 1900s industrial revolution left behind a rich historical record of Sanborn Maps, apparently invented in Somerville in 1867, and subsequently used for fire insurance appraisal across the USA. The delicate, detailed original Sanborn Maps are on display at the main branch of the Somerville Public Library.[3]

Somerville's industrial past left one special legacy, the invention of Fluff, the marshmallow creme.

One of the earliest American flags was raised on Prospect Hill, above Union Square, on January 1, 1776.[4]

Somerville was once colloquially referred to as "Slummerville"[2] or "Scumerville", referring to its blue-collar residents and its reputation for crime, especially in the city's east, where James "Buddy" McLean and Howie Winter and the "Winter Hill Gang" were based.[3] The city also had a very high car theft rate,[citation needed] once being the car theft capital of the country, and its Assembly Square area especially infamous for theft.[4] However, after the gentrification period the city went through in the 1990s this name became less prevalent. More recently, lobbying by grassroots organizations is attempting to revive and preserve Somerville's "small town" neighborhood environments by supporting local business, public transit, gardens and pedestrian/bike access.

[edit] Political history

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The first Democratic Mayor of the city was John J. Murphy (1929). He succeeded on his seventh try by uniting the Irish, Italians, Greeks, and Portuguese people. There were "Candle Parades" with thousands marching to giant rallies in the middle of Union Square (and other squares too). At the time signs in real estate windows often had "Irish Catholic need not apply" under their "Flats for Rent".[citation needed]

[edit] Geography

Somerville is located at 42°23′26″N, 71°6′13″W (42.390546, -71.103683).[5]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 4.2 square miles (10.9 km²), of which, 4.1 square miles (10.6 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.3 km²) of it (2.61%) is water.

[edit] Squares and neighborhoods

Somerville has a number of squares that are bustling business and entertainment centers, as well as a number of other neighborhoods:[6]

Sullivan Square is just over the Charlestown border; Porter Square, Inman Square, and Lechmere Square are all just over the Cambridge border.

[edit] Hills

The seven hills of Somerville are:[9]

  • Central Hill (near Oxford Street)
  • Cobble Hill (near Washington Street and McGrath Highway)
  • Ploughed Hill (Mount Benedict, near Interstate 93 and Minnesota Ave.)
  • Prospect Hill (just north of Union Square)
  • Spring Hill
  • Winter Hill
  • One of the following:
    • Clarendon Hill
    • Walnut Hill (near Conwell Ave. and Curtis St.)
    • Strawberry Hill (near Dell Street)

These are commemorated in Seven Hills Park, just west of Davis Square.

[edit] Paths

The Somerville Community Path is a tree-lined rail trail that runs from Cedar Street to the Cambridge border near Davis Square. It connects with the Alewife Linear Park, which in turn connects with the Minuteman Bikeway and the Fitchburg Cutoff Path. Community activists hope to extend the path eastward to Lechmere Square, which would connect with the Charles River Bike Paths and the proposed East Coast Greenway.

[edit] Government

Somerville has a mayor-city council form of municipal government. The Board of Aldermen consists of 4 at-large (city-wide) positions and 7 ward representatives (each ward is a specific section of the city).[10] The current mayor of the city is Joseph Curtatone.

Somerville is part of Massachusetts's 8th congressional district for purposes of elections to the United States House of Representatives. It is represented by Rep. Michael Capuano (Democrat), also a former mayor of Somerville.

For representation to the Massachusetts Senate, Somerville is part of the "Second Middlesex" and "Middlesex, Suffolk, and Essex" districts.[11] For representation to the Massachusetts House of Representatives, Somerville is part of the 26th, 27th, and 34th Middlesex districts.[12]

[edit] Demographics

Somerville has a mix of blue collar Irish-American, Italian American and to a slightly lesser extent Portuguese American families who are spread throughout the city; immigrant families from Brazil, Haiti and El Salvador, who live in East Somerville, from South Korea and India, in the Union Square area,[citations needed] and college students and young professionals, many of whom live in sections near Cambridge, or near Tufts University, which straddles the Somerville-Medford city line, although the university's formal address is Medford.

With only slightly over 4 square miles (10 km²) of land, Somerville is the most densely populated city in New England and the fifth densest municipality under 100,000 in the United States after Guttenberg, NJ, Union City, NJ, West New York, NJ and Hoboken, NJ according to the 2000 Demographics of the United States.

As of the census[13] of 2000, there were 77,478 people, 31,555 households, and 14,673 families residing in the city. The population density was 18,868.1 people per square mile (7,278.4/km²). There were 32,477 housing units at an average density of 7,909.1/sq mi (3,051.0/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 76.97% White, 6.50% African American, 0.22% Native American, 6.44% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 4.96% from other races, and 4.85% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 8.76% of the population.

There were 31,555 households out of which 18.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 32.2% were married couples living together, 10.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 53.5% were non-families. 31.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.38 and the average family size was 3.06.

In the city the population was spread out with 14.8% under the age of 18, 15.9% from 18 to 24, 42.6% from 25 to 44, 16.2% from 45 to 64, and 10.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females there were 94.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.2 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $46,315, and the median income for a family was $51,243. Males had a median income of $36,333 versus $31,418 for females. The per capita income for the city was $23,628. About 8.4% of families and 12.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.3% of those under age 18 and 13.6% of those age 65 or over.

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Somerville has experienced dramatic gentrification since the Red Line of Boston's subway system was extended through Somerville in 1985, especially in the area between Harvard and Tufts Universities, centering around Davis Square. Gentrification has historical cycles in the city of Somerville due to its proximity to these and many other colleges and universities.[citation needed] This was especially accelerated by the repeal of rent control in the mid-1990s being directly followed by the Internet boom of the late 90s. Residential property values approximately quadrupled from 1991 to 2003 and the stock of rental housing decreased as lucrative condo conversions become commonplace. This has led to tensions between long-time residents and recent arrivals, with many of the former accusing the latter of ignoring problems of working-class families such as drugs, gang violence, and suicides. Incidents such as anti-"yuppie" graffiti, (also known locally as "barnies",[5]) appearing around town, have highlighted this rift. The economic clash between several areas of the city of Somerville and its neighboring cities of Boston, and in particular Cambridge, has created a culture of anti-intellectualism and anti-gentry sentiment that has spanned many generations.[6] Symptoms of this include petty crime, and in some cases, violence against outsiders.[7] Recent years have seen the arrival of community groups such as Save Our Somerville (SOS), dedicated to improving relationships between old and new residents and ensuring that the concerns of the Somerville working class remain at the forefront of the city's political concerns. SOS in particular is headed by young residents of the city who claim to desire unity between all residents but also focus on the difficulties that young adults in Somerville face. They enjoy support from a number of well-known, local adults, including elected officials. Many such community-led groups find it difficult to attract wide support as many would-be advocates are forced to move to less expensive towns due to the density of the population and strong economic forces that have made Somerville a very expensive city to live in.

In November of 1997, the Utne Reader named Davis Square in Somerville one of the 15 hippest places to live in the U.S.[14] The article illustrates how Somerville is in an era socio-economic change shared by many other working-class and industrial areas of the country.


[edit] Culture

Though formally listed as being located in Medford, Tufts University is also located in Somerville. The Somerville-Medford line actually runs through Tufts' campus. The school employs many local residents and has many community service projects that serve the city, especially those run through the Leonard Carmichael Society and the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service, the latter of which especially emphasizes public service in Tufts' host communities.

Similarly, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences lists its address in Cambridge, but has its main entrance on Beacon Street in Somerville.

Somerville is home to a thriving arts community. Regular arts-related events, such as the annual "ArtBeat" festival, occur throughout the year. In addition, numerous galleries and music clubs showcase the talents of residents and others. Live music performance venues include Johnny D's, Abbey Lounge, Somerville Theater, Toast, Sally O'Briens, PA's Lounge, and others.

A major art studio complex is located in former industrial buildings known as the Brickbottom complex, between Union Square and the Cambridge line.

Davis Square is home to a lively coffeehouse scene with several coffeehouses each boasting its own fiercely loyal clientele. It is also known for its mom-and-pop shops, vintage stores, and other independent retailers.

The volunteer-operated Somerville Museum[15] preserves memorabilia chronicling Somerville's roots, with historical and artistic exhibits. It is located on 1 Westwood Road, on the corner with Central Street.

The Somerville Arts Council and Somerville Open Studios both host annual events involving the community in homegrown arts. The Boston chapter of the Dorkbot community meets in Somerville at the Willoughby & Baltic studio (in Davis Square).

The Boston Review, a political and literary magazine, has its offices in the city.

Somerville boasts a large number of excellent restaurants and taverns, including Redbones, Wu-Chon House, The Independent, Gargoyles on the Square, Highland Kitchen, Taqueria la Mexicana, Dali, and others. Noteworthy cafes include Sherman's, Diesel, Bloc 11, and True Grounds.

[edit] Transportation

[edit] Major highways

Massachusetts Route 28 runs Northeast/Southwest through Somerville, bisecting East Somerville from the rest of the city.

Interstate 93 runs North/South through Somerville, bisecting Ten Hills and Assembly Square from the rest of the city.

[edit] Rail

Somerville Highlands Station, 1908
Somerville Highlands Station, 1908

Davis Square in Somerville and nearby Porter Square in Cambridge have Red Line subway stations providing easy access to Harvard Square and to downtown Boston. Porter Square also has an MBTA Commuter Rail station, providing access to Boston's North Station and other locations on the Fitchburg Line.

Massachusetts state officials have agreed, both in court settlements and legislation, to extend the Green line subway/streetcar system through Somerville. This commitment was made, in part, to offset the additional burdens in traffic and pollution within the city due to completion of the Big Dig infrastructure. The Green Line extension would be built along existing commuter rail rights-of-way, and would extend service to much of central Somerville, to Tufts University and surrounding areas of Medford, and (along a separate spur) to Union Square.[16] Controversy has surrounded the repeated delays by the state in providing funding for the project, most recently when Governor Deval Patrick decided to delay work an additional two years in order to seek up to $300 million in federal financing for the project. This decision makes it unlikely that the previous completion date of 2014 will be met.[17]

In April 2008, Governor Deval Patrick signed into law a $3.5 billion transportation bond bill that includes the $600 million necessary to fund the Green Line extension. The target completion date remains 2014. [18]

A new Orange Line station has been proposed, to be built near the Assembly Square Mall in eastern Somerville, between the existing Sullivan and Wellington stations.

[edit] Bus

The city is served by buses that connect to these subway stations:

  • Orange Line stations:
    • Sullivan Square in Charlestown
    • Wellington in Medford
    • Malden in Malden
  • Red Line stations:
    • Davis Square in Somerville
    • Kendall, Central, Harvard, and Porter in Cambridge
  • Green Line station:
    • Lechmere in East Cambridge
    • Cleveland Circle and Reservoir, at the Brighton/Brookline line

[edit] Air

Somerville is approximately three miles from Logan International Airport, which serves Greater Boston and is accessible by car and public transit.

[edit] Notable residents

[edit] References

  1. ^ The History of Prospect Hill
  2. ^ cf. Haskell, Albert L., "Haskell's Historical Guide Book of Somerville, Massachusetts", section on "Somerville: Why So Named".
  3. ^ Somerville Public Library
  4. ^ Historical postcards of the raising of the Grand Union Flag in 1776.
  5. ^ US Gazetteer files: 2000 and 1990. United States Census Bureau (2005-05-03). Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
  6. ^ Somerville City website
  7. ^ http://gregswords.wordpress.com/2007/06/29/44-reasons-why-somerville-is-great-unfinished/
  8. ^ Compare historic postcard [1] to Google Maps streetview.
  9. ^ City Of Somerville - Somerville Historical Information
  10. ^ City Of Somerville - Board of Aldermen
  11. ^ Massachusetts General Court - Senatorial Districts
  12. ^ Representative Districts
  13. ^ American FactFinder. United States Census Bureau. Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
  14. ^ Jay Walljasper and Daniel Kraker, Hip Hot Spots: The 15 Hippest Places to Live. Utne Reader (November/December 1997).
  15. ^ The Somerville Museum
  16. ^ City Of Somerville - Green Line Extension Info. Retrieved on 2007-08-26.
  17. ^ Proponents rap delay to extend Green Line - The Boston Globe. Retrieved on 2007-08-26.
  18. ^ State fully funds Green Line extension - Somerville News. Retrieved on 2008-05-01.

[edit] Bibliography

Beautiful 1852 Map of Boston area showing Somerville and the Middlesex Canal.
Beautiful 1852 Map of Boston area showing Somerville and the Middlesex Canal.

[edit] External links

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