Porter Square
42°23′19″N 71°07′10″W / 42.3886°N 71.1194°W
Porter Square is a neighborhood of Cambridge, Massachusetts in the USA, located around the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Somerville Avenue, between Harvard and Davis Squares. The Porter Square station serves both the MBTA Red Line, and the Commuter Rail. The station is approximately 200 yards from the border with Somerville, so "Porter Square" inhabitants include residents of both cities.
Attractions
A prominent feature of the Porter Square skyline is the tower on the Art Deco-style University Hall building, which was a Sears, Roebuck store from 1928 to 1985. In 1991, Lesley University began leasing classroom space there, and in 1994 it bought the building, known then as the Porter Exchange building, in which it now houses its bookstore and art and dance studios, in addition to classrooms.
Lesley University continues to expand in the Porter Square neighborhood, with current plans to relocate the Art Institute of Boston to the site occupied by the North Prospect Church on Massachusetts Avenue, across Roseland Street from University Hall.
In addition to its Lesley facilities, University Hall contains many (mostly Japanese) small shops and restaurants, including Bluefin (Japanese cuisine), and a Bally Total Fitness gym. The concentration of Japanese establishments has resulted in some referring to it unofficially as "Japantown-Cambridge" or "Little Japan". In May 2009, Lesley University ousted the Japanese grocery store Kotobukiya from Porter Exchange in favor of plans to expand its textbook store, prompting rumors that Lesley is seeking to replace "Little Japan" with its own student center.[1]
The Porter Square Shopping Center contains a Shaw's (formerly Star Market), Tags Hardware, CVS/pharmacy, an independent bookstore called Porter Square Books, a Cambridge Naturals store, Mudflat pottery gallery, Emack & Bolio's, Gentle Dental, and a parking lot known for its lack of parking and its strict two-hours-or-you're-towed policy.
Restaurants in the area include Zing Pizza, Wok & Roll (Chinese), Tacos Lupita (Salvadoran), Anna's Taqueria, Sugar & Spice (Thai), Christopher's (American), Passage to India, and Elephant Walk (Cambodian). Porter Square is also home to Toad, a bar that features a live band every night.
From 2004 to mid-2006 the intersection of Massachusetts and Somerville Avenue, including the area in front of the strip mall, underwent extensive construction to improve access for pedestrians, bicyclists, and mass transit users, and improve drainage and stormwater conditions. The artist Toshihiro Katayama of Harvard University, in conjunction with the landscape architect Cynthia Smith, designed a new visual look for the square including contrasting light and dark concrete paving, stone walls and boulders.[2]
History
Porter Square was named for the now-vanished Porter's Hotel, operated by Zachariah B. Porter, who also left his name to the hotel's specialty, the cut of steak known as porterhouse. The square, formerly flanked by cattle yards that used the Porter rail head to transport their beef throughout the US, was an important center for commerce and light industry as early as the late 18th century. The hotel was demolished in 1909.[3] A relic of the cattle trade, a tunnel for moving cattle to and from the railroad without interfering with street traffic, survives under the nearby Walden Street Bridge, and has been preserved and restored. The "most dramatic loss" of 19th century landscape in the square was the leveling of the old Rand Estate in 1952 to make way for the Porter Square Shopping Center.[3]
In 1984 the Red Line was extended from Harvard through Porter and Davis Square to its present terminus at Alewife, a project that also left Porter with its most visible landmark, Susumu Shingu's 46-foot stainless steel kinetic sculpture entitled "Gift of the Wind."
Chronic homelessness
The presence of chronically homeless and impoverished individuals persists.[4] Panhandlers in the Square are regularly stationed outside the entryways of certain shops. Others have taken up residence inside the route 83 bus shelter at Porter Square Station, partially inhibiting its intended use.
References
- ^ "Little Japan" to lose its center
- ^ "Architecturally Speaking by Gary Wang". Retrieved 2008-04-15.
- ^ a b Survey of Architectural History in Cambridge: Northwest Cambridge, 1977, ISBN 0-262-53032-5, Cambridge Historical Commission, Cambridge, Mass.
- ^ "Number of Homeless in City Increases". Retrieved 2010-09-25.
External links
- Description of Porter Square design project from Cambridge community development site
- Article about University Hall building in Lesley University magazine
- PSNA Porter Square Neighbors Association