Davis Square
After the Civil War, between 1870 and 1910, people increasingly chose to live in West Somerville where subdivided land was plentiful for new homes, both modest and substantial, and the commute to Boston for employment was convenient thanks to rail connections.
"[7] According to a planning study completed in 1980, Davis Square suffered from "a lack of competitiveness among merchants, traffic congestion, inadequate parking and an increasingly deteriorated physical environment.
"[8] The situation began to turn around in the late 1970s thanks largely to two entities: the Somerville Office of Planning and Community Development, and the Davis Square Task Force.
In the meantime, local officials and citizen groups petitioned the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) to create a Red Line subway stop in Somerville at Davis Square.
The MBTA agreed and in 1977 business owners and other local residents and officials formed the Davis Square Task Force to act as a citizen advisory committee on community revitalization plans.
By the early 1980s, grassroots ideas about new civic spaces, new job and housing opportunities and safe walking connections to surrounding neighborhoods became part of the discussion around the Davis Square train station.
Until the reconfiguration, two major, pedestrian-unfriendly streets bisected the square; crosswalks, sidewalks, curb extensions and refuge islands were added to enhance pedestrian capacity, circulation and safety.
Additionally, several freight trains had run right through the square each day on the Boston and Maine Railroad, forcing traffic to back up for long periods of time.
Property redevelopment activities included a storefront and facade improvement grant program, financing for building renovations, and designation of a portion of Davis Square as an urban renewal district.
The district was later developed as a 100,000 square foot office and retail complex, including public open space and a parking garage that serves patrons and employees of local businesses.
[12] This reputation has continued; in 2016, real estate company Cushman & Wakefield rated Davis Square as one of "Top 100 Cool Streets" in North America, giving it a score of "Prime Hipness".
Most of the remaining railroad right-of-way between Davis Square and the Red Line's northern terminus at Alewife was redeveloped and landscaped as a linear park or bicycle/pedestrian pathway.
Boston Magazine notes half a dozen food and entertainment establishments dating from before the Red Line still extant in 2012, including the Somerville Theatre, The Rosebud, McKinnon's Meat Market, and a candlepin bowling alley.
