Let's talk about Cambridge, MA

A woman from my former Anglican church, a wealthy writer, moved there. I haven't visited for years, but it always seemed like a people's republic, liberal faux utopia kind of place. If you have the money to enjoy it all.

Good luck driving in Cambridge.

Leafy! Liberal! LOADED.

"We lived up in Cambridge/And browsed in the hippest news stands." - Jackie On Assistance's best friend

all of the above, OP

Cambridge is a mix of intellectuals, working class, students, liberals, Harvard, MIT, leafy well-to-do neighborhoods and gritty, urban, in-your-face congested city streets.

Adjacent to Boston, Cambridge is just a a short train ride on the Red Line. There are mad bus and automobile traffic in Harvard Square, Central Square and Kendall Square. There's Cambridgeport, Memorial Drive and Julia Child's home (1961-2001). Separating Boston and Cambridge is the ever-present, beautiful, dirty, picturesque, dotted-with-sailboats and beloved Charles River and the Head of the Chares Regatta.

Beautiful! Lotta great restaurants. Separate from Boston in the way that Santa Monica is separate from Los Angeles.

R6 the Charles River hasn’t been “dirty” for decades.

The location troll obviously has no thanksgiving plans

It's very nice and fun. Harvard Sq. is considerably less eccentric than it was in its heyday, but Central Square seems to be picking up that torch.

Nicknamed the People's Republic of Cambridge for solid reasons.

Everything I know about the area I know from Fallout 4.

My car was vandalized off Mass Ave in the early 90s. Bizarre; they dented every panel on the car, but that was it.

Geographically, much of what people think is Cambridge is really Somerville. Driving north from Boston, once you get past Harvard, blink, blink, you're in Somerville. Both cities are very expensive real estate, full of students, yuppies, college faculty, back in the Seventies it was all very affordable.

Somerville used to be called Slummerville. Now it's swanky as hell. Medford is the new Slummerville -- but even that is becoming unaffordable.

My cousin is a pharmaceutical rep from Scranton PA, and now lives Cambridge. And I lived in Somerville - Tufts - and was adjacent. Aunt, professor at Tufts, bought a house in Somerville for 70k in the 1970's, it's worth 1.5 million now. Gentrified and they are cutting the houses up into apartments or tearing down.

Used to babysit in Cambridge. People there are mostly academics, and they are intellectually snobby. Slightly racist - they called the cops on that black professor for GOING INTO HIS OWN HOME. This is despite the high amount of Asian students. Nobel Prize winners and their childrens, looking down on BU/Tufts/Boston/Umass people. Seems worse in the sciences for some reason. I lived in a house with a revolving door of graduate students, from all over. Many didn't "make it" and washed out. Perpetual post-docs or went back to home countries. One became an internet famous high school math teacher.

Somerville used to have many Portuguese speaking people, Azurs, Brazil etc. Don't know what else to say. I never actually lived in Cambridge. David Sedaris had a sister who killed herself who was well know in Somerville. She was into trash picking and rode a crazy bike around.

Nobody is very "flashy". The status symbols are like NIH grants, awards, tenure,etc.

r16, Tiffany was very well-known as a local character. It was so sad when she died.

r16 I lived on Walnut Street. Aunt is currently selling the house, she retired to New Mexico. r14 Cambridge people are usually VERY sure to remind people that aren't in Somerville, even today when it's gentrified.

Harvard Square is mostly touristy the last time I was there about 4 years ago. Less homeless and freaks. Bookstores are still excellent.

I'm kind of blah on it. If you aren't an academic, I can't see any real appeal, very expensive. Would be perfect if it was still as cheap at the 70's, 80's or even early to mid 90's. Was in San Francisco from 99-2004 and had the same kind of feeling. Too expensive to have to see homeless men shitting on my front sidewalk. I'm not wealthy, so both Boston/Silicon Valley areas feel overpriced and kinda overpriced for what you are getting environment and culturally.