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Harvard Square, May 2000Cambridge is a city in the greater Boston area in Massachusetts, United States. It was named in honor of Cambridge, England, the town where its founding fathers had studied ( Cambridge University). Cambridge is perhaps most famous for three things: Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the NPR program Car Talk. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 101,355, though even more people commute into Cambridge to work.
Cambridge is located in Middlesex County, Massachusetts. The county
government was abolished in 1997, and the county exists solely as a geographical description. It and Lowell are the county seats of Middlesex County 6.
1 About the city
The diversity of the population is striking — from the most distinguished Harvard professor to the poorest immigrant from Latin America. This diversity contributes to the liberal atmosphere, and may be compared to Berkeley, California, in some respects. It is often referred to as the " People's RepublicPeople's Republic is a title that is often used by Marxist-Leninist governments to describe their state. Examples include: Hungarian People's Republic (1918-1919, 1949-1989) Mongolian People's Republic (1924-1992) People's Republic of Albania (1946-1976) of Cambridge" because of the city's famously liberalNew liberalism (also called modern liberalism or social liberalism is a stance in political economy that argues for extensive government regulation and partial intervention in the economy, though much less than what is advocated by social democrats. It is politics; political organizers often congregate at the Red LineThe Red Line is the newest of the four MBTA subway lines in the Boston, Massachusetts metro area. It has its northwestern terminus at the Alewife station near Fresh Pond Parkway and Route 2 in West Cambridge, meets the Green Line at Park Street and the Or Tmajor intermodal transportation authorities The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA is a quasi-governmental organization formed in 1964 that controls the subway, bus, commuter rail, and ferry systems in the Boston, Massachusetts area. Origina station in Harvard Square2000 Harvard Square is a large triangular area in the center of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Often traffic-congested, it is located next to Harvard University and is a highly travelled space for Harvard and MIT students, along with residents of Boston, Cambr.
Cambridge has been called the city of Squares, most likely because most of its major street intersections are known as Squares. (In the Greater Boston area, a "Square" is merely a major intersection. Very few squares have four sides. Both of these facts stem from the usually stated origin of squares. The traditional square is said to be the result of the arc swept out by timber brought through on roadways to market/port.) Each of the Squares acts as something of a neighborhood center. These include:
- Kendall SquareKendall Square is a neighborhood in Cambridge, Massachusetts, located around the intersection of Main Street, Broadway, Wadsworth Street, and Third Street. It is more recently famous for the number of biotechnology and information technology firms which h, formed by the junction of Broadway, Main Street, and Third Street. Just over the Longfellow Bridge from Boston, at the eastern end of the MIT campus. Served by the MBTA red line subway. A flourishing biotech industry has grown up around here, in large part due to the entrepreneurial efforts of MIT students.
- Central Square, formed by the junction of Massachusetts Avenue, Prospect Street, and Western Avenue. This is perhaps the closest thing Cambridge has to a downtown, and is well-known for its wide variety of ethnic restaurants. Even as recently as the late 1990s it was rather run-down; it has become more gentrified in recent years. It is served by the MBTA red line subway. Lafayette Square, formed by the junction of Massachusetts Avenue, Columbia Street, Sidney Street, and Main Street, is considered a part of the Central Square area.
- Harvard Square, formed by the junction of Mass. Avenue, Brattle Street, and JFK Street. This is the site of Harvard University, the oldest university in the United States. Like Central Square, Harvard Square has become increasingly gentrified in recent years. It includes many interesting stores, and has the highest concentration of bookstores per square mile in the country. Served by the MBTA red line subway.
- Porter Square, about a mile up Mass. Ave from Harvard, formed by the junction of Mass. Ave and Somerville Ave. Served by the MBTA Red Line subway.
- Inman Square, at the junction of Cambridge and Hampshire streets in East Cambridge.
- Lechmere Square, at the junction of Cambridge and First streets, adjacent to the Galleria shopping mall. Perhaps best known as the terminus of the MBTA Green Line subway.
Although one often sees references to the "Boston/Cambridge area" in print, Cambridge prefers to retain its own unique identity.
This name is quite apt as there are a large number of jobs in Cambridge and parts of Cambridge are more urban than some parts of Boston.
