Cambridge, Massachusetts

Cambridge is a city in the Greater Boston area of Massachusetts, United States. It was named in honor of Cambridge, England, the town where its founding fathers had studied (at Cambridge University). Cambridge is most famous for the two prominent universities that call it home: Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 101,355, though even more people commute into Cambridge to work.

About the city

The diversity of the population is striking. Residents, known as Cantabrigians (although the term isn't in common currency as it is in Cambridge, England), range from distinguished Harvard professors to immigrants from Latin America. This diversity contributes to the liberal atmosphere, and may be compared to Berkeley, California, in some respects. It is sometimes referred to as the "People's Republic of Cambridge" because of the city's famously liberal politics; political organizers often congregate at the Red Line T station in Harvard Square.

Related Topics:
Cambridge, England - Berkeley, California - People's Republic - Liberal - Red Line - T - Harvard Square

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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 of these "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:

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• Kendall Square, 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. The "One Kendall Square" complex is nearby, but-confusingly-not actually in Kendall Square.
• 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, and continues to grow more expensive. 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 and is a major Cambridge shopping area (although not as exlusively so as in years past). It is served by the MBTA red line subway. The neighborhood north of Harvard but east of Mass Ave is known as Agassiz in honor of the famed scientist Louis Agassiz.
• Porter Square, about a mile north on Mass. Ave from Harvard Square, 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 central Cambridge.
• Lechmere Square, at the junction of Cambridge and First streets, adjacent to the CambridgeSide Galleria shopping mall. Perhaps best known as the eastern terminus of the MBTA Green Line subway.

At the western edge of Cambridge, Mount Auburn Cemetery is widely known for both its distinguished inhabitants, and its superb landscaping as a first-rate arboretum.

Related Topics:
Mount Auburn Cemetery - Arboretum

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Although one often sees references to the "Boston/Cambridge area" in print, Cambridge prefers to retain its own unique identity.

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