Recent comments
Boston Blogs Network
- The Revolving Museum wants you
- James Levine update
- Wordle: Barack Obama Berlin Speech: 'A World That Stands As One'
- 'Consider how the press treated ...'
- Obama might have big ears, but he’s tone deaf
- 'But what drew me to Lowell ...'
- Religion and Belief Systems, Part II
- Borrowing Too Much
- Ironic City Names
- Ginger Or Mary Ann?
Try to imagine Harvard
Try to imagine Harvard Square without Harvard. You can blame Harvard for lots of things but banks and chain stores are not their doing ...
Harvard Square without Harvard
would probably look like some of the other nearby squares - Inman, Central, and Davis.
I do wish that the Harvard Square overlay zone included a maximum limit on the number of bank branches, or maybe a limit on the total square footage or street frontage that can be occupied by all banks together. Such a limit could have kept Citibank out, and minimized the amount of space taken up by excessive ATM lobbies.
Modern Transit Crossroads
Why so many banks? Because Harvard Square is not only surrounded by non-commercial development of high density, but because so many buses meet the red line there. I used to find it very convenient to stop at the credit union when I passed through the area, and to do my banking there when I lived in Arlington.
Without Harvard
all those areas would probably look a lot like Detroit.