Porter Square

And there's a dead train at Porter

adamg — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 08:51:36 -0400

Via Danielle Ouellette, who says it just bolsters her belief she should have just stayed in bed this morning.

Ben Jackson: Today the role of the Green Line will be played by the Red Line.

Patrice Morris says the role of the Green Line today was also played by the Green Line: GD trolley! GD Redline, GD getting to work early!

Why one Red Line train was late today

adamg — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 09:02:33 -0400

Etana tweets:

The Red Line stopped tween Davis & Porter: suddenly a dragon was heard puffing and snorting. Oh mighty mbta, standing off until it fled!

They're going through hoops to make a Cambridge parking space a park for a day

adamg — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 10:49:50 -0400

On Friday, look for some unusual goings on at the southeast corner of Mass. Ave. and Beech Street near Porter Square, where some folks will convert a vehicle space into a play space. Angie explains on this Facebook page:

A creative exploration of how urban public space is allocated and used. In this space, you will find brightly decorated hula hoops. Please grab one and spin with us! Bonus: try some home-made soda. ... More than 70% of most cities' outdoor urban space is dedicated to private vehicles, with only a fraction of that land allocated for open spaces for people. We're taking a single parking space to see how easily that real estate can be transformed to benefit people. ...

Some sort of mess at Porter station

adamg — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 19:36:48 -0400

Brian Whalley tweets there are five firetrucks at the Red Line stop, things pretty much shut down.

Can subway trains suffer heat exhaustion?

adamg — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 21:33:49 -0400

The T reports a Red Line train crawled into Porter Square and died this evening.

That's on top of all the Green Line trolleys that gave up the ghost today. Mel Du, who's apparently been keeping count, tweets that makes ten DOA trains today.

Rump roasted in Porter Square parking dispute

adamg — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 11:26:19 -0400

Wicked Local Cambridge reports a guy ended a dispute over a Mass. Ave. parking space last night by shooting the other guy in the ass. The victim is expected to survive; police are now looking for a Masshole with a gun.

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Man killed by Red Line train at Porter Square

adamg — Fri, 15 May 2009 11:29:22 -0400

Channel 4 reports, and tweets the man is dead.

Riders are being put on buses between Harvard and Alewife.

Carol O., at Porter at the time, tweets:

Was waiting for the subway when there was a commotion & the train stopped short. It seems like someone jumped/fell in front.

She adds:

Upset but impressed w/the response. Mass ave partially blocked, 6 fire trucks, 7 ambulances, a helicopter & tons of police in 10min

Trying to save the Japanese businesses of Porter Exchange

adamg — Tue, 12 May 2009 12:28:30 -0400

Facebook group set up to try to work to convince Lesley to stop kicking all the stores out of the building, such as Kotobukiya.

Even in recession, Cantabridgians, Somervillains still drink coffee, eat pastry

adamg — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 13:54:19 -0400

Tufts researchers used ethnographic research methods to document the impact of the recession on small businesses in the area; one student focused on bakeries and cafes in Harvard, Porter and Davis squares, Tufts Daily reports:

... "Going into the project, based on what the media was originally projecting, I had assumed that these small businesses would really be hurt by the recession; however, I could almost immediately see that this was not the case as I began to spend time in these locations. They were all bustling," Kuross said in an e-mail to the Daily.

Kuross explained that the primary customer bases sustaining the squares' cafés consist mainly of students, already on constricted budgets and therefore "insulated," and upper-middle-class local residents, securely employed and financially stable. ...

Via Wicked Local Somerville.

On the Red Line: Sparks, smoke, brakes

adamg — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 15:27:10 -0400

Ethan Danahy happened to have his camera going on the Red Line between Porter and Davis today when sparks flew, smoke started coming into the car and then somebody threw the brakes (the jolt at the end of the video). He reports, however, a happy ending, in the sense that everybody got out OK.

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