The Newcomer's Guide to Camberville Neighborhoods

First, the word: "Camberville" is what locals call the blended city of Cambridge + Somerville, Massachusetts.

Two officially separate cities squeezed onto the same few square miles across the river from Boston, stitched together so tightly that you'll routinely cross the border without noticing.

Around 200,000 people, two of the densest cities in New England, home to Harvard, MIT, Lesley, and half the world's biotech. And it's organized not by neighborhoods so much as by squares: the walkable commercial crossroads that each have their own personality, their own regulars, and their own opinion of the other squares.

Here's the tour, square by square. For each: the vibe, and you'd love it here if…

Harvard Square. The famous one. Tourists, buskers, chess players, bookstores, and more history per block than anywhere in America not named Boston. More corporate than its bohemian heyday, but the bones are still great: the bookshops, the cinemas, the coffee. You'd love it if: you want the postcard version of Cambridge outside your door and don't mind sharing it with tour groups.

Central Square. Cambridge's scruffy, beating heart. Live-music venues, international groceries, city hall, dive bars next to biotech money, and the most genuinely mixed crowd in either city. It's louder and rougher-edged than the other squares, and its partisans wouldn't trade it for anything. You'd love it if: you want music, nightlife, and a square with actual grit.

Kendall Square. The biotech capital of the world, and it looks like it: glass towers, lab buildings, and lunch spots that empty out by 7pm. Rapidly growing a residential and restaurant life it historically lacked. Steps from the river and MIT. You'd love it if: you work in tech or biotech and want a five-minute commute, or you like new-construction living.

Porter Square. Where Cambridge and Somerville blur together. Low-key, residential, anchored by a shopping plaza with a legendary cluster of Japanese food counters, plus one of the area's best bookstores. You'd love it if: you want quiet livability on the Red Line with Davis and Harvard Squares each one stop away.

Inman Square. No train stop, and better for it: Inman stayed a neighborhood. Some of the area's best restaurants, old-school Portuguese bakeries next to new-school everything else. Technically Cambridge but spiritually shared with Somerville. You'd love it if: you'll trade train access for food, charm, and a real neighborhood feel.

East Cambridge / Cambridgeport / Riverside / North Cambridge. The residential quarters between the squares: leafy streets, triple-deckers (the classic New England house with three stacked apartments), and each with its own pocket parks and corner spots. Most newcomers end up living in one of these and socializing in the nearest square, which is exactly how the system is designed to work.

Davis Square. Somerville's flagship: an independent movie theater, music venues, bars, restaurants, and a Red Line stop, with Tufts up the hill. Long the young-person's square, still the easiest place in Somerville to build a life on foot. You'd love it if: you want the highest fun-per-block in Somerville with train access.

Union Square. The scrappy cultural heart: arts spaces, a great Saturday farmers market, an ever-more-interesting food scene, and a Green Line stop after decades of waiting. Home to the What the Fluff? festival and a legendarily cheap Market Basket grocery store that inspires genuine devotion. Gentrifying fast; still the most creative-feeling square. You'd love it if: you want the artist-and-maker energy and don't need everything polished.

Ball Square / Magoun Square / Gilman Square. The middle of Somerville, newly unlocked by the Green Line Extension. Classic brunch spots, old neighborhood bars, and residential streets that feel like the Somerville of twenty years ago: increasingly discovered but not yet overrun. You'd love it if: you want more apartment for your money with a train stop that didn't exist a few years ago.

East Somerville / Assembly. East Somerville is one of the area's most diverse stretches, with terrific Salvadoran, Brazilian, and Nepali food along Broadway. Assembly Row is the new-built riverside district of apartment towers, an Orange Line stop, and chain retail. You'd love it if: you want (respectively) the most underrated food in Camberville, or brand-new construction with a train to downtown.

Winter Hill / Spring Hill / Prospect Hill. The hills between the squares: residential, mixed, and home to the historic spot where the first American flag was reportedly raised (Prospect Hill. There's a tower. Locals will tell you about it). Great porches, which matters more here than you'd think. See: Porchfest.

Here's the thing that makes Camberville work: nobody stays in their square. Distances are tiny. Most squares are a 10-minute bus or bike ride apart, so people live in one, work near another, and have a trivia night in a third. Pick your square for the apartment and the daily-life logistics. Your community will assemble itself across all of them.

Just moved here? New to Camberville is a free community project for newcomers. Get the Camberville Welcome Guide (a 5-part series on making friends and feeling at home), plus a weekly guide to what's worth doing and invitations to our free newcomer meetups. [Get the Welcome Guide →]