Somerville is a suburb of Boston. Somerville has managed to hold onto its blue-collar roots while at the same time gentrifying. It is still the most densely populated city in New England, so visitors will find lots of purely residential territory between the "fun" areas: Davis Square, Porter Square, and Powderhouse Square (the location of Tufts University). Other notable neighborhoods include Union Square and Winter Hill, erstwhile home of the "Winter Hill Gang", the organized crime group headed by Whitey Bulger in the 1960's and 1970's.

Education

Somerville is home to Tufts University, which is located in the Powderhouse Square area.

Shopping

 • McIntyre and Moore Booksellers, 255 Elm St. in Davis Square. One of the best used book selections in the Boston area, not cheap but they carry many hard to find titles.
 • Poor Little Rich Girl, 416 Highland Ave. in Davis Square. A wonderful consignment shop that has trendy, gently used buys for the ladies.
 • The Assembly Square Mall is somewhat run down and disappointing, but is being remodeled. Its biggest draw is the movie theater. If you are interested in serious mall shopping, you may want to take a bus to Lechmere Station in Cambridge -- the Cambridgeside Galleria is a nice upscale mall with many stores.
 • There is a Home Depot near the Assembly Square Mall and Sullivan Square.
 • The Circuit City near the Home Depot has surprisingly good deals on mainstream DVDs and a surprisingly good selection considering it's a chain store. Probably the best place to get Hollywood movies in the Boston area in terms of price, although the best for cult movies remains Newbury Comics.

Lodging

Somerville is, as mentioned elsewhere, a heavily residential area; hence, there are few hotels. Look for accommodations in Cambridge; if you're splurging, go for something with a view of the Charles.
 • Holiday Inn Boston Somerville, 30 Washington Street, Somerville 02143, tel. (617) 628 1000, fax. (617) 628 0143  . Just two miles from downtown Boston and four miles from Logan International Airport. Includes a photo gallery, rates, availability and on line reservations.

Drink

 • The Independent in Union Square, 75 Union Square. 617-440-6021 A very cool unpretentious place for a drink.
 • RedBones (mentioned above) has a great beer selection.
 • The Burren in Davis Square is a well-known bar which often has live Irish music.
 • Tir na nog is a nice little place at 366A Somerville Ave, just out of Union Square. It has live music most nights. In a city festering with wannabe Irish Pubs, this one seems to attract some real Irish. Acceptable food served until 10pm.

Stay safe

The area around Sullivan Square and the Assembly Square Mall is a bit desolate after dark. You have to walk under the highway and there are several dive bars nearby. If you find yourself at Sullivan Square after dark, you might want to stick close to the bus stops where there are plenty of people around. although Somerville has changed its colors a bit some of the rough edges still remains. Locals don't take kindly to outsiders so avoid conflict