Davis Square

Score Breakdown

About this Neighborhood

Davis Square is the neighborhood that everyone points to when they argue Somerville has become unaffordable, and they're right, and the data shows why. Forty-six restaurants cover the functional spectrum — Wasabi at Porter, Anna's Taqueria, Chipotle — with enough independent operators to maintain credibility. The coffee signal is the anomaly: flagged as a gap at -1.12 standard deviations below average despite Diesel Cafe's legendary status. The gap suggests that Diesel, Life Alive, and Mr. Crêpe are absorbing most of the traffic on a relatively thin outlet count. Twelve grocery stores including Y-not Variety provide daily-essentials coverage that's in-line. Thirteen parks are exceptional for the footprint — Seven Hills Park, Powder House Park, Reverend Thomas J. Williams Park — all fully maintained and actively used. Two athletic courts (Kraft Field, Field J) and three fitness studios including Down Under School of Yoga keep the active resident demographic served. The Red Line access makes this neighborhood the one that people leave last when they move further out, and then miss specifically, by name.