You can always find a parking space in Harvard Square

Friday, January 27, 2006Times, and places, change.

When I moved to Boston, back in the fabulous sixties, it was a happening place, far more interesting than sleepy Rochester, NY, my home-town. And nothing was more interesting than fabulous Harvard Square, Cambridge. At the time, they had a book store that was open 24 hours a day -- one of the early Paperback Booksmiths. The place even sold underground comics! The square had the best place to buy records (the Harvard Coop), the best movie theater (the legendary Brattle) and plenty of places that sold good cheap food. And there were bookstores up the wazoo! It was a student's dream (well, this student's, anyway.)

The seventies came, and brought with it a combo science fiction/comic book store (The Million Year Picnic), and an even better record store (Newberry Comics)! The Orson Welles Movie Theater opened just down the street. For a media maven like me, Harvard Square was my home.

I ended up living in Cambridge (a block from the Welles), and managing The Million Year Picnic (along with its offshoot, the Science Fantasy Bookstore) until I was able to take on writing full-time. When I finally moved away, I was sure to find a place that was a reasonable commute back to Harvard Square, and would often take the bus, since parking was impossible to find.

New stores came and went over the years (Tower Records, HMV, Wordsworth) along with various smaller stores of interest (Pic's Poster Cellar, anyone?)
I started driving into Cambridge more often, showing up at odd times and learning about those spaces on the side streets that not everyone knew about. It might take a half hour, but I could usually find someplace to park. I prided myself for being in-the-know.

And then, about two years ago, I realized I was finding a place to park within a minute or two of my arrival in the square. Major stores were shutting down, first HMV records, then Wordsworth. I talked to retailers of my acquaintance, and found that their sales were all down. I would go see a movie at the Brattle and be only one of a dozen people in the audience. The Square was dying.

Why? Probably a bunch of reasons. Landlord greed killed a lot of the small, funky shops -- replaced by chains you could find at any mall. Many of these newcomers only lasted a year or two. Why go to Abacrombie and Fitch in Harvard Square when the malls had free parking? And Amazon and the internet seemed to cut way down on student shopping. The stores that came to replace the earlier shops (and there are still many empty storefronts) tended to be high-end fashion stores -- boutiques -- Harvard Square's new niche.

Harvard Square has changed. Harvard Square is dying. The days of wandering from store to store just to browse are going away. On weekends, the square was once a mass of crowds, watching street musicians and other performers for hours. I understand from others that these performers are going away, too.

I understand from others -- why would I want to go the square?

Oh, I still go, but nowhere near as often. I catch a movie at the Brattle, which is on the verge of bankruptcy, or buy a CD at a store where the landlords have actually lowered the rent so that store will not leave. The local science fiction store, Pandemonium Books, is going to move away in another month to Central Square, just down the street, to cheaper but bigger digs.

So I'll be going to Harvard Square even less. But hey, whenever I do go, it's easy to find parking.

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