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The particular project highlighted in the article isn't one of those, though. Somerville (one of the cities reached by the extension) has the highest populatio
by amalcon 5y ago
The particular project highlighted in the article isn't one of those, though. Somerville (one of the cities reached by the extension) has the highest population density in the state of Massachusetts, and I think it's something like top 20 in the United States by that metric. This is not an "even more spread out populace", it's linking a reasonably dense bedroom community to a regional commercial hub.
- throwawaygh 5y agoSomerville is not a bedroom community. It's not even really a suburb. It's more analogous to a city neighborhood that happens to be under different jurisdiction for historical reasons. You can walk from Somerville to fidelity's headquarters, Harvard, MIT, all the FAANG offices, Amgen/Biogen/AstriskGen, etc. There's definitely stuff more far flung and less dense within the city limits of Boston and/or on the Orange and Red lines. The suburbs kind of start somewhere in Watertown/Newton. The closest bedroom community to Boston, moving west, is probably Worcester.
- amalcon 5y agoMaybe I've been using that terminology wrong; I'd meant something along the lines of "primarily residential annex of a city". I didn't mean to imply that it's a long distance or low density (in fact, I specifically emphasized Somerville's relatively high density), or that it doesn't have its own identity -- it definitely does. Somerville (and to a lesser extent Medford/Charlestown/Watertown/Quincy) is just where you go if you want to live in that area but can't or won't pay Boston/Cambridge/Brookline rent.
- throwawaygh 5y agoI see. "Bedroom Community" typically means something more like Worcester or Lynn, at least from my understanding. A distinct hub beyond the suburbs from which people commute into the city.