Harvard Square

Harvard Square is a large triangular area in the center of Cambridge (Massachusetts ). Often clogged by traffic, it is located near Harvard University and is a much frequented place for students of Harvard and MIT, as well as to the residents of Boston, Cambridge and other nearby cities.

Even though he is now very commercialized, the place still reminds of famous inhabitants of earlier times, such as the colonial time poet Anne Bradstreet. The dense pedestrian traffic represents Harvard Square is an ideal place for street musicians; the singer -songwriter Tracy Chapman is said to have played here during their college years.

Discussions about how the place has changed in recent years mainly focus on the perceived " gentrification " of his neighborhood and Cambridge in general. During the late 1990s some local stores were replaced by national chains, including the unusual Tasty Diner, one consisting only of a room sandwich shop. Some characteristic shops of the square, however, remain among the newsstand Out of Town News, the leading daily and weekly newspapers in a variety of languages ​​and from a variety of countries. A little video from Out of Town News, which stands on the " island " in the middle of the square, appears in the use of CNN cutscenes. Across the square is the office of NPR's Car Talk radio show, with a mask in the window, the " Chetham and Howe Dewy " reports that for the fictitious law firm is often related to which in the broadcast.

The lower-lying area next to the newsstand, which in the underground stop Harvard Station of Boston's transport undertaking Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority ( MBTA ) operates (where the subway line Red Line and all four lines of the trolleybus Cambridge run ), is often called " The Pit "(engl.: " The Pit " ) referred. Its arena- like appearance attracts not only skateboarders, but generally young people in high school age from surrounding areas that are associated with counter movements like Punk, Straight Edge, and Goth. They are sometimes pejoratively as "pit kids " or " pit brats " and the contrast between them and the often older and more conservative dressed people from the vicinity of Harvard University, and also leads to the shops on the square occasional tensions.

42.373611 - 71.118889Koordinaten: 42 ° 22 ' 25 "N, 71 ° 7' 8 " W

• Place in the United States
• Cambridge (Massachusetts )
• Place in North America