Huron Village, Cambridge (Boston, Concord, Harvard: new home, neighborhoods, living)

[Diacon33]

Well it appears this is where we will end up. I was wondering if anyone out there had and comments about the area or any nice local food tips/restaurants. We will be relocating to this part of Cambridge in Mid March.

Anyone? Appreciate everyone's help so far.

[slang75]

Huron village is a great area. Close to Danahey Park, Fresh Pond, The Charles and Porter/Harvard sq. There are not a ton of places to eat right in Huron Village. Some of the better places we tried were -

Full Moon (Good food and great for kids)
Hi-Rise Bread (expensive but good sandwiches, breads and baked goods)
Sarah's Market (good breakfast)
Lucky Garden (good cheap Chinese)
Village Kitchen (good pizza and pastas)

You're so close to Harvard and Porter that you will never run out of places to eat.

[Meh1tabe1]

I think Huron Village is the one of nicest areas in Cambridge as well as that of a upscale areas around Boston. The streets off Huron Ave offer wonderful neighborhoods to walk through, with beautiful old homes, amazing landscaped yards, strong community spirit. As far as food tips, you are close to many of Cambridge's best restaurants and specialty markets. Specialty pizza is noteworthy. There is also a small but popular group of apparel, children's and art stores. There is a used nonprofit bookstore that gets a great selection of newer as well as collectible books at good prices. I get lost there for hours browsing the shelves. If you like walking, you are close to many of Cambridge's landmarked areas, such as Brattle St., the Charles River and Harvard Sq. I think you'll find your new home base offers great treats.

[goyguy]

The main attraction of Huron Village is its proximity to Fresh Pond, a great place to take a relaxing walk around. Birdwatchers like it all year because of its popularity with migrating waterfowl. Since the pond is one of Cambridge's principal sources of drinking water, human recreational use of it is prohibited and the ducks geese etc like that just fine. There's also a public golf course flanking the pond along part of one side.

One of my favorite spots for "yuppie pizza," Emma's, outgrew its longtime location on Huron Ave and is now in larger quarters near Kendall Square. So I don't eat around Huron Village much now: two successors weren't as good, and one has since gone out of business. Fans of "cozy neighborhood Italian bistros" do have good things to say about this area's version, situated just north of the Concord/Huron intersection on Huron. And Lucky Garden is OK when you're in a major bind for take-out food and don't mind mediocre "Chinese" cuisine without having to go to Changsho. Full Moon generally gets good marks too, but bouncing shrieking small children are only cute when they're yours!

There tends to be a sameness about the community that some people use as a caricature of Cambridge in general: lots of multiple-degreed individuals, some married and some "partnered," with natural graying taking place on the majority of the women and beards occurring on most of the men. Walk into Full Moon on a crowded Saturday, yell "Zachary! Abigail!," and watch confusion reign as nearly all the kids look up from their games to figure out who's calling them. LOL!!! Few and far between are folks aged under 35 or much over 55, and who are not of the Caucasian persuasion or of liberal/progressive ideology. It's also the norm thereabouts to have been raised and educated elsewhere than Massachusetts. "Not that there's anything wrong with that," since I fit squarely into that demographic except for the beard part. But "diverse," any way you slice it, is not a label that can be attached to Huron Village.

By and large, though, it's a neat part of town with easy access via its own trackless-trolley line to Harvard Square. You're also "right down the street" from one strip mall with a Staples and a Whole Foods and another with a Shaw's and one of my favorite independent hardware stores (Tags.) Like in any urban area, the neighborliness of those living close by is affected a lot by whether you have pets or young children (natural conversation starters, along with windshield stickers from your alma mater or alma maters.) But zealously minding one's own business and taking months to learn the name of your upstairs or next-door abutter is an urban and New England tradition upheld in lots of places besides this one. Aside from all that, there's a street fair along Huron Ave each year which is well attended (if only for its uproarious dog/owner lookalike contest), something that's one of the many agreeable aspects of urban living. For a quiet yet convenient neighborhood you can't do much better.