[Feature]

Neighborhood Spots

Editors' Picks

By Dig Staff

Main Street

Kendall Square

During the election, everyone was making the Wall Street/Main Street distinction to the point where it became a trigger to chug your beer. When the archetypical Main Street is hurting, Main Street in Kendall Square is a good place to help out the economy. You've got Rebecca's Café [290 Main St., Cambridge. 617.494.6688. rebeccascafe.com], Kendall Barbers [238 Main St., Cambridge. 617.876.1221] and Kendall Flower Shop [242 Main St., Cambridge. 617.661.8180], all of which were probably appropriated by John McCain's campaign at some point.

 

Place to make a fortune

Keno at Alexander's

There's no better way to spend a weekend than winning $10,000 playing Keno ... am I right? And if you're planning on logging a few days at the Keno parlor, might as well make it an upstanding one. Alexander's [277 Main St., Medford. 781.391.8181] is the deli of choice in Medford, so fuel up with a Breakfast Sausage Bomb and a large, hot black coffee, and finish off a long day winning piles of money with dessert from the lovely Lyndell's [720 Broadway, Medford. 617.625.1793].

 

Stop and smell the koelreuteria paniculata

Arnold Arboretum

If you happen to be a student here in town, you absolutely must go to the Arnold Arboretum. Established 136 years ago, it's a gorgeous living museum curated by Harvard University. With pathways and grounds that span 265 acres, it's a place to run, laze or get lost in. With every turn, a new batch of plants and trees await discovery. It's all free, too. How awesome is that? [125 Arborway, Jamaica Plain. 617.524.1718. arboretum.harvard.edu]

 

Place to be dead

Forest Hills Cemetery

Now, everyone knows we've got loads and loads of cemeteries around here, it comes with the territory when you're one of the oldest metropolises in the US, but for my money, bury me at Forest Hills Cemetery. There, my ghost can browse the lovely sculptures, enjoy the Lantern Festival, make strange poetry with e.e. cummings or listen to the tales of Eugene O'Neill. You don't have to be dead to go there—people enjoy the cemetery year round—but it wouldn't hurt. Much. [95 Forest Hills Ave., Boston. 617.524.0128. foresthillscemetery.com]

 

T station that can sub as an amusement park

Porter Square

Thrill on the world's largest escalator! Laugh with glee at the fake piles of gloves! Giggle with delight at Susumu Shingu's big red wind sculpture! Ride! Ride! Ride the train to Fitchburg! Of course, we're talking about the Porter Square T Station, firmly set in rock 8 billion miles below street level. Throw in the hot dog vendors and the two-level Red Line platform and they could call it Six Flags Great Subway Adventure. [Porter Sq., Cambridge. 617.222.3200. mbta.com]

 

Fallout shelter

Glass Pyramid Greenhouse

Attached to Harvard University's Class of 1959 Chapel, the Glass Pyramid Greenhouse is the perfect place to hide if the economy gets bad enough (and delightfully ironic, too, since it's on the Business School's campus!). The subterranean greenhouse boasts a koi pond with fat goldfish, stepping stones, a waterfall and tons of foliage. While not structurally sound in the event of catastrophe, it sure is a soothing place to hang out (it's also a good makeout spot, if it gets so bad you have to move back in with your parents). [North Harvard St., Allston]

 

Stop-and-smell-the-roses tour

Community Gardens

We're assuming your understatedly gorgeous pied-à-terre with personal rooftop garden isn't quite in the cards (and if it is, good for you and your little dog, too). But why bother fussing on your own when there's a glut of lush urban landscapes, zanily constructed from a diversity of gardeners. Community gardens bloom everywhere, especially in the South End [Tremont St. & Berkeley St., Boston. 617.437.0999. berkeleygardens.tripod.com], Roxbury [25-29 Warwick St., Roxbury. 617.437.0999] and Jamaica Plain [110 Paul Gore St., JP. 617.522.6694. paulgorebeecher.tripod.com], groaning with sunflowers and giant squash and quite possibly Peter Rabbit's idea of an open bar. [Scope the comprehensive list at bostonnatural.org]

 

Basement to plot a revolution in

Lucy Parsons Center

This hub of anarchist/socialist/feminist organization already has the codenames picked out, but it's not too late to hop on their radical collective bandwagon (Radical! Collective!! RADICAL COLLECTIVE!!!). We think it's best not to probe too deeply into their belief that "humans are simply too ornery for them ever to succeed," but Lucy Parsons Center does provide a forum for nonprofits to hold meetings and events, plus it's a (radical) bookstore, it's operated by a (collective) committee (no bosses, no pay) and it hosts free—radical—film screenings every Wednesday. Two words: Raspberry Reich. [549 Columbus Ave., Boston. 617.267.6272. lucyparsons.org]

 

Sharpen your outdoor survival skills

Hammond Pond Reservation

If the last time you scaled something was in your I-Am-the-Dark-Knight fever dream, get out to the rocky hills of Hammond Pond Reservation for an afternoon of bouldering. It's secluded enough that you'll only run into hardcore backpackers who will mock your crash pads and teach you how to make splints out of matchsticks, and hiking the reservation is a great way to get outdoors without pretending like you know how to sail or kayak. So when you can't figure out how to charge your electric car, you'll be prepared to—gasp—walk. [Chestnut Hill, Newton. 617.333.7404. mass.gov/dcr]

 

Best harbor walk

HarborWalk

When you need some perspective on the steel monster that is our (thriving?) metropolis, pound the pavement of the city's HarborWalk. Get lost in the maritime industrial mazes of Deer Island [617.788.1170] and the Charlestown Navy Yard [617.242.5601. nps.gov/bost], or stop off at the Institute of Contemporary Art [100 Northern Ave., Boston. 617.478.3100. icaboston.org] or Fort Point studios [300 Summer St., Boston. 617.423.4299. fortpointarts.org] to pump some green back into Boston's arts community. Surveying the urban landscape from afar will reconnect you with the warm and fuzzy greed and grandeur that got us into this mess in the first place. [617.482.1722. bostonharborwalk.com]

 

Place to legally gamble your 401(k) back

Big City

A subculture of bespectacled smarties with curiously strong powers of wrist torque lurks in the back of Big City, where their weekly foosball league gathers. Sign up as a full-time or substitute player, or gather your fellow foos freaks from your friend's basement and join as a team. A per player fee of $10 a night goes toward a pool that's redistributed to winners (!!). Never heard of "the snake" or a "pin shot?" Beginners are welcome too, and everyone's given a handicap that figures into individual rankings. No fucking spinning. [138 Brighton Ave., Allston. 617.782.2020. massfoos.com, allstonsfinest.com]

 

Sign of Worse Times

West End

Once home to a vibrant immigrant community, the West End was leveled in the 1950's as part of an "urban renewal" initiative, never to see a walk-up again (well, almost). One lone tenement [42 Lomasney Way, Boston] remains standing, untouched by the city's redevelopment. Further down Lomasney, on the side of the Leverett Circle Connector, you can still make out the "Greatest Neighborhood This Side of Heaven" sign—a testament to what the previous inhavitants thought of their community—giving that, "If you lived here, you'd be home by now" (people did, and they were!0 signage a little perspective.

 

Escape route in time of anarchy

From Cambridge St. to Brighton Ave.

It seems more likely that, in the event of emergency, the government will be following their own convoluted "Evacuation Route" signage as they seek refuge from the pitchfork-and-torch mob. So when you see that overthrown state senator foaming at the mouth, seeking vengeance and headed for you, dart off Cambridge Street in between the Bazaar grocery and the Allston Car Wash—snake through the parking lot till you exit on Brighton Ave. This will also totally help you win in Capture the Flag. [Allston]

 

View in Boston that's not Top of the Hub

BU Greenhouse

OK—this isn't exactly easy access, but if you happen to know one of the hippies in Boston University's Organic Gardening Club (not a euphemism), you can probably finagle your way up to the BU Greenhouse, a magical enclave that's warm in the winter (obvi) and offers a spectacular 360˚ view of the city. You can also venture onto the roof that surrounds it. We're not saying the roof is a great hiding place for when the BUPD crashes your sesh or anything. (What's that smell? Hemp. It's hemp.) [675 Comm. Ave., Boston. 617.353.2532. people.bu.edu/ogc]

 

Reason why Teele Square is cool

PJ Ryan's

PJ Ryan's is what makes Teele your better-than-average minor square. Located just a five-minute walk on Holland Street from the Davis Square T-stop, you'll find no better local joint for watching international broadcasts of rugby, soccer or Australian-rules football. Served by one of the friendliest staffs around, you are sure to find what you're looking for in beers, beyond the typical—be it Spaten, Caffrey's or Tucher's. They also boast a tasty menu and a killer trivia night. So grab a pint, and, as PJ says, "No false bottoms!" [239 Holland St., Teele Sq., Somerville. 617.625.8200. pjryans.com]

 

Scariest nuclear reactor

MIT Nuclear Reactor Laboratory

Between Central Square and the Charles River, MIT maintains an active nuclear reactor laboratory to train the next generation of Manhattan Project scientists (and radio-oncologists, and UN weapons inspectors, etc.). The five-megawatt research facility uses weapons-grade, highly enriched uranium as fuel—the same stuff we're forbidding Iran from acquiring. In 2005, an ABC-TV investigation claimed they were able to park a truck 30 feet from it, and also discovered other potential security lapses. MIT corrected these, although they correctly noted that the liquid natural gas (LNG) tankers regularly sailing through the harbor have much greater destructive potential. (However, when an LNG tanker explodes, you die; your kids don't come out with three nipples.) [[redacted] St., Central Sq., Cambridge]