Letter from Boston Kenmore Square By MASAKO YAMADA	フレームで見る  英文をプリントする  脚注をプリントする
ケンモア・スクエア ボストン大学のあるケンモア・スクエアの町並みが、最近、変わってきています。個人が経営する昔ながらの地味な店が次々に閉店し、人気のチェーン店が多く立ち並ぶようになりました。町はきれいになり、活性化していますが、その反面、暮らすのにお金がかかるようになってきています。

Boston University is located in a part of Boston called Kenmore Square. Although Kenmore Square is located adjacent to the fancy Back Bay area, it used to be considered one of the seedier parts of the city. However, I've heard that BU has done a lot to make the area more appealing.

BU used to have a large commuter population, but as more students have begun to come from afar and to live near campus, it seems that the college has put more effort into improving the area. Many BU students come from respectable neighborhoods, and it's understandable that they expect the same quality in their college surroundings. It seems that even in the three years I've been at BU, the neighborhood has been changing.

I passed by a couple of stores in Kenmore Square today and noticed that they had "Going Out of Business" signs in their windows. One of them was a $1 store. The other was a liquor store. I think both of them represent the area quite well, but it was probably inevitable that they went out of business. The Rathskellar, a longstanding local bar, went out of business about a year ago, as did a couple of nonluxury stores on the same block. An international hotel is being built on the block, after all, and these stores would have done little to attract a cosmopolitan crowd. The storefronts have not been reoccupied.

Nearby Landsdowne Street, a street that is famous for its loud clubs and young crowds, is going to house a high-end movie theater run by Sundance, the artsy movie company headed by Robert Redford. The movie theater will even have a little museum attached to it. Fenway Park, one of the most historic baseball stadiums in the country, might be moved or rebuilt, as well.

All of these changes will probably lure a more mature, upscale crowd to the area. It will also make Kenmore a more pleasant place for BU students to study and live.

Locals view these changes with mixed feelings. I'm sure many people would like to see fewer panhandlers on the corners and less garbage on the streets — and I'm sure they're glad that the methadone clinic has been shooed out. But there's something sad in realizing that the most popular stores in Kenmore are chain stores like Barnes and Noble, The Gap, Starbucks and Bruegger's Bagels.

Kenmore is starting to look like many other neighborhoods across the country or around the world. This is disturbing to people who value individuality or people who like David vs. Goliath stories (most people, that is).

I go to these chain stores quite often, however, so I understand what makes them popular. I wish I could say that I patronize XYZ Deli because the coffee there is better than the coffee at Starbucks, but it's often not the case. I've tried the coffee at almost all of the cafes in Kenmore, including independent ones, but I still go to Starbucks almost every day.

I don't like seeing small, family-owned businesses driven out of Kenmore, but I can't really complain about the demise of private stores when I spend a lot more money on McDonald's Happy Meals than "Mom's" blue plate specials.

I remember there being protests when Starbucks invaded Central Square, an area similar to Kenmore Square, but the Starbucks is always filled with people. The chain stores in Kenmore seem to be flourishing, too.

One of the inevitable consequences of gentrification is that it causes the inflation of prices in the area. Affordable housing is increasingly difficult to find in these up-and-coming areas, and I've seen some of my friends driven out of the area. One of the old apartment buildings in Kenmore where some of my classmates lived was destroyed in a fire last year, and now there are plans to build luxury apartments there. They couldn't possibly afford to live in these new apartments.

The neighborhood is perhaps becoming a more attractive place in which to live, but the paradox is that the more attractive it becomes, the less people can actually afford to live there. It makes me wonder whether it is possible to provide distinctive, high-quality goods at low prices.

Shukan ST: Sept. 17, 1999

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