Letter from Boston
Kenmore Square
By MASAKO YAMADA
|
|
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
(C) All rights reserved
|