re: experience cafe

It is subjective. That's why several coffee shops can co-exist within a block of each other. In Davis Sq, (a particularly hip area next to Cambridge, MA) there is a Starbucks in the middle of a block, directly across the street is a coffee shop called Diesel Cafe and then one block down is the Someday Cafe. They all thrive despite the competition. Why? The area is glutted with college students (aka CS) (someday cafe), upwardly mobile yuppies (aka UMY) (starbucks) and young alternative rebels with money (aka YARWM) (Diesel Cafe). Each coffe shop gives it's demographic their own status symbol. YARWMs wouldn't be caught dead in a Starbucks, the CSs can't afford Diesel's weird but eclectic tastes (just give me a regular cup of coffee man, i gotta study) and the UMYs are scared to venture into either the Diesel or the Someday.

Somerville, MA demographics

Land area: 4.1 square miles

Median resident age: 31.1 years
Median household income: $46,315 (year 2000)
Median house value: $214,100 (year 2000)

New: Somerville, MA residents, houses, and apartments details

Races in Somerville:

White Non-Hispanic (72.7%)
Hispanic (8.8%)
Black (6.5%)
Other race (5.0%)
Two or more races (4.8%)
Chinese (2.4%)
Asian Indian (1.8%)
Other Asian (0.7%)
Korean (0.6%)
American Indian (0.6%)

(Total can be greater than 100% because Hispanics could be counted in other races)

For population 25 years and over in Somerville

High school or higher: 80.6%
Bachelor's degree or higher: 40.6%
Graduate or professional degree: 17.7%
Unemployed: 3.5%
Mean travel time to work: 27.8 minutes

For population 15 years and over in Somerville city

Never married: 51.6%
Now married: 35.1%
Separated: 1.7%
Widowed: 5.5%
Divorced: 6.1%


29.3% Foreign born (13.3% Latin America, 8.8% Europe, 5.4% Asia).

Somerville compared to Massachusetts state average:
Median house value significantly above state average.

Black race population percentage below state average.

Hispanic race population percentage significantly above state average.

Median age below state average.

Foreign-born population percentage significantly above state average.

Renting percentage above state average.

House age significantly above state average.

Number of college students above state average.

Percentage of population with a bachelor's degree or higher above state average.

Population density above state average for cities.

(compiled from www.city-data.com