Somerville, MA, is a geographically small (but most densely-populated space in New
England) area bordering Cambridge, MA, five minutes from downtown
Boston. During the 1950s, it became a student refuge from Cambridge real estate prices (Somerville is a minutes walk to Harvard) and a haven for immigrants and blue collar workers. Within the last twenty years, Somerville housing has skyrocketed and is now seen as one of the hippest and most cosmopolitan places to live in the
Boston area, as excellent bars, nightclubs, and restaurants proliferate the areas around Porter,
Davis, Union, and Inman squares. In turn, the higher real estate prices have dislocated former renters near the major squares, forcing them farther from downtown
Boston. The city also has a proportionally high population of Brazilian and Portuguese immigrants.