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Even in recession, Cantabridgians, Somervillains still drink coffee, eat pastry
By adamg on Mon, 04/27/2009 - 1:54pm
Tufts researchers used ethnographic research methods to document the impact of the recession on small businesses in the area; one student focused on bakeries and cafes in Harvard, Porter and Davis squares, Tufts Daily reports:
... "Going into the project, based on what the media was originally projecting, I had assumed that these small businesses would really be hurt by the recession; however, I could almost immediately see that this was not the case as I began to spend time in these locations. They were all bustling," Kuross said in an e-mail to the Daily.
Kuross explained that the primary customer bases sustaining the squares' cafés consist mainly of students, already on constricted budgets and therefore "insulated," and upper-middle-class local residents, securely employed and financially stable. ...
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Comments
Force Field keeps recession out of Davis Square
I can't really explain it, but there seems to be an invisible force field preventing the recession from entering Davis Square. All of the businesses there seem to be doing well, and there are very few vacant storefronts. When a used-CD store recently closed on Elm Street, a new consignment shop quickly moved into the space.
Funky Culture
Thrift stores - check
coffee shops - check
inexpensive ethnic food - check
lots of bike racks - check
affordable live music - check
public transit - check
Recession? Bring it on. These are the right ingredients for success. Add in the reduced pressure from highly capitalized national chains wanting to push out the local established businesses and Davis will be okay for a while to come.
I have noticed that many
I have noticed that many Somerville and Cambridge local businesses that cater to people at cafes and what not are doing quite well. The national chains all over seem to be pulling back, and every time you hear of a regional or local store going down it seems to involve fiscal mismanagement on the part of the owners, or the loss of a lease or building that they own due to not being able to get a loan.
In a way this is good for Davis Square, it will keep the nationals away until the upturn. Even its upscale friend Harvard Square seems to be shedding corporations left and right in exchange for new local stores.
hmm.
I wonder how one becomes "securely employed."
In addition to students
there are post-students, who, by necessity from living somewhere they can't afford to buy, have hanging out at coffee houses, etc., as one of their few luxuries.
And unemployed / underemployed
If you're unemployed, with no office to go to, cafes and cheap lunch restaurants are ways to get out of the house as you browse the want ads and network online.
Freelance writers and designers, on the other hand, do cafes in any case, though perhaps more when their workload is lighter.
Unemployed Clubhouse
I have noticed that the coffee places around have become havens for people who are looking for work - they go have coffee and search for jobs on the net over the free wifi, making social contact and networking with others at the same time. I sometimes stop in places and read my e-mail there instead of at my desk and I hear a lot of exchanges going on - like "I've got a skirt that should fit you/go with that for the second interview" and "I can get your kids at school, don't worry about the time", etc.