HELLO, ARLINGTON

By the end of August, that will be my new home. I've been told that my offer on the condo has been accepted! Arlington, Massachusetts is right next door to Somerville, but it's a very different place. Somerville is a city of about 77,000 people from many walks of life. There are university students, immigrants from all over the world, maybe a few professors, starving artists and musicians, panhandlers, street performers, meter maids, etc. The city of Somerville is one of the densest cities in the United States, as those same 77,000 people are squeezed into an area of only about 4.5 square miles. This is mainly accomplished through some midrises and highrises scattered throughout and also via the very tightly clustered rows of two and three family dwellings. Reportedly, the only denser city with respect to the population/area equation is New York! Though Somerville used to be known as the "Chicago of New England", because it used to have a thriving meat industry. Somerville was also once known as Slummerville because many neighborhoods were quite rundown, and a few still are. East Somerville is considered the townier section. West Somerville, near Tufts and Davis Square is much nicer. Somerville used to be part of Charlestown, which is essentially not so much a town in its own right as one of Boston Proper's neighborhoods. Somerville is bordered on the East by Charlestown, which is just across the river from the main peninsula of Boston. It is also bordered to the South by Cambridge and to the North by the Mystic River and the city of Medford. Tufts, incidently is actually in both Somerville and Medford. It is bordered to the West by the town of Arlington.

Arlington was once part of Cambridge or West Cambridge. It was also once known as Menotomy. No, not menotony - Menotomy. It's Indian and I don't know what it means. When it was renamed Arlington, it was named so in honor of the heroes buried in Arlington National Cemetary! Arlington has sections, too. East Arlington, near Spy Pond and the Capitol Theatre, is quite nice. Arlington Center is where all most of the life is. Arlington Heights is just slightly west of there and that's what you'll hit before running into Lexington. Arlington is bordered to the south by Belmont and to the east by Somerville and Cambridge. To the North, it is bordered by the Mystic River, Medford, and the town of Winchester. Arlington has a town manager and a town meeting form of government, unlike Somerville, where old boy, backroom politics still seems to rule the day there. Somerville is home to marshmallow fluff. Arlington is home to Uncle Sam and Moxie soda. Arlington is a little like Somerville, but far more grown up, urban with a quieter suburban feel, and a lot less dense - but still close and fairly convenient to everything.