Restaurants and stores that have opened recently in Davis Square have caused Tufts students to take note of the area's growth. But few people understand the evolution and the history of the Davis area as well as Lee Auspitz.
Auspitz, a long-time resident of Davis Square, has been active in the area for nearly 40 years. Like many others, Auspitz became a resident at a young age, in 1974, when he settled in with his family.
"Back then, the prices were much lower in Somerville, and so we decided to buy a house and raise our family there. We knew that the red line was coming, and so it seemed like a good place to be," he said.
Auspitz joined the Davis Square Task Force, a group which discusses and prepared for developments in the area, many years ago and has contributed to the community through this committee ever since. Although it took the red line almost 10 years to come after he settled in, Auspitz remembers that it was an important topic long before the project was completed.
"In the very first meeting I went to in the library, they were discussing how to prepare for the red line," he said. "There were a number of things done in Davis Square to prepare well in advance for this change."
Additional parking spaces were created, and commercial businesses increasingly settled in the area due to the high transit of people.
Recently, the planning for the green line's extension to Medford has been a subject of main interest. "This planning is still an ongoing process," Auspitz said.
Furthermore, as an active resident, Auspitz finds interesting the degree of new growth, defined as the addition or renovation of a house that changes its structure, in the Davis Square and Somerville areas over the past 10 years, which has been around $1 billion.
Surprisingly, this amount is more than double than what has come from all commercial and industrial growth in Somerville in the same period of time, which shows how important residential life is for the Davis Square community. "That's a very significant number which contributes revenue to the city, and it should be an important factor in the planning for the green line," Auspitz said.
As for today, Davis has already become a very popular place. According to Auspitz, there are three factors that give the square its charm. The first is the fact that everything is within such a close walking distance. "We do not need to have a car," he said. From Somerville Theatre to the homeless shelter to one of the designer stores on Holland Street, anything in Davis is within a 10-minute walk.
Second, the diversity of the community is very appealing for him. Due to the affordability of the houses in the area in the past and the present demand for residences, people from the Davis community do both blue-collar and white-collar work. "There are people not only from all over the world, but also from different social classes," Auspitz said.
Finally, the residential community that Davis maintains is a special characteristic of the place. "The residential aspect and the diversity of the square is what draws people to it," Auspitz said.
Because of its popularity, Davis Square has garnered the attention of many businesses and companies. However, Auspitz fears that due to the popularity that the Davis area has acquired, the social and class diversity of the square will progressively decline.
"We've tried to slow down the amplification of the square, but it is inevitable that it will happen; the prices of the houses will go up, and this will drive low- and moderate-income people out," Auspitz said.
Over the years, the Chamber of Commerce has tried to create parking areas in the plaza and to build high-rise office buildings. "They even had a plan to turn Davis Square into a mall which would have caused all the traffic to move into the residential streets," Auspitz said. "We have fought all of this, and we were lucky. We've had a resident-friendly administration."
Resisting commercialization has been an ongoing process. The residents' main purpose is to make Davis hospitable and maintain its friendly community atmosphere, another part of its charm.
"If you go for a neighborhood- and community-oriented strategy, the business will come along and the tax revenues will be there; whereas, if you go for strict business development, you have neighborhood deterioration, and that is what we are trying to resist," Auspitz said.
Despite the popularity of the area for Tufts students, Auspitz explained that the favorite hangouts for Jumbos are only a portion of the thriving businesses in the area. "Davis is a playground for Tufts students. However, they are actually a much smaller part of the square than you would think." He added that students seem to only see the recreational activities, while the largest sources of employment in Davis are medical and social services. The Social Security office, medical facilities, dentist, acupuncturist and optical offices are some examples of these institutions that employ the majority of the community.
Auspitz encouraged the Tufts population to get more involved with the Davis community and noted that Tufts' involvement in Davis Square has been fairly limited. He proposed a few suggestions for areas in which Tufts could increase its impact.
"The development of the Powder House School is something that Tufts should take a greater interest in. The Tufts Administration Building is next to this school, and so Tufts could be more involved," he said.
Auspitz also felt that the area, as well as the university, could benefit from the creation of a small hotel in Davis Square. "The real market is the academic visits to Tufts, and it would be a commercial success if Tufts made the commitment," he said. A small boutique hotel with around 50 rooms of a moderate price and close proximity to Tufts would not only benefit the university, but it would be a service for the community, Auspitz added.
Still, even with these ideas for development, Auspitz prided himself on the area's commitment to maintaining its personality and valuing its past.
"Sometimes by being too ambitious you can kill the character of the place. Harvard Square is an example of what we do not wish to become," he said.
