Norton featured in Financial Times of London

The owner of The Somerville News and the Ball Square real estate agency ERA Norton Group, Donald Norton gives Europe’s leading financial newspaper the story behind the story:

To some, Union Square’s revival was only a matter of time. Donald Norton, who has sold houses in Somerville for 26 years and also owns The Somerville News, the local newspaper, says he remembers the neighbourhood’s glory days and is eager for them to return. "When I was a kid, Union Square used to be a vital neighbourhood filled with shops. It was where everyone went to do their Christmas shopping," he recalls. "Then the 1960s happened, the community changed and half the stores were boarded up. For a long time after that, Somerville was a place that people made fun of. The politicians were corrupt and it was just an unattractive city."

Nowadays Union Square is coming back to life, he says. "There are several coffee shops that have moved in and there are more on the way. And coffee shops bring in the more educated, artsy crowd."