Part 5: Union Square
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By William Shelton

(The opinions and views expressed in the commentaries of The Somerville News belong solely to the authors of those commentaries and do not reflect the views or opinions of The Somerville News, its staff or publishers.)

Union Square is a classic example of how a neighborhood commercial center declined, and how a determined group of partners can bring it back.

The Square got its name by being a Civil War recruiting center for the Union Army. Adjacent to the Boynton Yards meatpacking district and a short distance to Assembly-Square and Brickbottom factories, it thrived as Somerville industrialized.

By the mid 20^th Century it was home to three movie theaters, two hotels, three large churches, a Woolworths, a middle school, dry goods and clothing retailers, and two hardware stores, one of which occupied three floors. Civic organizations, fraternal orders, political clubs, and union locals met in its upper stories. Essential to its vitality, 108 times per day trolleys took residents to work, play and downtown Boston.

Then industrialization pushed out, and suburbanization pulled out thousands of neighborhood residents. Others were forced to find jobs outside the city, removing their daytime presence from  the Square. The MTA tore up the trolley tracks. Declining residential rents drew in immigrants with scant disposable income. One by one, retailers’ clientele dropped below their stores’ level of viability.

Jordan Marsh, K-Mart and other Assembly Square Mall stores killed more Union Square businesses. Home Depot killed the hardware stores.

Vacancies and plunging rents made it difficult for commercial-building owners to maintain their properties. Increasing traffic made the Square unfriendly to pedestrians.

But many emerging trends (discussed in Part 2 of this series) are creating opportunities to transform the Square. Most important of these will be the arrival of the Green Line. As Chamber of Commerce President Steve Mackey observes, Union Square is at the eye of a storm of change. And Union Square Main Streets (USMS) is already seizing these opportunities.

The organization began its work wisely, by carefully analyzing current conditions and the reasons for them. It takes an annual business inventory. It asks business owners to assess their needs and perceived trends.

It conducted a customer-intercept survey in four languages. Multilingual interviewers asked everyone walking down the street where they were from, how much they spent in Union Square, how they got there, and their household incomes.

They found that people spending more than $20 on weekdays tended to be Portuguese-speaking immigrants who drove to the Square and had household incomes of less than, $20,000 per year.

On weekends people spending more than $20 tended to be neighborhood residents who walked to the square and had household incomes of more than $100,000. Indeed, Farmers’ Market vendors report that Union Square is their most lucrative, more so than Copley, Government Center, Davis Square, and Lexington.

This finding has two important implications: foot traffic is essential to the Square’s economic rebirth, and its surrounding neighborhood is rapidly gentrifying.

With the arrival of the Green Line, the pedestrian presence will immediately burgeon.  But foot traffic is already growing. The neighborhood’s density and growing household incomes are driving a reversal of its downward spiral. More residential spending power creates opportunities for new businesses, which in turn bring more customers into the square, expanding its retail market potential.

Such expansion can increase demand for leasing of upper-floor space by service businesses and offices. With increased rental income, owners can improve their buildings, in turn making the neighborhood more attractive to new businesses.

But Union Square’s legendary ethnic diversity is already declining. As housing costs increase, immigrants who support ethnic businesses are squeezed out. Increased commercial rents will accelerate this process. The Brazilian-owned Salon Orize sold out last year for example.

Meanwhile, Master Printing, Poor Little Rich Girl, Hub Comics, and Grand are improving the properties that they lease. Their owners live in Somerville.

USMS is looking at cluster theory to increase demand for commercial space in the Square, create jobs, and expand its economic base. In brief, the idea is that clusters of thriving business develop where there is a density of enterprises in a particular industry, their vendors, a workforce with skills that they need, and relevant educational and research institutions. Each element enables the others to grow.

USMS is working to foster an arts cluster—not just artists in a studio, but music, theater, dance, and especially design and architecture.

Largely unnoticed, Somerville is now the number two municipality in the state for architects and designers. And Massachusetts is the number one state in the nation.

USMS is building a network among such enterprises. Lunch-and-learn sessions at the Design Annex enable architects to satisfy continuing educations requirements. At other gatherings, they get feedback on works in progress from colleagues in other firms.

Many of these firms have four or fewer employees and are based in homes. Upper floor spaces could serve as shared conference rooms where they could receive clients in a professional ambiance.

City government is a critical partner in many of these endeavors. Executive Director Mimi Graney says, “USMS would hot be here without the city’s support.” It’s not just the $75,000 per year that USMS receives in block grant funds.

Strategic Office of Planning and Community Development Director Monica Lamboy and her staff devoted hundreds of hours to developing a zoning plan that would incorporate the broadest desires of neighborhood residents and businesses while anticipating future opportunities. The city is spending millions in state funds on improving Somerville Avenue and making it more pedestrian friendly.

Public art in the Square is one of a variety of tactics USMS is using to create public space and a sense of place. The Arts Union supports this goal with its five components—festivals, specialty markets, zoning changes, historic tours and ethnic foods. Graney says, “Often I think USMS gets the credit for the Arts Union when the [City of Somerville’s] Arts Council is the real engine pulling that train.”

Another important partner is Somerville Local First, an organization committed to supporting independently owned local businesses.

With its many partners, Union Square Main Streets is simultaneously driving economic development and building community.