"Davis Square is its own up-and-coming,exciting community," Preffer says, but he addsthat "Davis is heading into a far more developedsituation than it has been. It's growing."
Buckley agrees. "Davis Square is what HarvardSquare used to be. It's not all caught up in thecommercialism yet," he says.
But the wary "yet" tone Buckley uses ismirrored by many Somerville residents.
"Davis is Somerville, in many ways," Capuanosays, "and our concern is that it doesn't getoverdeveloped."
And Somerville residents are taking a cue fromtheir neighbors, trying to divert their city fromgoing the way of Cambridge.
"If [Cambridge] doesn't put some brakes ondevelopment, I see us as becoming overdeveloped,and congested, with the quality of lifedeclining," Triantafillou says.
Meantime, Buckley says he worries that thethings he loves about Somerville--"the eclecticmix of people, the ethnicity, the littlestores"--may be driven out by the influx of moreaffluent residents.
Preserving the Cities
Capuano says the city's government andneighborhood groups are trying to keep Somervilleuniquely Somerville.
A priority of the Community DevelopmentDepartment is to keep the city affordable, Brettasays.
Sullivan, learning from Cambridge's experience,says the city's intervention may be necessary.
"Community pressure alone is not enough to stopdevelopment short," he says.
In the meantime, Cambridge is trying to stemthe tide, allotting $4.5 million in city taxes tosupport affordable housing, according to the citymanager's office.
"Unless we somehow get a handle on thisaffordability issue, I don't think we're going tobe able to get the kind of mix that we used tohave," Triantafillou says.
"Prices are getting so high that regular folkscan't afford it," she says.
Bretta is hopeful that Somerville will not loseitself as it absorbs Cantabrigians.
Somerville is "going to continue to become abit more rich, a bit more upscale, with a higherhousehold income," he says. "The challenge toeverybody that's here is to make sure that it'salways a place for the workingman. That's whatSomerville's always been about."
"If it loses that, it has lost its raisond'être," Bretta says.