The denizens of Central Square are always quick to set forth Theories for their neighborhood's demise. One of the most popular--The Confluence of Neighborhoods Theory--has it that because of the quirky apportionment of "neighborhoods" by the Cambridge city fathers, Central Square finds itself situated at the confluence of no fewer than four such subdivisions (Four through Seven) and consequently, anything that gets done there must be undertaken with the approval of all the leaders of all four neighborhoods, not to mention city officials. Consequently, nothing gets done there.

Another popular theory, the Harvard-MIT Polarity Formulation, states that because Central Square serves as the buffer zone, the proverbial no-man's land, separating Harvard and its real estate from the Kendall Square university, neither school has a real interest in Central. Consequently, nothing ever gets done there. In fact, each resident has his own Theory, and there are some mighty strange hybrids, too. The Red Line Theory has always been a favorite (the Red Line's next-to-last stop is in Central Square, you see, and the subway disgorges all sorts of unsavory non-residents there at all sorts of ungodly hours); the Undesirable Indigent Theory ties the Square's woes to undesirable indigents ("they're all methadone addicts and worse," says one citizen) who don't even have to go near the Red Line to cause trouble for the Square.

Jerry Lane, a 47-year old Central Square resident, has his own theory about the decline of the Square. Lane is the president of the Rothman's Tenant Unit, a tenants' rights organization organized solely for occupants of rent-controlled buildings owned by George Rothman, who Lane jokingly calls both "Mr. Central Square" and "a snake." According to Lane, Rothman "is a powerful man who can do almost anything" and has, Lane says, impeded the drive for tenants' rights in his buildings through his influence peddling.

"I think the Square is going downhill as a result," Lane continues. "At one point we were trying to improve the neighborhood, but since we've been unsuccessful, we've given up."

Lane says that among his group's efforts now is an initiative to attract more fast food restaurants to the already-glutted Square ("What the hell!!") and to cover Central's Shawmut Bank branch--which he says Rothman's money controls--with human excrement.

Among the most gratifying occasions Lane can recall is the time when he "squeezed Rothman's jaw just after he had had a tooth pulled," shortly after, he says, Rothman attempted to "chop down the walls of an elderly tenant who was unable to pay her rent."

"But George and I are friends," says Lane. "Used properly, George can be turned around."

George Rothman understands that a lot of Lane's criticisms are all in good fun. "Jerry is a rational guy; he takes everything in its own context," he says. Rothman, who has owned property in Central Square for 30 years, currently receives rent from "about 200 units in several buildings."

The Square's main problems, he says not surprisingly, are the "undesirables coming in here from outside areas," and the absence of adequate public parking facilities (The Inadequate Parking Theory--another favorite).

Rothman says he screens tenants "very closely" for desirability before they move into his apartments, and unlike other landlords, he has made an attempt to renovate a large number of his rent-controlled units.

But, he adds, "rent control has ruined the Square and the City. Just walk up and down side streets around here, and all you'll see will be For Sale signs."

Rothman says, however, that he is doing his part to reverse the deterioration of his once-proud neighborhood over the past several decades. He recently purchased the old Harvard Bazaar building on Mass Ave, and is currently converting it into housing for the elderly; he says he is "constantly renovating" his apartment units at his own expense.

The construction of the subway connecting Park Street to Harvard Square in 1912, which facilitated commutation between Cambridge and Boston, also reduced the importance of Central Square as a business center; successive decades have seen the evolution of the Square into a local, service-and food-oriented business area. Many Cambridge residents, those who would rather do their shopping elsewhere, bypass the "blighted" Square in favor of the more accessible downtown Boston shopping area.

Central Square's lack of adequate municipal parking facilities and the recent police crackdown on parking offenders in the city as a whole have rendered the neighborhood largely inconvenient for motorist-shoppers.

"We need more parking," says Rothman. "Already, we've lost big stores like Almy's and Kresge's, and without good parking facilities any improvements around here will be pipe dreams."