"See ya, Frankieeee!"
"I really think the area is on the downswing in terms of crime these days," says Lenny Saviano, a detective in the Cambridge police department, whose familiar neon sign ("POLICE") is itself a famous Square landmark.
"I suppose it all has to do with the times, they're changing constantly," he reflects. Saviano further theorizes that the recent surprising reduction in Central Square crime may be the result of outreach work initially undertaken by the late Chief Pisani. "The department has become community-oriented," says Saviano. "We're really increasing community involvement."
So rumors of the imminent demise of Central Square may prove to be grossly exaggerated.
Smith says appearances aren't everything. "I think Central Square looks more dangerous, maybe because the people are poor; but they're just real people, and mostly, they're nice people."
"I felt a lot more crime problems when I was in Harvard Square," he adds. "My wife couldn't even walk around there without running into a flasher."
The CSA, which has been able to hold the line against new fast-food concerns and which has been instrumental in obtaining at least a few needed aesthetic amenities for the "ailing" Square, may now be able to attempt more ambitious, long-term projects.
One idea which intrigues Smith is the construction of one or more pedestrian malls in underutilized space in the Square. Pedestrian malls would, after all, alleviate to some extent the myriad parking problems faced by-the Square.
Central Square has traditionally been a "family" shopping area, and only the construction of new parking facilities will, Smith claims, stem the loss of Central Square business to one-stop shopping malls elsewhere.
In addition, both Smith and Lane agree that Cambridge Mayor Alfred E. Velluci and the City Council should focus more attention (read: "money") on the Square, by financing further improvements there and by staging more public events there, rather than in Cambridge's hinterlands.
Some of the Square's problems may prove to be self-correcting. The neighborhood's downhill glide in recent years has resulted the lowering of property values and some rental rates. "They're really coming in here--students, faculty members, and just people who want to live in Cambridge but can't afford more expensive homes elsewhere," says Smith, who claims his own home might have cost him three times as much in another section of Cambridge.
Rothman looks at the situation in a somewhat different way. "Rent control has ruined this city," he says. "Something's got to be done about that first, before anything else."
But even Rothman exudes a spot of optimism. "Central Square will never go down; I've spent 30 years here, and the place has come up, gone down, and then come up again," he explains.
And Lane is even more expansive: "This is a crazy neighborhood--it's noisy, it's dirty. We like it. It's got a lot of potential."