"I have everything I need right here," says Goodman, who lives two floors above the Grill.
"I go down to the Druid for a beer after work. I go to Studio Pizza for lunch in case I get sick of eating barbecue. If I run out of watermelon, Sandy's [a Portuguese grocery store] has it," Goodman explains. "There's just so much here readily available for you, If I want to get my car fixed I just send some barbecue to the shop across the street and they cut me a deal on my brakes."
Parking Spats
The neighborhood's few clashes are sparked by the area's traffic and limited parking space residents say.
Tangles of traffic are further complicated by double-parked cars and the emergency vehicles which scream through the streets. With two hospitals and a fire station in a four block range, driving isn't easy.
"There have been some attempts to buy buildings to tear down and build parking," Wolf says. "The neighbors don't really want that."
The growth of small-scale businesses has also provoked some complaints, a few entrepreneurs say.
"The only conflict I'm aware of concerns the mid-Cambridge neighborhood association sometimes getting riled in response to business expansion," Ruben says.
Little Changes Here
Despite the shifting demographics, residents and shopkeepers agree that Inman's old-time neighborhood feel hasn't been altered.
"Inman's character hasn't changed too much," Moniz declares.
Some venture to say this is because new-comers and the square easily adapt to each other.
"It's a smaller square, so it can take on the personality of its residents," Wolf says. "It's not on a T-stop and not there's not a lot of parking, so there's a physical limitation on how many people can come in--it prevents major changes in the neighborhood area."
"Inman Square is self-defined," agrees Laura Zimmerman, owner of New Words. "It hasn't been gentrified, hasn't been renovated. The stores fit themselves into the neighborhood rather than creating a neighborhood."
Looking back, much has remained the same over the last forty years in Inman Square. The physical area hasn't changed drastically. Many of the buildings immediately adjacent to the square have been designated as historical preservation sites, and a few of the stores in the area have been around for half a century.
The initials and hearts in the sidewalks, so carefully drawn by long-grown children, are cracking where tree roots have heaved the cement upwards. The wide porches of side-street houses are strewn with Christmas decorations. On Inman Street, decaying doors frame gleaming new doorknobs.
Inman's small, traditionally close-knit atmosphere also serves to smother crime which could potentially spill from nearby Central Square, residents say.
"You never hear about shooting in Inman Square, never hear about incidents or bad things happening here," Goodman says. "Here, people still look out for each other. I was shocked when I came here at how many people walk down the streets at night."
"It's safe, not like down Dorchester St." resident Melissa M. Leal, age 12, confirms knowingly.
As the local mail deliverer says: "It's a friendly place. Not much has changed here."